US President Donald Trump’s global tariffs kicked in, reshaping international commerce by instituting levies on imports from friend and foe alike.
Though some US allies have secured lower rates than were initially threatened, and Washington’s three biggest trading partners — Canada, China, and Mexico — are still negotiating theirs, friendly nations such as India and Switzerland have been hammered.
The protectionist move pushed the effective US tariff rate to its highest level since World War II, with the prospect looming of further increases: Trump on Wednesday said he would impose 100% tariffs on imported semiconductors, after earlier threatening levies on pharmaceutical products that could eventually reach 250%. “Tariff uncertainty hasn’t gone away,” HSBC said in a note to clients.
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