US President Donald Trump announced what he said were “kind” reciprocal tariffs against more than 180 countries on Wednesday, along with a baseline tariff against other countries, delivering the most sweeping tariff package the US has implemented in decades.
The Trump administration has imposed a 10 percent tariff on Nepali products. The United States has granted trade preferential treatment to Nepal, but traders have not been able to benefit from it.
America is a big trade partner of Nepal. Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act 2015 provides duty and quota free access to 77 Nepali products. Officials say, Nepal government now will have to talk with America to ensure the smooth export of Nepali products in American markets.
Over the past five years the exports of Nepal to the United States have increased at an annualized rate of 4.98 percent, from $110m in 2018 to $140m in 2023.
The United States and Nepal have signed a trade and investment framework agreement, providing a forum for bilateral talks to enhance trade and investment, discuss specific trade issues, and promote more comprehensive trade agreements between the two countries. Principal US exports to Nepal include agricultural products, aircraft parts, optic and medical instruments and machinery. US imports from Nepal include carpets, apparel and jewelry.
The following are the reciprocal tariffs Trump announced on Wednesday. Any countries not on the list will have a baseline 10 percent tariff on any products coming into the US, the administration said.
The tariffs charged to the US include currency manipulation and trade barriers, according to information provided by the administration—though the percentages could not be independently verified.
The Trump administration is using tariffs as a tool to dismantle levies imposed by other countries and create “truly free and open global trade,” a director with The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, told CNN. Richard Stern, director of Grover M Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at The Heritage Foundation, said other countries have deployed trade barriers, subsidized their products and committed intellectual property theft.
President Donald Trump’s historic tariff announcement will have a lasting impact on South Asia, where the US is a top export destination for many countries in the region, analysts say.
The region, which includes the world’s most populous country, India, as well as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, is “dealing with varying levels of economic stress,” he said. “There’s a lot of vulnerability, and the tariffs will hit hard,” said Michael Kugelman, South Asia Institute Director at The Wilson Center, a US-based think tank.
