On April 2, US president, Donald Trump, unveiled a series of tariffs on imports that will affect all of the country’s trading partners, sparking widespread fears of a global trade war. Report by Leatherbiz.

Measures the president announced include a baseline tariff of 10% on almost all imports into the US from almost all countries around the world. This will take effect on April 5.

For some products, the rates are higher; a 25% tariff on all imported cars has already come into effect. Similarly, there is a 25% tariff on imports of steel and aluminium.

For some trading partners, including many that are key players in the global leather industry, the rates are higher still. Imports from China will now be subject to an additional blanket tariff of 34%, on top of the 20% levy already in place, taking the total to 54%.

Imports from Cambodia will be 49%, while Vietnam will incur tariffs of 46%. Elsewhere in Asia, the figures for Bangladesh, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, South Korea and Japan are, respectively: 37%, 36%, 32%, 32%, 29%, 26%, 25% and 24%.

The European Union faces blanket tariff rates of 20% on all exports to the US (except exports of car, as already mentioned). The rate is higher for Switzerland, at 31%.

Australia, Brazil, Turkey, Argentina, New Zealand and the UK are among the trading partners whose exports to the US will incur tariffs of 10%. Some of these countries had hoped to get off even more lightly (please see separate news story on beef).

For Canada and Mexico, the situation is complex, which is ironic because these two neighbouring countries have had free-trade agreements with the US since 1994. A number of products will still enjoy free-trade status when moving from one North American country to another, but many will not. Exports to the US of commodities relating to energy will face tariffs of 10%. Many other exports will incur tariffs of 25%.

Donald Trump said that, since the first North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1994, more than 90,000 factories in the US had closed and the country had lost 5 million manufacturing jobs. “That was the worst trade deal ever made,” he said.

In contrast, he said April 2, 2025, was “Liberation Day” and would go down in history as the day industry in the US was reborn. The new tariffs, he insisted, were reciprocal tariffs that would “help rebuild our economy and prevent cheating”.

He said: “We will supercharge our domestic industrial base. We will pry open foreign markets and break down foreign trade barriers. Ultimately, more production at home will mean stronger competition and lower prices for consumers. For decades, our country has been looted by nations near and far. Foreign leaders have stolen our jobs. Foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories and scavengers have torn apart our once beautiful American dream.”

Retaliatory tariffs from many trading partners around the world appear likely now, as does escalation into a global trade war.