Donald Trump, the 47th president of the U.S., began to impose tariffs on April 5 at 12:01 a.m. These tariffs included a baseline of 10% on around 90 countries that are trade partners with the U.S.
According to the White House fact sheet, Trump also has a “reciprocal tariffs policy.”
“It is the policy of the United States to rebalance global trade flows by imposing an additional ad valorem duty on all imports from all trading partners except as otherwise provided herein,” the fact sheet stated.
The policy states that countries will start at 10% and will shortly increase.
“Reciprocal. That means they do it to us, and we do it to them,” Trump said when speaking about the plan.
As of April 9, Trump has now placed a 90-day pause on tariffs to all countries who did not impose precritical tariffs on the U.S. This includes around 75 countries.
China, however, now has a 125% tariff because they imposed an import fee of 34% (the amount of their original tariff on the U.S.).
Despite Trump claiming that it was a “liberation day” when the tariffs began, many Americans are now faced with the reality of the new taxes.
“The Trade War,” as many news stations are now calling it, has led to one of the most historical and devastating stock market crashes since the global pandemic in 2020.
Around $4-5 trillion has been wiped off the global stock market. Wall Street is now facing one of the biggest slumps in history.
While Trump ran his campaign by promising lower grocery prices, this is now impossible with the tariffs. The prices of many common household products are expected to rise exponentially in the coming weeks.
“Probably almost half of the products in a supermarket − about 40,000 products − will be affected by these tariffs, whether it’s the entire product or just an ingredient,” Food Industry Analyst Phil Lempert told NPR.
One of the foods expected to increase in price the most is fruit, according to USA Today. The U.S. receives around 50% of its fruit from Mexico, which has been given a 10% tariff.
“These products don’t have a long shelf life, and with the tariffs, we’re going to face significant issues with both price and availability,” Lempert said.
Seafood is another item that will become more expensive. Around 89% of seafood in the United States is imported. China, India and Indonesia are the top countries for seafood, and have the highest tariffs compared to other countries.
Coffee is also expected to become more expensive and harder to find. Over half of the U.S.’s coffee beans come from Brazil and Columbia, and both have 10% tariffs now.
Alcoholic products such as wine will also be more expensive. Most wine comes from European countries like France, Italy and Spain, which all have 20% tariffs. Beer mainly comes from Mexico and Canada, which have 10% tariffs.
Some foods, such as beef and rice, are not expected to rise in price as much as since they are often domestically produced.
Even remote islands that are uninhabited except for penguins and seals in the Indian Ocean, Heard Island and McDonald Island. They were included in Trump’s list for the baseline 10% tariffs.
This indicates that nowhere is safe from his tariffs, except for a large, main country that Trump’s administration has grown dangerously close to: Russia.
Unlike the 90 other countries, Russia was excluded from Trump’s tariffs. Russia has been in heated conflict with the U.S. dating back to the Cold War. Despite Trump willing to impose heavy taxes on allies, he omits Russia from even his 10% baseline tariffs.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that Russia was exempt because the U.S. didn’t trade with them due to heavy sanctions placed on them after the invaded Ukraine in 2022.
However, the U.S. does trade with Russia and grossed $3.5 billion in goods according to an article by The Independant.
Most of the U.S. trade with Russia is over radioactive chemicals, platinum and nitrogenous fertilizers. They are the second largest exports of fertilizers to the U.S.
Trump claims that Russia was exempt from tariffs because he is trying to orchestrate a cease-fire between them and Ukraine.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said during an NBC interview.
Russia may get more special treatment than penguins, but if Trump is trying to set a baseline tariff shouldn’t all countries have to adhere to it? While he may be against special treatment, he broke his own promise by letting Russia slide with none of his tariffs.
While Trump’s goal with the tariffs is to encourage a more self-sufficient country, he is breaking the promises he has made to Americans who are struggling to afford groceries. It only further shows that he is an out-of-touch billionaire whose only goal is to further his own agenda, rather than fight for the American people who voted for him.
While Trump supporters have been waiting with bated breath for Trump’s economy, they are about to face the reality of who they put into office.
Andrea Roberts can be reached at arg-opinion@uidaho.edu.
Dennis Whitehead
With all the craziness going on, I just hope that UI stands with Harvard.