TRUMP TARIFF

CHURN ACROSS GLOBAL ECONOMICS

- SUNITHA NATTI @ Hyderabad

US President Donald Trump's tariff terror continues to unleash economic uncertainty and chaos. If countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand rushed to secure a deal bowing under pressure, others like Brazil and India are standing firm. Still others like China and Japan, which have a deal, seem to be contemplating the contents of the agreement. If they do prefer to re-look the done deals, it could lend emotional support to India's cause.

For its part, India has called the tariffs 'unfair and unjustified'. According to S&P Global Ratings, 75% of India's exports to the US are exempt from tariffs. The impact is only on $44 billion worth of trade, or 1.05% of India's GDP. It means, the tariff onslaught is more a psychological pressure to fall in line, than a meaningful trade economic treaty.

The same holds true for everyone. Those who managed a deal did so to retain access to the world's largest economy. But almost every country is exploring bilateral trade pacts other than the US to minimise the impact in the medium-to-long term. Then there are others like Brazil that are going all-out to confront the US and protect their domestic interests at all costs. Here's a country-wise look at the measures to deal with the US tariffs.

● Brazil

Brazil, the only country other than India that's facing punitive levies of as high as 50%, isn't caving in. Initially in April, tariffs stood at just 10%, but the Latin American nation attracted Trump's wrath, which all agree is not due to trade, but because of the ongoing trial by the Brazilian government against Trump's right-wing ally Jair Bolsonaro for coup-plotting.