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Donald Trump is gearing up to unveil yet more tariffs that he claimed would "start with all countries" after declaring Wednesday would be US "Liberation Day". The US president will reportedly levy these extra charges on several trading partners including the European Union, South Korea, Brazil, and India.
He said: "This is the beginning of Liberation Day in America. We're going to charge countries for doing business in our country and taking our jobs, taking our wealth, taking a lot of things that they've been taking over the years. They've taken so much out of our country, friend and foe. And, frankly, friend has been oftentimes much worse than foe." The Republican told reporters on Air Force One: "You'd start with all countries. Essentially all of the countries that we're talking about."
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Fox Business that the administration's tariff strategy would target 10 to 15 countries known for the worst trade imbalances, though he did not name them.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also called the 15% of nations that have trade imbalances with the US the "dirty 15", raising questions as to whether these will be on the receiving end of new tariffs.
The "dirty 15" are: China, the EU, Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Canada, India, Thailand, Switzerland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and South Africa. This is a total of 41 counties when taking into account the 27 that make up the EU.
Mr Trump is set to impose taxes on imported pharmaceuticals, copper and lumber. He proposed a 25% tariff on any nation importing oil from Venezuela, despite the US also being an importer.
An additional 20% tax is being levied on Chinese imports due to the country's alleged involvement in fentanyl production. The US president also extended his 2018 steel and aluminium tariffs to include all imports, now at a rate of 25%.
Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova responded to the newly announced US tariffs, warning that her country would be "among the top three" most impacted nations within the EU.
She said: "We still hope that the tariffs will be postponed somehow just like in the case of Mexico and China. If they are not postponed, we will have to deal with it somehow."
Slovakia is home to four car manufacturers - Kia Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Stellantis, and Volkswagen - and a Volvo factory will soon be operational.
Ms Sakova pointed out that two of these manufacturers produce cars for the European market, suggesting the tariffs' impact would be less severe for them compared to the other two, which export to the US.
If the proposed tariffs are implemented, Slovakia will have to anticipate reciprocal EU tariffs and observe what its European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic can negotiate, she said.
Mr Trump told NBC News that he did not care if the cost of vehicles increased due to the tariffs, and suggested cars with more parts from the US would be more competitively priced.
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