In a major trade shift, US President Donald Trump has announced a 10 percent tariff on imports from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar.

The new tariffs will come into effect on Saturday, April 5, with higher rates for some countries beginning Wednesday, April 9.

At a White House event, Trump defended the move as a response to foreign trade barriers on US goods, calling it “Liberation Day.” He displayed a chart showing current tariffs imposed on US goods:

• China: 34 percent
• European Union: 20 percent
• Vietnam: 46 percent
• Taiwan: 32 percent
• Japan: 24 percent
• India: 26 percent
• South Korea: 25 percent
• Thailand: 36 percent
• Switzerland: 31 percent
• Indonesia: 32 percent
• Malaysia: 24 percent
• Cambodia: 49 percent
• United Kingdom: 10 percent
• South Africa: 30 percent
• Brazil: 10 percent
• Bangladesh: 37 percent
• Singapore: 10 percent
• Israel: 17 percent
• Philippines: 17 percent
• Chile: 10 percent
• Australia: 10 percent
• Pakistan: 29 percent
• Turkey: 10 percent
• Sri Lanka: 44 percent
• Colombia: 10 percent
• Peru: 10 percent
• Nicaragua: 18 percent
• Norway: 15 percent
• Costa Rica: 10 percent
• Jordan: 20 percent
• Dominican Republic: 10 percent
• United Arab Emirates: 10 percent
• New Zealand: 10 percent
• Argentina: 10 percent
• Guatemala: 10 percent
• Madagascar: 47 percent
• Myanmar (Burma): 44 percent
• Tunisia: 28 percent
• Kazakhstan: 27 percent
• Serbia: 37 percent
• Egypt: 10 percent
• Saudi Arabia: 10 percent
• El Salvador: 10 percent
• Côte d’Ivoire: 21 percent
• Laos: 48 percent
• Botswana: 37 percent
• Trinidad and Tobago: 10 percent
• Morocco: 10 percent
• Algeria: 30 percent
• Oman: 10 percent
• Uruguay: 10 percent
• Bahamas: 10 percent
• Lesotho: 50 percent
• Ukraine: 10 percent
• Bahrain: 10 percent
• Qatar: 10 percent
• Mauritius: 40 percent
• Fiji: 32 percent
• Iceland: 10 percent
• Kenya: 10 percent
• Liechtenstein: 37 percent
• Guyana: 38 percent
• Haiti: 10 percent
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: 35 percent
• Nigeria: 14 percent
• Namibia: 21 percent
• Brunei: 24 percent
• Bolivia: 10 percent
• Panama: 10 percent
• Venezuela: 15 percent
• North Macedonia: 33 percent
• Ethiopia: 10 percent
• Ghana: 10 percent
• Moldova: 31 percent
• Angola: 32 percent
• Democratic Republic of the Congo: 11 percent
• Jamaica: 10 percent
• Mozambique: 16 percent
• Paraguay: 10 percent
• Zambia: 17 percent
• Lebanon: 10 percent
• Tanzania: 10 percent
• Iraq: 39 percent
• Georgia: 10 percent
• Senegal: 10 percent
• Azerbaijan: 10 percent
• Cameroon: 11 percent
• Uganda: 10 percent
• Albania: 10 percent
• Armenia: 10 percent
• Nepal: 10 percent
• Sint Maarten: 10 percent
• Falkland Islands: 41 percent
• Gabon: 10 percent
• Kuwait: 10 percent
• Togo: 10 percent
• Suriname: 10 percent
• Belize: 10 percent
• Papua New Guinea: 10 percent
• Malawi: 17 percent
• Liberia: 10 percent
• British Virgin Islands: 10 percent
• Afghanistan: 10 percent
• Zimbabwe: 18 percent
• Benin: 10 percent
• Barbados: 10 percent
• Monaco: 10 percent
• Syria: 41 percent
• Uzbekistan: 10 percent
• Republic of the Congo: 10 percent
• Djibouti: 10 percent
• French Polynesia: 10 percent
• Cayman Islands: 10 percent
• Kosovo: 10 percent
• Curaçao: 10 percent
• Vanuatu: 22 percent
• Rwanda: 10 percent
• Sierra Leone: 10 percent
• Mongolia: 10 percent
• San Marino: 10 percent
• Antigua and Barbuda: 10 percent
• Bermuda: 10 percent
• Eswatini (Swaziland): 10 percent
• Marshall Islands: 10 percent
• Saint Pierre and Miquelon: 50 percent
• Saint Kitts and Nevis: 10 percent
• Turkmenistan: 10 percent
• Grenada: 10 percent
• Sudan: 10 percent
• Turks and Caicos Islands: 10 percent
• Aruba: 10 percent
• Montenegro: 10 percent
• Saint Helena: 10 percent
• Kyrgyzstan: 10 percent
• Yemen: 10 percent
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 10 percent
• Niger: 10 percent
• Saint Lucia: 10 percent
• Nauru: 30 percent
• Equatorial Guinea: 13 percent
• Iran: 10 percent
• Libya: 31 percent
• Samoa: 10 percent
• Guinea: 10 percent
• Timor-Leste: 10 percent
• Montserrat: 10 percent
• Chad: 13 percent
• Mali: 10 percent
• Maldives: 10 percent
• Tajikistan: 10 percent
• Cabo Verde: 10 percent
• Burundi: 10 percent
• Guadeloupe: 10 percent
• Bhutan: 10 percent
• Martinique: 10 percent
• Tonga: 10 percent
• Mauritania: 10 percent
• Dominica: 10 percent
• Micronesia: 10 percent
• Gambia: 10 percent
• French Guiana: 10 percent
• Christmas Island: 10 percent
• Andorra: 10 percent
• Central African Republic: 10 percent
• Solomon Islands: 10 percent
• Mayotte: 10 percent
• Anguilla: 10 percent
• Cocos (Keeling) Islands: 10 percent
• Eritrea: 10 percent
• Cook Islands: 10 percent
• South Sudan: 10 percent
• Comoros: 10 percent
• Kiribati: 10 percent
• São Tomé and Príncipe: 10 percent
• Norfolk Island: 29 percent
• Gibraltar: 10 percent
• Tuvalu: 10 percent
• British Indian Ocean Territory: 10 percent
• Tokelau: 10 percent
• Guinea-Bissau: 10 percent
• Svalbard and Jan Mayen: 10 percent
• Heard and McDonald Islands: 10 percent
• Reunion: 37 percent

“We will charge them about half of what they charge us,” Trump said, adding that fully reciprocal tariffs would be “too tough for many countries.”

Exemptions and additional tariffs

According to a White House fact sheet, some goods are exempt from the new tariffs, including:

• Copper
• Pharmaceuticals
• Semiconductors
• Lumber
• Gold
• Energy
• Specific minerals unavailable in the US

In addition, a 25 percent tariff will be imposed on all foreign-made automobiles, taking effect at midnight on Thursday, April 3.

The announcement has already disrupted global markets, triggering condemnation from world leaders who see it as a threat to decades of trade liberalisation.

Meanwhile, Trump has also announced plans to visit the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar as early as May.