Trump Tariffs Are a ‘Disaster’ for World’s Poorest Countries
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President Donald Trump’s new reciprocal tariffs are set to hit some of the world’s poorest nations the hardest, putting their labor-intensive export industries at risk and diminishing one of the US’s biggest economic advantages over rival China.
Cambodia was slapped with Asia’s highest tariff rate of 49% in Trump’s levies announced Wednesday. Garment manufacturing giant Bangladesh was hit with a 37% rate, while in Myanmar, where a devastating earthquake last week left more than 3,000 dead, the US imposed a 45% duty. The southern African nation of Lesotho received a 50% tariff, the highest of any country.