Overseas Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has reacted to Trump’s new duties on items from a number of international locations, together with China and the EU
The brand new US tariff hikes are a “conventional means of doing enterprise” for Washington, Russian Overseas Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stated. The transfer is nonetheless a “shock” for a lot of international locations, she added.
Her feedback adopted the implementation of one other collection of tariffs introduced by US President Donald Trump, affecting a number of nations and aiming to handle commerce imbalances and promote home manufacturing. Russia was exempted from the measures. The White Home defined that current sanctions on the nation already “preclude any significant commerce,” rendering further tariffs pointless.
“In a day, American and retaliatory tariffs rose once more. That is critical bargaining. For the US, it’s a standard means of doing enterprise. For a lot of international locations, it’s a shock,” Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on Wednesday. She accompanied the submit with a humorous video from an American public sale, the place auctioneers name out bids and gross sales at document velocity.
Trump has launched a sweeping tariff marketing campaign since taking workplace in January. On April 9, tariffs on Chinese language imports reached a cumulative 104%, following earlier hikes from 10% in February to twenty% in March, then 54% by early April. In response to China’s 34% retaliation, Trump added one other 50%, bringing the whole to 104%. Beijing has pledged to “combat until the top” in response to the steep new tariffs on exports to the US, its largest buying and selling accomplice.
Washington’s latest country-specific “reciprocal” tariffs included a 20% levy on items from the European Union, 24% on these from Japan, 25% from South Korea, 26% from India, and 46% from Vietnam. The measures got here on prime of a common 10% baseline tariff on all imports, which took impact on April 5. EU officers have criticized the US transfer as a “main blow to the world financial system.”
Talking on the White Home on Wednesday, Trump insisted that the tariffs had been benefiting the US. He claimed that the nation was making $2 billion a day from the measures and that greater than 70 nations had been in talks to safe entry to the US market. He added that America was going to be “very wealthy once more very quickly.”
Economists warn the brand new tariffs may drive up costs for US customers and pressure world commerce. Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer accused Trump of “teeing up a nationwide recession” and urged Majority Chief John Thune to prioritize a invoice requiring congressional approval for future tariffs. Trump has stated he would veto such laws if handed.
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