Trump says US tariffs to hit ‘all countries’

President Donald Trump said Sunday the tariffs he plans to impose in the coming days would include “all countries”, not just those with the largest trade imbalances with the United States.

Trump has promised a “Liberation Day” on April 2, when he is set to unveil reciprocal levies to address trade practices that his government deems unfair.

You’d start with all countries, so let’s see what happens,” Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One, dashing hopes he might scale back some of the threatened levies or that they would target a select group with persistent trade imbalances.

I haven’t heard a rumor about 15 countries, 10 or 15,” he said when asked which nations would be affected.

“Essentially all of the countries that we’re talking about. We’ve been talking about all countries, not a cutoff,” he said, without giving details.

Trump’s upcoming tariff salvo had been expected to target the 15 percent of partners that have persistent trade imbalances with the United States, a group Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called a “Dirty 15.”

But despite widening the target, the president insisted his tariffs would be more “generous” than those levied against the United States.

The tariffs will be far more generous than those countries were to us, meaning they will be kinder than those countries were to the United States of America over the decades,” he said.

“They ripped us off like no country has ever been ripped off in history and we’re going to be much nicer than they were to us. But it’s substantial money for the country nevertheless,” he said.

Trump has already slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and additional levies on imports from China.

Only Heathrow and Manchester airports have provisions for airside transit in the UK.

Almost 84 million passengers passed through Heathrow in 2024 — a third from the neighbouring EU.

– Scheme expanded –

The scheme was first launched in 2023 for Qatar, before being extended to five regional Gulf neighbours.

In January, it was expanded to nationals of around another 50 countries and territories, including Argentina, South Korea and New Zealand.

Almost 1.1 million visitors were issued with ETAs before the end of 2024, according to the Home Office.

It is not applicable to UK residents or anyone who already has a UK immigration status.

President Donald Trump said Sunday the tariffs he plans to impose in the coming days would include “all countries”, not just those with the largest trade imbalances with the United States.

Trump has promised a “Liberation Day” on April 2, when he is set to unveil reciprocal levies to address trade practices that his government deems unfair.

You’d start with all countries, so let’s see what happens,” Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One, dashing hopes he might scale back some of the threatened levies or that they would target a select group with persistent trade imbalances.

I haven’t heard a rumor about 15 countries, 10 or 15,” he said when asked which nations would be affected.

“Essentially all of the countries that we’re talking about. We’ve been talking about all countries, not a cutoff,” he said, without giving details.

Trump’s upcoming tariff salvo had been expected to target the 15 percent of partners that have persistent trade imbalances with the United States, a group Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called a “Dirty 15.”

But despite widening the target, the president insisted his tariffs would be more “generous” than those levied against the United States.

The tariffs will be far more generous than those countries were to us, meaning they will be kinder than those countries were to the United States of America over the decades,” he said.

“They ripped us off like no country has ever been ripped off in history and we’re going to be much nicer than they were to us. But it’s substantial money for the country nevertheless,” he said.

Trump has already slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and additional levies on imports from China.

Only Heathrow and Manchester airports have provisions for airside transit in the UK.

Almost 84 million passengers passed through Heathrow in 2024 — a third from the neighbouring EU.

– Scheme expanded –

The scheme was first launched in 2023 for Qatar, before being extended to five regional Gulf neighbours.

In January, it was expanded to nationals of around another 50 countries and territories, including Argentina, South Korea and New Zealand.

Almost 1.1 million visitors were issued with ETAs before the end of 2024, according to the Home Office.

It is not applicable to UK residents or anyone who already has a UK immigration status.