Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on every country in the world is causing shockwaves – and the Middle East and North Africa has not escaped.
The US president announced the widest set of tariffs Washington has implemented in almost a century, in an attempt to close the United States‘ trade deficit.
They will be implemented via an executive order, and will be effective for some countries from 5 April, and others from 9 April.
Trump launched the tariffs in the White House garden while holding up a chart.
The chart listed “reciprocal tariffs” to be imposed on countries, and corresponding “tariffs charged to the US, including currency manipulation and trade barriers” by those same countries.
But the figures are in fact based on a formula, rather than specific tariffs. As a result of that calculation, countries in the Middle East and North Africa have been hit in unexpected and unlikely ways.
Middle East Eye explains the formula, and the regional players most strongly affected.
Formula has nothing to do with tariffs
Trump’s tariff rate is not, as stated, based on tariff and barrier rates from other countries.
Instead, it is based on a simple formula: a country’s trade surplus with the US, divided by its total goods exports to the US.
That percentage gives the so-called “tariffs charged to the US” rate provided by Washington.
For countries where this “tariffs charged” rate is high, the US’s “discounted reciprocal tariff” is calculated by dividing it by two.
The Middle East and North Africa countries that fall into this category are Algeria, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Libya, Syria and Tunisia.
As for countries where the “tariffs charged” rate is low, or indeed if they run a trade deficit with the US, then the Trump administration flatly claims that the country charges 10 percent. The reciprocal tariff is 10 percent for all these countries.
No country has been given tariffs lower than the baseline 10 percent.
Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkey, the UAE and Yemen all fall into this second category.