Blaze News original: Trump's reciprocal tariffs — and decades of devastating fees the world pushed on America



President Donald Trump has repeatedly scorched decades of unfair trading practices for hindering the United States' economy. He dubbed Wednesday, April 2, "Liberation Day" for America, unveiling a sweeping list of new tariffs targeting nations — both friends and adversaries — that have long burdened the U.S. with far higher fees than it has placed on them in return.

The administration had previously announced that it planned to roll out "reciprocal tariffs," explaining that the U.S. would begin imposing balanced fees. Trump left room for some exceptions to this rule, noting that countries fueling America's illegal immigration and drug crisis would face significantly higher tariff rates.

‘They charge us; we charge them.’

While Trump and his Cabinet have maintained that increasing tariffs will boost the U.S. economy, his Democratic critics and their corporate media allies contend it will have the opposite effect — passing the increased costs of imports on to American consumers. Everything from vehicles to everyday necessities, including gas and groceries, will skyrocket, according to Trump's detractors.

The fierce backlash and potential economic uncertainty of the unprecedented tariff hikes appeared to influence Trump to dial back his initial plan to implement across-the-board equal tariffs. Instead, on Wednesday, he revealed that most of the increases, while still reciprocal, are capped at about half the levels other nations currently slap on the U.S.

The new reciprocal tariffs

On Wednesday afternoon, Trump announced the administration's final decision on tariffs while highlighting how America has been treated unfairly.

Trump held up a chart listing the new "discounted reciprocal tariffs" next to "tariffs charged to the U.S.A.," which he noted factored in currency manipulation and trade barriers, not tariff rates alone.

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The chart listed China as charging the U.S. 67%.

"We're going to be charging a discounted reciprocal tariff of 34%," Trump said, referring to China. "They charge us; we charge them. We charge them less, so how can anybody be upset?"

"They will be because we never charge anybody anything," he added.

Trump continued down the chart, stating that the European Union has been "very tough traders."

"They rip us off," the president declared.

‘For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike.’

Trump noted that most of his administration's reciprocal tariffs would amount to about half the rates foreign countries currently levy against the U.S. However, he stated that the administration would implement a 10% minimum baseline. For example, according to the chart, the U.S. will match the United Kingdom's and Brazil's 10% rate.

The administration rolled out the new tariff rates to address the U.S.' $1.2 trillion trade deficit. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 15% of countries compose America's most significant trade deficits. He dubbed those nations the "dirty 15" in a March interview with Fox Business.

In its reasoning for the baseline rate, the White House cited a 2024 economic analysis that found a global 10% tariff would generate $728 billion and 2.8 million new jobs.

High tariffs against the US

Trump highlighted instances when foreign countries imposed steep tariffs against the U.S., pulling data from the U.S. Trade Representative's 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers.

"For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike," he claimed.

"Let me offer just a few examples of the vicious attacks our workers have faced for so many years," Trump continued. "The United States charges other countries only a 2.4% tariff on motorcycles. Meanwhile, Thailand and others are charging much higher prices, like 60%. India charges 70%. Vietnam charges 75%. And others are even higher than that."

Trump also explained that the U.S. charged only 2.5% on foreign-made automobiles, while the European Union imposes over 10% tariffs with 20% VAT fees, and India charges 70%.

"Perhaps worst of all are the non-monetary restrictions imposed by South Korea, Japan, and very many other nations," he added. "Toyota sells 1 million foreign-made automobiles into the United States, and General Motors sells almost none. Ford sells very little."

As a result of the "horrendous imbalances," Trump revealed that the U.S. would impose a 25% tariff on all foreign vehicles.

Trump stated that Canada imposed a 250% to 300% tariff on dairy products.

"China charges American rice farmers an over-quota, it's called, tariff rate of 65%," he stated.

‘Official trade data appears to show that China fell far short of implementing its commitments to purchase US goods and services.’

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a tariff quota, or a two-tiered tariff, allows countries to impose a lower rate for initial imports and a higher rate for later ones.

Trump also noted that South Korea charges American rice farmers rates between 50% and 513%, while Japan imposes 700%.

A White House fact sheet from Wednesday highlighted several more "unfair tariff disparities," stating that the U.S. sets a 0% tariff on networking switches and routers, while India charges 10% to 20%.

"Brazil (18%) and Indonesia (30%) impose a higher tariff on ethanol than does the United States (2.5%)," it read. "Apples enter the United States duty-free, but not so in Turkey (60.3%) and India (50%)."

