The White House has revised its list of tariffs for particular countries and New Zealand has been put on a 15 percent base rate, up from the original 10 percent announced earlier.
US President Donald Trump announced the tariffs in April and said he they would be imposed on more than 125 countries.
Tariffs are paid by importers of products from other countries to their own governments, like taxes, effectively making imported goods more expensive for local consumers.
Advocates say they protect local economies, while detractors say they reduce trade and push up prices.
In announcing the initial range of tariffs in April, Trump caused confusion when he held up a chart saying New Zealand charged US goods a 20 percent tariff, which the New Zealand government denied.
It ended up being 10 percent, which Finance Minister Nicola Willis at the time called “extraordinary”. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said New Zealand would not respond in kind.
Two-thirds of Kiwi businesses in a survey earlier this year thought the tariffs would have a more severe global impact than Covid-19 and the global financial crisis over the next 12 months.
Trump has repeatedly threatened a range of different tariffs on various nations since returning to the White House – most recently India, citing its own trade barriers and purchasing of energy and arms from Russia, and Canada, over its newfound support for Palestinian statehood.
More to come . . .
