Textiles trading partners hit hard in US tariff blow
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.
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 trading partners, including many that are key players in the global textile supply chain, the rates are higher. 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 at least 20% on all exports to the US. The rate is higher for Switzerland, at 31%.
Donald Trump 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 breakdown 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.
