The United States’ average tariff rate has risen to 20.1 per cent — the highest since the early 1910s, apart from a brief surge earlier this year — after new duties came into effect on Thursday, according to data from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The figure, calculated jointly by the WTO and IMF, contrasts sharply with the 2.4 per cent rate in place when Donald Trump became president on 20 January.
Trump’s announcement on 2 April of “reciprocal” tariffs on key trading partners, followed by further escalations, particularly targeting Chinese goods, temporarily pushed the average rate to 24.8 per cent in May — the highest since 1904, according to the United States International Trade Commission (ITC).
A temporary trade “truce” later reduced the extreme tariff levels between the US and China, but this arrangement is due to expire next week.
The new WTO and IMF calculation reflects trade agreements now in force between the US and partners such as the European Union, Japan, and South Korea. These deals typically reduced tariff rates from the steep levels Trump threatened in April, but left them higher than the baseline 10 per cent rate the US had earlier applied.
The updated rate, based on 2024 trade volumes, surpasses the nearly 20 per cent tariff average of the 1930s — a period economists widely blame for worsening and prolonging the Great Depression.
On Thursday, Trump declared that “billions of dollars in tariffs” were entering US coffers following his 7 August deadline for implementing new duties.
Posting on Truth Social just after midnight, he wrote: “IT’S MIDNIGHT!!! BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TARIFFS ARE NOW FLOWING INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!”
Under an executive order Trump signed last week, US duties rose from 10 per cent to between 15 per cent and 41 per cent for selected trading partners.
Many goods from economies such as the European Union, Japan, and South Korea now face a 15-per-cent tariff, despite agreements aimed at avoiding even higher threatened levies.
By contrast, imports from India face a 25-per-cent duty — set to double in three weeks — while Syria, Myanmar, and Laos face rates of either 40 per cent or 41 per cent.