Trump's critics have claimed that his recent increased tariffs will result in higher costs for American consumers, with some countries imposing their own retaliatory fees. However, the administration argued that the U.S. has been mistreated for decades — long before Trump hiked any rates.

While Democrats continue to paint a picture that Trump's increases will spell disaster, a 2018 report from the Pew Research Center stated that U.S. tariffs were "among the lowest in the world."

"In 2016, according to the World Bank, the average applied U.S. tariff across all products was 1.61%; that was about the same as the average rate of 1.6% for the 28-nation EU, and not much higher than Japan's 1.35%," the report read.

However, it noted that the "average rates are weighted by product import shares with all of each nation's trading partners, and don't necessarily reflect the provisions of specific trade deals."

In other words, these averages include all trade with every nation, so the actual tariffs imposed on the U.S. could be lower or even much higher depending on the product and the partner country.

China

The USTR's latest annual foreign barriers report, cited by Trump, further exposed unequal trade practices between the U.S. and other nations, dedicating a significant portion of the document to detailing obstacles with China.

It stated that China has failed to follow through on implementing some of the "more important commitments" from its January 2020 economic and trade agreement with the U.S. The report specifically pointed to agriculture-related provisions and intellectual property and technology agreements.

"In addition, official trade data appears to show that China fell far short of implementing its commitments to purchase U.S. goods and services, which covered the years 2020 and 2021," it read.

Prior to China joining the World Trade Organization, an international group dealing with trade rules and agreements, it imposed notoriously steep tariffs on the U.S. China was charging an average of 22.1% on all general imports and up to 100% on vehicles.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has historically imposed a 2.5% tariff on imported foreign vehicles before Trump took office.

Upon joining the WTO in 2001, China consented to bring auto tariffs down to 25% over a six-year period and farm products to 15% or less.

A 2010 USTR report noted that China had made significant progress in lowering its tariffs after joining the WTO. However, it maintained "high duties on some products that compete with sensitive domestic industries." According to the report, China imposed 30% tariffs on large motorcycles.

"Likewise, most video, digital video, and audio recorders and players still face duties of approximately 30 percent. Raisins face duties of 35 percent," the report read.

India

In 2016, the USTR called India's tariff system "complex and characterized by a lack of transparency in determining net effective rates."

India, also a part of the WTO, reportedly had significant disparities between its Most Favored Nation rates and its bound rates, which are fees that generally cannot be exceeded for other WTO nations.

"India's average bound tariff rate was 48.6 percent, while its simple MFN average applied tariff for 2014 was 13.5 percent," the report stated.

At the time, the WTO listed India's bound rate at 114%.

"India also maintains very high tariff peaks on a number of goods, including flowers (60 percent), natural rubber (70 percent), automobiles and motorcycles (60 percent to 75 percent), raisins and coffee (100 percent), alcoholic beverages (150 percent), and textiles (some ad valorem equivalent rates exceed 300 percent)," the USTR report read.

European Union

The USTR reported in 2017 that the EU's tariffs were "generally low for non-agricultural goods" but listed several higher fees, including 26% for fish and seafood, 10% for vehicles, 22% for trucks, 6.5% for fertilizers and plastics, and 14% for bicycles.

The 2025 updated USTR report revealed that tariffs remained at those same rates.

Brazil

A 1996 UTSR stated that Brazil's maximum tariff level was 70%, which was down from 105% in 1990.

The USTR's 2016 report revealed that despite Brazil being a part of the WTO, its maximum tariff rates were steep, including 55% for agricultural goods and up to 35% on industrial products.

"Brazil imposes relatively high tariffs on imports across a wide spread of sectors, including automobiles, automotive parts, information technology and electronics, chemicals, plastics, industrial machinery, steel, and textiles and apparel," the report found.

The response

The Trump administration anticipates that some countries will respond to the tariff increases by implementing their own retaliatory fees. However, officials remain confident that the U.S. price hikes will bring more economic growth and not less.

Last month, Trump warned, "It's going to be very costly for people to take advantage of this country. They can't come in and steal our money and steal our jobs and take our factories and take our businesses and expect not to be punished."

‘A long-overdue shift away from a harmful economic framework that has devastated the working class.’

"And they're being punished by tariffs. It's a very powerful weapon that politicians haven't used because they were either dishonest, stupid, or paid off in some other form," he stated.

Trump committed to removing tariffs for foreign companies that build their products in the U.S. He rattled off a list of businesses that have already agreed to make significant investments in the U.S., including Apple, SoftBank Group, OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly and Company, and Meta. Trump also noted that several automakers are ramping up American investments.

