Eng
On 2 April, the US president announced the introduction of tariffs ranging from 10% to 50% on imported goods. The list includes 185 countries. Investment bank JP Morgan stated there is now a 60% chance that the global economy will enter recession by the end of the year, compared to a previous prediction of 40%.
Goods from the European Union are now subject to 20% duties when exported to the US. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen called the duties imposed by US President Donald Trump a serious hit to the global economy and said the EU is ready to take countermeasures if negotiations with Washington fail.
China, facing new 34% duties on top of the 20% imposed earlier by Trump, has also vowed to take countermeasures. The reaction was fast. Already on 4 April, China announced that it would impose additional duties of 34% on all US goods starting 10 April. Beijing also announced that it would impose export controls to the US on medium and heavy rare earth metals, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium, effective 4 April.
As Head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stated, global trade volumes could shrink by 1% in a year after US President Donald Trump imposed duties on most countries. It can also lead to significant trade redirection.
The Financial Times (FT) reported, citing sources, that European Union officials are already preparing emergency measures to protect the European market from a possible massive influx of goods from China after the US administration imposed customs duties on imports from China.
Similar barrier measures are likely to be implemented by other countries concerned about protecting domestic producers.
Source: reuters.com