In a press conference that will shake global markets and arouse anger in many capitals around the world, friendly and hostile alike, US President Donald Trump will present the next, decisive stage in his tariffs program. An indication of the historic importance that Trump attributes to the move, and perhaps also of its consequences, can be understood from him hailing the day of the announcement as “liberation day” for America, while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing: “April 2, 2025, will go down as one of the most important days in modern American history.”
“The Washington Post” reports on the basis of three sources in the White House that one option being considered in order to avoid the complexity of reciprocal tariffs is a general 20% tariff on all goods entering the US, without exceptions.
This would be a dramatic step, since it would not distinguish between countries or products, contrary to the original plan under which tariffs were reportedly to be reciprocal, in accordance with the trade barriers imposed by each country on US goods. A report by UBS contains an estimate that a reciprocal tariffs policy would mean setting 2.5 million separate tariff rates, by product and country.
Israel is making several attempts to curry favor with Trump and gain an exemption from the merging new tariff regime, despite the declarations that there will be none. The first step was expansion of the recent relaxations of standards requirements for imports. In an instant procedure, the “What’s good for Europe is good for Israel” reform, which angered the US administration, has been updated such that products that meet US standards will automatically be approved for import into Israel.
Expansion of the reform was a fairly simple procedure, since its significance is more declarative than practical. In reality, almost all US products for export are adapted to European standards, so that they were able to be imported into Israel even under the original reform.
The second step that the government is taking to improve the chances of Israeli products obtaining an exemption from US tariffs is to make the first move in that respect. Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich has signed an order cancelling Israeli tariffs on imports from the US. The order requires approval from the Knesset finance Committee.
Tariffs on US goods are in any case negligible, and amount to some NIS 42 million annually. The relevant tariffs are mainly on agricultural produce. “The aim of the move is to promote a zero tariffs policy between the two countries and to maintain positive trade relations with the US,” Smotrich said in announcing the move last week.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on April 2, 2025.
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