President Donald Trump has signed a decree strongly noting customs duties on dozens of countries deemed in surplus vis-à-vis the United States. Syria, Iraq and Algeria are at the top of the most affected countries. The new taxes will come into force on August 7.
On Thursday evening, US President Donald Trump signed an executive decree imposing a significant increase in customs duties on products from dozens of countries with which the United States recorded a major trade deficit.
According to a senior White House official, these customs duties will get between 10% and 41% and will come into force on August 7, a week later that the date initially planned.
In a press release, the White House presented this measure as a lever to “restructure world trade for the benefit of American workers”.
Syria, Iraq and Algeria are among the heavily affected countries, with the rate of 41% applied to Syrian products, the highest of the decree.
New customs duties only concern countries not having concluded bilateral trade agreements with the United States. For countries that have signed such agreements, rates will comply with existing provisions.
Thus, the European Union, Japan and South Korea will see their products taxed at 15%, while the United Kingdom will be subject to a rate of 10%. However, the agreements in force are mostly executives and still imprecise, requiring additional negotiations.
