U.S. President Donald Trump’s shocking new tariff plan may put an end to the era of free trade that has fueled global economic growth since World War II. The world now fears a repeat of the 1930s debacle — when nations, scrambling to protect domestic industries, triggered a cascade of retaliatory tariffs with catastrophic consequences.
On Wednesday, Trump unveiled a sweeping “reciprocal” tariff policy, imposing a flat 10% tariff on all imports to the U.S., along with additional country-specific surcharges. Japan, in particular, was hit with an unexpectedly steep tariff of 24% in total — far higher than initial forecasts.
