April 9, 2025 by Frank Jensen
The president threatened to impose even higher tariffs if trading partners retaliate with higher tariffs on imports from the U.S.
He said the level of the new tariffs is being set at half the rate levied on American imports by the nations concerned. But the administration's calculations of these rates have been contested in the British media.
Listing the White House claims of tariffs charged by trading partners, The Guardian included a caveat, saying they were "Trump-defined", included U.S. assessments of "currency manipulation and trade barriers" and "so don't necessarily align with the tariffs published by countries concerned."
The Sky News U.S. correspondent, Mark Stone, said the calculations were made "by very questionable White House arithmetic" and a claim that Lesotho levied U.S. imports at 99 percent was a "wild claim".
"In fact, it's part of a southern African trade pact with other nations which have been levied at lower levels. Lesotho's textile industry is heavily reliant on U.S. exports. It's a country where 56.2 percent of the population lives on less than $3.65 a day, according to the World Bank. You don't need to 'do the maths' to see the impact."
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