On April 2, U.S. President Donald Trump declared “Economic Liberation Day” and announced the country’s new import tariff policy (source). Under this policy, starting April 5, a 10% base tariff has been imposed on all types of imported goods entering the United States. In addition, a “reciprocal tariff” system is being implemented for nearly 90 countries. Under this system, the U.S. will impose import tariffs at half the rate of the tariffs these countries apply to U.S. exports. This new reciprocal tariff rate was scheduled to come into effect on April 9. Under this policy, Bangladesh was also slated to face a 37% tariff.
In this context, a claim began circulating on social media stating that the U.S. has announced a reduction of the imposed 37% tariff on Bangladesh to 10%.
Some of the Facebook posts promoting this claim can be seen: here (archive), here (archive), here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).
Additionally, a post shared on mainstream media SA TV’s Facebook page claimed that, at Bangladesh’s request, the U.S. has suspended tariffs globally for three months.
Fact Check
The Rumor Scanner team’s investigation found that the decision to pause the implementation of the “reciprocal tariff” policy was not made exclusively for Bangladesh. Instead, the U.S. temporarily suspended the policy for 90 days for more than 75 countries, including Bangladesh. In contrast, the tariff rate for China was raised to 125 percent. The claim that this global suspension was the result of a request from Bangladesh is also false. Donald Trump stated that the pause was granted because over 75 countries expressed interest in entering discussions with the United States.
In this regard, a post published on April 9 in the U.S. President Donald Trump’s Truth Social profile was found. In the post, he wrote:
“Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable. Conversely, and based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs, and that these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
So, under Donald Trump’s new announcement, while the tariff on China has been increased to 125 percent, it has been reduced to 10 percent for other countries for a period of 90 days.
A report published on CNN on April 9 (source) also stated that, on that day, on that day, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on the “reciprocal tariff” policy. During this period, the tariff rate for most countries was lowered to 10 percent, while for China, it was increased to 125 percent.
The report, citing a White House official, also mentioned that the 10% tariff rate will not apply to Mexico and Canada. Instead, nearly all products from these two countries will continue to be subject to the previous 25% tariff.
Furthermore, international media outlets such as Reuters and the BBC also confirmed the same information regarding Trump’s announcement to suspend “reciprocal tariffs” for 90 days.
In summary, not just Bangladesh, the United States has paused the implementation of the new tariff policy and set the rate at 10 percent for more than 75 countries for a period of 90 days.
Therefore, the claims that the new US tariff rate has been set at 10 percent only for Bangladesh and that the global tariff reduction was made at Bangladesh’s request are both misleading.