United Auto Workers members applaud as President Donald Trump announces new tariffs during a Make America Wealthy Again trade announcement event in the Rose Garden on April 2, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Trump pledged that Liberation Day would go down in history as the turning point that would "make America wealthy again," stating that "jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country."

The United Auto Workers, a union that endorsed Trump's challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris (D), in the 2024 presidential election, has expressed strong support for the president's foreign automobile tariffs, calling it "a long-overdue shift away from a harmful economic framework that has devastated the working class."

During his Wednesday address, Trump highlighted how the imbalanced trade market has also harmed American farmers and ranchers.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association backed Trump's decision to impose higher tariffs.

"For too long, America's family farmers and ranchers have been mistreated by certain trading partners around the world. President Trump is taking action to address numerous trade barriers that prevent consumers overseas from enjoying high-quality, wholesome American beef. NCBA will continue engaging with the White House to ensure fair treatment for America's cattle producers around the world and optimize opportunities for exports abroad," said Ethan Lane, the association's president of government affairs.

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Europe’s Latest Attacks On Free Speech And Free Elections Prove Vance’s Munich Warning Right

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GOP Lawmakers Eye Expansion of ICC Sanctions as Court's Top Officials Turn to Europe for Relief

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Governments That Despise Your Freedoms Will Also Despise You

Once you’re so intent on pushing your own agenda that you’re willing to arrest people for praying silently in their homes, it’s only a matter of time before you’re willing to silence them completely.

Fighting Irish: Trump, With Ireland’s Leader in Tow, Takes Aim at EU, Russia, and the Education Department

Most heads of state don’t enjoy an annual invitation to the Oval Office, but Ireland’s does. When prime minister Micheál Martin arrived for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day visit, he was warned about the Donald Trump-sized trap he was walking into. Martin faced a "diplomatic balancing act" in talks with Trump, according to Reuters. Politico was more dire, writing that the meeting, normally a "diplomatic dream," was this year "dangerous for Ireland’s America-fueled economy." Martin, the outlet wrote, would be happy to merely "survive a brush with Trump."

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Scott Bessent Says Tariffs Will Go Up For Any Leader Acting Like ‘Numbskull’ Justin Trudeau

'I am happy to have a discussion'

NATO’s cracks show: Time for a controlled demolition?



When they’re first built, skyscrapers and other towering buildings are impressive. But there comes a time when structural weaknesses raise the danger that one will collapse, injuring or killing many people going about their daily business. Shoring up the building works for a while, sometimes, but often things reach the stage where the most prudent action is to demolish it in a controlled way.

The United States faces similar structural threats today. The two most urgent and fundamental dangers are the unchecked administrative state at home — and, by extension, among globalist NGOs — and the declining condition of many NATO partner countries. Both the administrative state and the U.S. role in NATO were products of postwar efforts to create stability and order after World War II. However, these institutions have grown far beyond their original purposes and now pose significant risks to our national security, economic stability, and core constitutional freedoms.

Both the entrenched administrative state and our current alliances with Western Europe now show serious structural weaknesses.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency project is exposing the depth of corruption and waste within the administrative bureaucracy and its NGO partners. As a result, Americans are starting to see how these networks leave ordinary people struggling to afford basic needs like food and rent. The findings also reveal the extent of the country’s precarious financial situation.

However, fewer Americans realize how European countries have drained U.S. resources — and arguably poisoned the relationship — through their actions. While the United States has shouldered most of NATO’s expenses and defense efforts, European nations have neglected their own militaries and failed to meet their defense commitments.

European nations have made things worse by burdening their own economies with unsustainable welfare programs and excessive regulations that stifle innovation. At the same time, they have imposed unfair tariffs on U.S. goods, increasing the economic strain.

Even more troubling, they are trying to impose regulations on U.S. energy use, free speech, information flow, and even the participation of popular parties in national governments. Recent examples are easy to find, and Vice President Vance recently highlighted some of these issues at the Munich conference.

Meanwhile, they expect the United States to continue draining its resources, admit Ukraine into NATO — which would commit U.S. forces to respond to Russia — and silence any criticism of their actions on social media.

The hypocrisy is both staggering and offensive. For proof, just look at how much Russian oil and gas Germany is buying today, even as it refuses to allow imports of Israeli natural gas.

