WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump began levying higher import taxes on dozens of countries Thursday, just as the economic fallout of his monthslong tariff threats has begun to create visible damage for the U.S. economy.
Just after midnight, goods from more than 60 countries and the European Union became subject to tariff rates of 10% or higher. Products from the European Union, Japan and South Korea are taxed at 15%, while imports from Taiwan, Vietnam and Bangladesh are taxed at 20%. Trump also expects the EU, Japan and South Korea to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S.
“I think the growth is going to be unprecedented,” Trump said Wednesday afternoon. He added that the U.S. was “taking in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs,” but he couldn’t provide a specific figure for revenues because “we don’t even know what the final number is” regarding tariff rates.
Despite the uncertainty, the Trump White House is confident that the onset of his broad tariffs will provide clarity about the path of the world’s largest economy. Now that companies understand the direction the U.S. is headed, the administration believes they can ramp up new investments and jump-start hiring in ways that can rebalance the U.S. economy as a manufacturing power.
