Amid widespread discussions on tariffs, various countries are bustling with activity.
The EU’s Trade and Economic Commissioner has traveled to the U.S. again, Malaysia is tightening its semiconductor export regulations with China, and a final push is underway in tariff negotiations with the U.S. President Trump stated that numerous countries might be exempt from the tariffs.
The U.S. is planning to impose a 25% tariff on oil imports from Venezuela starting April 2.
On March 24, during an investment announcement event by Hyundai Group at the White House, President Trump responded to a question about whether some countries or sectors might be exempt when implementing reciprocal tariffs. He said, “I could grant exemptions to a lot of countries,” implying a less stringent approach while still maintaining reciprocity.
He also mentioned that additional tariffs, related to automobiles, lumber, and semiconductors, would be announced in the coming days. However, he clarified that not all tariffs would be included in the announcement. He specifically indicated that tariffs on automobiles might be announced first and that reciprocal tariffs would come into effect on April 2.
The anticipation that some tariffs might be relaxed led to an increase in all three major indexes of the New York Stock Exchange. However, Bloomberg reported that President Trump’s remarks added confusion to his plans, underscoring concerns about his inconsistent approach causing instability in global trade.
Amidst the uncertainty over the reciprocal tariffs, major U.S. trading partners are eager to negotiate with the U.S. According to Bloomberg, Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s Trade and Economic Security Commissioner, is heading to the U.S. again within a month for tariff negotiations. Olaf Zil, the EU Commission’s Trade spokesperson, stated that they are committed to doing everything possible to avoid harmful tariffs.
Before the reciprocal tariff implementation on April 2, the UK is considering reducing or abolishing its digital services tax on the U.S. This tax, introduced in 2020, imposes a 2% levy on revenue generated from UK users by internet companies. President Trump has criticized it as discriminatory against large U.S. tech companies (Big Tech).
Malaysia has decided to cooperate with the U.S.’s containment of China. According to the Financial Times, Malaysia plans to strengthen export regulations to prevent the leakage of Nvidia semiconductors to China, as requested by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Meanwhile, Taiwan has decided to participate in the U.S.’s Alaska LNG project through its state-run oil company CPC.
President Trump has escalated sanctions on Venezuela, using additional tariffs as leverage against China. On Truth Social, he announced a 25% tariff on all trade transactions with countries importing oil or gas from Venezuela, set to begin April 2. He justified the move by claiming that Venezuela has intentionally deported numerous criminals to the U.S., many of whom he described as murderers with violent tendencies.
This sanction appears to target China, Venezuela’s largest oil importer. According to data provided by oil market analysis firm RFP Oil Associates to CNN, Venezuela produced 921,000 barrels of crude oil per day last year, of which 351,000 barrels were shipped to China daily. Currently, Korea does not import Venezuelan crude oil, so this measure does not affect Korea.