Tag

#tariffs

Import duties used as instruments of economic coercion against other nations. When tariffs are deployed as political weapons rather than trade policy, they can harm civilian populations and violate international trade obligations.

4 incidents

Updated May 1, 2025 Foreign Policy & War
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Ongoing

2025 Tariff Shock: Sweeping Import Taxes Trigger Global Trade Crisis

The tariff regime was described by the administration as reciprocal response to trade imbalances, but the methodology for calculating tariff rates — dividing trade deficits by import values — was not a recognized economic method and did not reflect actual foreign tariff levels. Economists across the political spectrum warned of consumer price increases, supply chain disruptions, and reduced trade volumes. The tariffs on Chinese goods — reaching 145% cumulatively — effectively ended routine trade in many product categories. Markets fell sharply; the S&P 500 lost approximately 12% in the two trading days following the announcement, its worst two-day drop since 2008. A 90-day pause was announced for most countries (excluding China) after Treasury Secretary Bessent and other officials lobbied Trump.

Sources
4
tariffsLiberation-Daytrade-warsecond-termforeign-policy
Updated January 15, 2020 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Trade Wars and Steel Tariffs: Harming Allies While Failing to Rebuild Manufacturing

Trump's Section 232 and Section 301 tariffs disrupted U.S. trade relationships with allies and adversaries alike. The steel and aluminum tariffs targeted Canada, the EU, Japan, and South Korea — treaty allies — under a national security designation that even many Republicans criticized as pretextual. Retaliatory tariffs by China on soybeans, pork, and other agricultural goods caused severe damage to American farmers, requiring $28 billion in emergency agricultural assistance.

Sources
4
trade-wartariffsChinaagriculturefirst-term
Updated December 1, 2018 Foreign Policy & War
Major Abuse of Power

Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: Trade War With Allies, WTO Violations, Economic Disruption

The Section 232 tariffs were challenged immediately as legally dubious — U.S. national security law did not contemplate allies as threats, and Canada, Germany, South Korea, and Japan supply steel and aluminum to U.S. defense contractors. The EU, Canada, and Mexico all retaliated with targeted tariffs on politically sensitive U.S. products (Bourbon, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, orange juice, soybeans). The broader China trade war — separate from the steel tariffs — involved escalating rounds of tariffs reaching 25% on $250 billion in Chinese goods; China retaliated against agricultural products; the U.S. government paid $28 billion in direct payments to American farmers to compensate for lost Chinese export markets.

Sources
4
tariffstrade-warChinasteelforeign-policy