But it is highly unclear what Trump really means. Because at the same time, he says that 10 percent is "pretty close" to a lowest level, for the nations that want to negotiate new trade agreements with the USA.
There may be a few exceptions, but I would say that 10 percent is a floor, Trump said to reporters on board his presidential plane on Friday evening on the way to Florida.
Trump did not elaborate on what he meant by "obvious reasons" and did not hint at any shift in his tariff regime.
Towards China, the USA has raised tariffs to 145 percent, which began to apply on April 11. On Saturday, China's retaliatory tariffs of 125 percent also came into force.
Over the past week, the President of the USA has introduced, announced, and withdrawn import tariffs at a frantic pace, which has created great concern on the world's financial markets.
Trump paused his tougher tariffs against several trading partners for three months on Tuesday, among them the EU. This was after the financial markets had sent up the American interest rates to unusually high levels, something that many analysts believe was the drop that forced Trump to back down.
The lower tariff rate of 10 percent remains in place for the time being, plus the 25-percent tariffs on steel, aluminum, and cars that were introduced already in February and early April.
