#TariffPause

Exports to the United States account for 30% of Vietnam's economy and there was fear that a 46% tariff would have plunged the Southeast Asian nation into a recession.

But Vietnam and others will continue to pay the new minimum tariff rate of 10%, while before many faced substantially lower levies.

And countries like Australia and South Korea, which had free trade agreements with Washington (which means zero tariffs for many exports to the U.S.), will still see a significant break in their trade relations with the United States. They will also be subject to the 10% tariff.

The president has unilaterally broken those free trade agreements, as well as the one the United States had with Canada and Mexico, which Trump signed during his first term.

What about Trump’s other tariffs?

Numerous other tariffs that Trump announced since returning to the White House remain in effect and are not affected by the pause.

This includes:

25% tariffs on all car imports to the United States, including from the UK.25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, including products made with these metals.25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and Canada.

In general terms, economists warn that the extent to which the pause actually changes the direction of U.S. trade policy should not be exaggerated.

Bloomberg Economics has calculated that the average tariff in the United States on all its imports would rise to 27% before the pause, the highest level in over 100 years.

And after the pause, they estimate that it will rise to 24%, still the highest level in a century.

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