Is it time to consider a controlled demolition of NATO? Possibly. The alliance should have been restructured or dissolved after the Soviet Union fell 34 years ago. Instead, President Clinton and his successors expanded NATO incrementally by adding former Soviet and communist countries on Russia’s border. That this strategy would provoke a response was entirely predictable.

We must not be drawn farther into this folly. Alliances based on mutual interests and fair contributions are valuable. But having U.S. troops deployed in combat at the whims of Great Britain, France, and Germany — rather than based on American assessments of threats and costs — is not.

The bottom line: Both the entrenched administrative state and our current alliances with Western Europe now show serious structural weaknesses. It’s time to consider dismantling or reforming them before they collapse on American citizens and the nation as a whole.

No fooling: Trump sets April 2 as date for 25% auto tariff



“The European Union was formed in order to screw the United States,” Donald Trump said this week. “That’s the purpose of it. They have done a good job of it, but now I am president.”

Sound harsh? Consider the numbers. The U.S. already currently imposes a tariff of 2.5% on cars imported from Europe. Europe, meanwhile, imposes a 10% import tariff on cars imported from the U.S.

A 25% tariff would add some $60 billion to the coffers. But it also means that overall car prices could go up by $60 billion.

In other words, the European tariff is four times higher. The U.S. also has a 25% tariff on pickup trucks, but Europe really doesn’t make pickups.

Nonetheless, these words provoked the usual pearl-clutching from the usual subjects. But most Americans are more focused on what Trump intends to do about this: the 25% tariff he's slapping on all imported cars.

A widening target

While Trump has been threatening to put higher tariffs on cars from Canada and Mexico, he’s now also going to be targeting imports from Europe, Japan, and South Korea as well.

What's more, these tariffs now have a start date: April 2.

Volkswagen, Hyundai-Kia, Mercedes, Nissan, and BMW have the highest percentage of imported vehicles, so they’d be impacted the most, but it would hit all automakers hard. Imports account for nearly half of all the vehicles sold in the U.S., with most of them coming from Mexico, South Korea, and Japan.

According to data from Global Data, automakers such as Volkswagen and Hyundai-Kia rely heavily on overseas production, with 80% and 65% of their U.S. sales coming from imports, respectively.

North American impact

The potential impact on vehicles manufactured under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement remains uncertain. North America’s auto industry is built on deeply interconnected supply chains, and any disruption could result in higher costs for manufacturers and consumers. Tariffs on auto imports could lead to price increases, affect production timelines, and complicate long-standing trade relationships between the three nations.

The U.S. imports $240 billion worth of vehicles every year. A 25% tariff would add some $60 billion to the coffers. But it also means that overall car prices could go up by $60 billion.

And make no mistake about it: The domestic manufacturers would raise their prices to pretty much match that.

Those tricky VATs

However, here’s where it gets tricky. Europe also imposes a value added tax on all products sold in Europe, but not if those products are exported. It’s really a tax policy designed to boost exports and hurt imports. Japan and South Korea use a value added tax as well.

President Trump says he’s going to include those VATs to figure out how high the tariffs should be on cars that come from those countries. Germany has a 19% VAT, in South Korea it’s 10%, and in Japan it’s 20%. Trump says he’ll lower his tariffs if other countries cut theirs and remove trade barriers. So one thing’s for sure: This story is far from over.

Trump has also promised tariffs on imported goods in general, including a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum to take effect on March 12. This rhetoric has ratcheted up fears of a widening global trade war and accelerating U.S. inflation.

While the president did not provide details on the scope or rates of the potential tariffs, the move aligns with his broader trade strategy to encourage domestic production and reshape global trade relations.

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For peace in Ukraine, we must defeat the globalist propaganda machine



The world has changed dramatically since Donald Trump’s inauguration. In just five weeks, he has reversed U.S. policy in Ukraine, shifting from endless war to a MAGA/America First foreign policy. The United States and Russia are now negotiating peace face-to-face.

But peace in Ukraine threatens the interests of the globalists and neoconservatives who helped engineer this conflict. Determined to destroy Trump’s peace agenda — and his presidency — they are working to undermine these efforts.

Lies can’t withstand truth — and we must fight like never before to speak the truth about Ukraine.

In its final days, the Biden administration sought to escalate the war in Ukraine, desperate to derail Trump’s plan. Biden (or whoever was running the country at the time) authorized Ukraine to launch deep strikes inside Russia using U.S.-made Army Tactical Missiles Systems.

These missiles rely on American military satellites, American GPS targeting systems, and American personnel for coordination. That meant the United States was no longer just supporting Ukraine — it was directly involved in firing missiles into Russia and killing Russian soldiers.

