White House Announces Maintenance of “General Tariff” on Imports to the U.S.
The White House has announced that the “general tariff” imposed on goods imported to the United States will remain at 10%, the same level implemented on April 2. However, this 10% tariff only applies to countries with which the U.S. has a trade surplus, meaning that the U.S. exports more to these countries than it imports from them.
As for countries with which the U.S. has a trade deficit, their goods will face a new minimum tariff of 15%. Approximately 40 countries will be subject to this new 15% rate. For these countries, this is lower than the “reciprocal tariff” implemented on April 2. However, there are also more than a dozen countries facing tariffs higher than 15%, due to reasons such as having reached trade agreements with the U.S. or because President Trump has directly designated higher tariff rates in letters to their leaders. These countries typically have the most severe trade deficits with the U.S.
Latest Tariff Scheme Adjustments
According to the latest announced tariff scheme, Taiwan’s reciprocal tariff rate has been adjusted from 32% to 20%, which is higher than Japan and South Korea’s 15%. However, it is currently unclear whether there are other conditions for the reduction of tariffs on Taiwan.
Implementation Delay of New Tariff System
The new tariff system will not take effect immediately as previously expected on Friday (August 1). To allow the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enough time to make system adjustments and collect the new rates, the new tariffs will officially be implemented on August 7.
In response to the U.S. announcement of the new tariff rates, the Presidential Office of Taiwan swiftly issued a statement indicating that this rate is only a “temporary tariff.” The primary reason is that the U.S. and Taiwan have not yet completed the summary meeting. Therefore, the U.S. has announced a 20% “temporary tariff” for Taiwan, and should an agreement be reached subsequently, there is hope for further tariff reductions.
