With Trump’s Tariffs, the Chasm Between Allies and the U.S. Widens

• April 2, 2025, 5:38 p.m. ET

President Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on America’s trading partners has widened the rift between the United States and some of its closest allies while reconfiguring the global economic order.

Mr. Trump’s plan, which he unveiled on Wednesday and is calling “reciprocal,” would impose a wave of tariffs on dozens of other countries. Among major economies hardest hit were the European Union, which will face 20 percent tariffs under the plan, and China, which will absorb an additional 34 percent on top of existing levies.

“The scope and size of tariffs are both substantial and confirm the worst fears of the proponents of free trade,” said Eswar Prasad, professor in the Dyson School at Cornell University. “Trump is setting off a new era of protectionism that will reverberate worldwide.”

Mexico and Canada, two of the United States’ biggest trading partners, would not be subject to any new tariffs beyond the levies the president had previously announced, on imported vehicles, vehicle parts, steel, aluminum, and any other goods not traded under the rules of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The new levies include a base line 10 percent tariff on all countries except Canada and Mexico, as well as additional tariffs based on the tariffs other nations apply to U.S. exports and other barriers the administration has deemed unfair.

The announcement Wednesday was the latest step in a trade war that has been developing for weeks. Mr. Trump has already imposed steel and aluminum tariffs, announced car tariffs and threatened retaliatory tariffs on European alcohol. He has threatened — and then backed away from — steep levies on goods coming from Canada and Mexico, while imposing a different set on China.