Is it 26% or 27%? Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ reciprocal tariff on India sparks confusion

When US President Donald Trump on Wednesday revealed a chart with revised “Liberation Day” tariffs for its major trade partners, including India, China and the European Union, it sparked confusion among the countries impacted.

According to the annex document, India’s rate was mentioned at 27 per cent, rather than the 26 per cent shown earlier.

Reciprocal tariff rates differed for at least 14 nations from those on the charts presented by Donald Trump, a Bloomberg report said, citing a White House annex.

Over a dozen countries will face slightly higher tariff rates than they had earlier expected, as per the Bloomberg report.

Holding up a chart of the sweeping measures in the White House Rose Garden, Trump called it "our declaration of economic independence".

"For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike," Trump said.

Trump's reciprocal tariffs

According to the annex document, while India’s tariff rate differed by one per cent, South Korea's was 26 per cent instead of 25 per cent.

Other countries whose rates differed include Botswana, Cameroon, Malawi, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, Serbia, South Africa, Thailand, Vanuatu, and the Falkland Islands.

Under the executive order issued by the Trump administration, tariffs for all US trading partners start at 10 per cent from April 5, and four days later, rates would rise to levels as mentioned in the annex document.

Also, tariff rates for overseas territories of some countries differed from their parent nations.

Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a French archipelago near Canada and Australian territory Norfolk Island were left off the tariffs annex.

Similarly, French overseas territory Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean between Mauritius and Madagascar, was levied at 37 per cent in the reciprocal tariff charts, but wasn’t included in the formal annex.

Retaliation threats

US trading partners vowed on Thursday to hit back at President Trump's global tariffs onslaught but left the door open to negotiations.

He spared almost no nation on his "Liberation Day", hitting friends and foes alike and reserving some of the harshest tariffs for major trade partners, including the European Union and China.

China vowed "countermeasures," while France and Germany warned that the EU could impose a tax on US tech firms operating in Europe.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed Europe was "prepared to respond" to the tariffs, calling them a “major blow to the world economy”.