UN calls on Trump to exempt poorest countries from 'reciprocal' tariffs [View all]

Source: The Guardian

Mon 14 Apr 2025 07.50 EDT
Last modified on Mon 14 Apr 2025 21.30 EDT


The UN’s trade and development arm, Unctad, is calling on Donald Trump to exempt the world’s poorest and smallest countries from “reciprocal” tariffs, or risk “serious economic harm”. In a report published on Monday, Unctad identifies 28 nations the US president singled out for a higher tariff rate than the 10% baseline – despite each accounting for less than 0.1% of the US trade deficit.

These include Laos, which is expected to face a 48% tariff; Mauritius, on 40%; and Myanmar, to be hit with 45%, despite trying to recover from a devastating earthquake. The White House shocked many developing countries with the punitive tariff rates announced this month. Trump claimed rival economies had “looted, pillaged, raped, plundered” the US with unfair trade practices, and he wanted to create a level playing field.

Unctad said many of the countries targeted with high tariff rates were unlikely to be a threat to the world’s largest economy, given their small size and modest levels of exports. The White House last week put the higher tariff rates on pause for 90 days, after unleashing chaos on world financial markets, leaving a 10% levy in place across the board. But the administration’s formal position remains that the “reciprocal” tariff rates will come into force, subject to negotiations.

“The current 90-day pause presents an opportunity to reassess how small and vulnerable economies – including the least developed countries – are treated,” Unctad said. “This is a critical moment to consider exempting them from tariffs that offer little to no advantage for US trade policy but risk causing serious economic harm.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/14/un-calls-on-trump-to-exempt-poorest-countries-from-reciprocal-tariffs