US President Donald Trump signed executive order after delivering remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2025. He has imposed a minimum 10% tariff on all exporters to the US and slap additional duties on around 60 nations with the largest trade imbalances with the US. His administration describes unfair trade practices by countries that maintain high barriers against US exports as the reason of his action.The reciprocal tariffs do not apply to certain goods, including copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber, gold, energy and "certain minerals that are not available in the United States," according to a White House fact sheet.
The Trump administration initiated a potential end, or at least a significant transformation, of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) principle that has long been a cornerstone of the GATT/WTO framework.
Trump primarily targets "Dirty 15" countries, but Bangladesh not on the list. Bangladesh set to come under a fresh economic pressure as its exports to the United States are facing a 37 percent "reciprocal tariff" under the Trump administration's sweeping overhaul of global trade policy. According to the USA, those are higher reciprocal tariffs on these US trading partners to erect barriers around US economy. The announcement will kick into high gear a global trade war threatens to drive up inflation and stall US and worldwide economic growth.This additional tax are proposed to use as instrument to support local industries and attract FDI and local investment in USA. Trump is using them as leverage to achieve foreign policy goals, too.
Tariffs are taxes imposed on imported goods and USTreasury secretary is responsible for establishing regulations on the collection of tariffs. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the government body tasked with enforcing them at nearly 330 ports of entry across the country - which include border crossings by roads or rail, as well as seaports and airports.
Goods that cross borders are given harmonized system codes under a standardized nomenclature called the "international harmonized system." Tariffs can be assigned to specific product H. S. code relating to, for example, truck chassis, or to broad categories, such as electric vehicles. Customs agencies collect tariffs on behalf of governments.
As announced policy for cross-country value-added products and components cross borders multiple times before becoming a finished product, such as a car with US-made parts assembled in Mexico and re-imported to the US. Under CBP rules, US-made products that are re-imported into the country without being "improved" or "advanced" in value are duty-free.
The tariff on imported products was not the major source of income for USgovernment. As of 2024, they accounted for less than 3% of federal receipts, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis analysis of government data.The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank, estimates that tariffs imposed on China by Trump during his first term and expanded during Joe Biden's presidency generated $77 billion in annual revenue. White House has said Trump's tariffs will raise $700 billion a year, about nine times current US customs revenue.
The reciprocal tariff regime shall apply different rates to different countries and even product categories, making the global trading environment more fragmented and unpredictable. This new tariff policy will make it difficult to determine the winners and losers among exporting countries in the US market, while contributing to a more volatile and unpredictable global trading environment.