The warmongers pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war. President Trump pulled us back.

A globalist war

This war was never about Ukraine. U.S. Army Col. Douglas Macgregor has pointed out that the United States and NATO have waged a proxy war in Ukraine to advance globalist interests. Their ultimate goal is to dismantle Russia as a nation.

The strategy, outlined by George Soros, called for using Eastern Europeans as cannon fodder in a war with Russia to “reduce the risk of body bags for NATO countries.” This plan has been brutally executed, and the cost has been staggering. More than 1 million Ukrainian soldiers have lost their lives.

During the 2024 campaign, President Trump made his anti-war, anti-globalist stance clear. In his Agenda 47 video “Preventing World War III,” he warned, “Every day this proxy battle in Ukraine continues, we risk global war.” He vowed to end these conflicts, stating, “There must … be a complete commitment to dismantling the entire globalist neocon establishment that is perpetually dragging us into endless wars” (emphasis added).

President Trump is delivering on his promise.

Truth bombs away!

Trump and his team began dismantling the globalist-neocon war machine with three major truth bombs.

First, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Ukraine will never join NATO. This decision was monumental — NATO’s push to expand into Ukraine was the primary trigger for the war.

Next, Vice President JD Vance addressed European globalist elites in Munich, condemning their Soviet-style crackdowns on free speech and political dissent. His speech was so powerful that the conference chairman was reportedly brought to tears.

Finally, President Donald Trump exposed Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a fraud, calling him “a dictator without elections” who has driven Ukraine into ruin.

Boom.

The resulting freakout by the globalists, neocons, endless-war uniparty, and the mainstream propaganda media has been intense. They’ve regrouped and launched Russia collusion hoax 2.0, again rolling out the lie that “Trump is a Russian asset.”

Obedient to his puppet masters, even Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined the chorus — claiming that Trump “lives in a disinformation space” created by the Kremlin.

The dictator checklist

NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine has relied on one of the largest propaganda campaigns in history. The truth has been buried under a mountain of lies — but a full-scale effort to expose reality can change that. President Trump’s statement on Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a strong start, but much more needs to be done.

Let’s begin.

In a Truth Social post, Trump described Zelenskyy as a “moderately successful comedian.” That assessment is far too generous. Zelenskyy is a clown, not a statesman. In Ukraine, he is best known for flamboyant and vulgar television performances — playing the guitar in his underwear, dancing in high heels while patting fellow male dancers on their backsides, and even performing a Jewish folk song on the piano using his penis.

So how many boxes does Zelenskyy check on the dictator checklist?

First, he’s an illegitimate president.

Zelenskyy canceled presidential elections and remains president even though his term expired last May. No wonder. A November poll showed that only 16% of Ukrainians would vote for him again. President Trump reports that now, support has dropped to 4%.

He’s running a corrupt, neo-Nazi police state.

Seriously, Zelenskyy is a neo-Nazi collaborator. His regime is a neo-Nazi police state that celebrates Nazis as heroes. The birthday of Stepan Bandera, the father of Ukrainian Nazism and leading German collaborator during World War II, is a national holiday.

Ukraine is the most corrupt nation in Europe. Elon Musk calls Zelenskyy’s government a “fraud machine feeding off the dead bodies of soldiers.”

He’s blocked political opposition.

Zelenskyy banned all 11 opposition political parties, imprisoned opposition party leaders, and has sanctioned his main rival in any future election.

He is crushing freedom of speech, press, and religion.

Zelenskyy shut down all non-government-controlled media. Websites not approved by the government are prohibited. Last year, American journalist Gonzalo Lira was imprisoned for criticizing the Zelenskyy and Biden governments. Lira was tortured and died from neglect.

Ukrainians are being imprisoned for criticizing the regime — even in their private conversations.

Zelenskyy has directed the assassination, kidnapping, and torture of his political opponents.

Press gangs snatch Ukrainian men off the streets and shove them into frontline trenches.

Zelenskyy outlawed the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and jailed dozens of priests. He’s a bad guy.

The truth will out — if we fight

The globalist-neocon establishment is pulling out all the stops to sabotage President Trump’s peace agenda and prolong the war in Ukraine. Its weapon is the propaganda that keeps the American people in the dark. But lies can’t withstand truth — and we must fight like never before to speak the truth about Ukraine.

President Trump pulled us back from the brink of another world war. We cannot allow the warmongers to pull us back from the brink of peace.