White House Tweaks 14 Tariff Levels Amid Confusion After "Liberation Day"

More than a dozen countries set for US reciprocal tariffs spent the first day of President Donald Trump's tariff rollout not only bracing for the economic fallout but with confusion about exactly what rates they might face. 

A White House annex listing future reciprocal tariff rates initially differed for at least 14 economies from what was on the charts presented when Trump announced his "Liberation Day" tariffs in the Rose Garden, according to a Bloomberg review of published data. In each case, they were higher by exactly one percentage point.

On Thursday, the White House adjusted the annex rates downward to reflect the slightly-lower numbers first shown in the charts Trump displayed.

This is important because, under the executive order implementing Trump's reciprocal tariff policy, all US trading partners start at a global 10% tariff from April 5. Four days later, those listed in the annex - and only those in the annex - would have their rates elevated to those set out in that document. 

In the annex document, India's rate was originally listed at 27%, rather than the 26% shown previously by Trump, before later being revised down to 26%. South Korea was at 25% in the charts, then 26% in the annex, now back to 25%. Others with fluctuating rates included Botswana, Cameroon, Malawi, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, Serbia, South Africa, Thailand, Vanuatu, and the Falkland Islands.

The numbers in the annex implementation document are the rates that will take effect, a White House official said.

Additionally, some overseas territories and possessions of larger countries - originally listed in the White House's charts with tariff lines different from their parent nations - don't appear at all in the annex. 

Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean between Mauritius and Madagascar that's an overseas territory of France, was listed at 37% in Trump's reciprocal tariff charts, but wasn't included on the formal annex. Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a French archipelago near Canada, and Norfolk Island, an Australian territory two hours by plane east of Brisbane, were similarly left off the tariffs annex. France, as a European Union member, faces a 20% reciprocal tariff, while Australia is at the global minimum levy of 10%

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