White House Official: All countries with trade agreements now drop to a 10% tariff rate
Summary
- A White House official confirmed that countries with existing trade agreements will see their tariff rates reset to a flat 10% following the Supreme Court's decision to strike down previous tariff structures.
- This creates a temporary window of relief for major trading partners, as rates drop from 15-20% down to 10%.
- Vietnam is identified as the "big winner," seeing its tariff rate halved from 20% to 10%.
- The administration plans to use new authorities to eventually raise these tariffs back up, but this process involves a comment period (90-180 days), creating a medium-term relief rally opportunity.
Trade Ideas
Eamon Javers
Senior Washington Correspondent
"That represents a big win for companies doing business with those regions, because that lowers the tariff rate significantly, at least for the short term." US companies that import goods from these regions (Retailers, Auto, Tech) were facing 15-20% duties. A reset to 10% immediately improves gross margins and reduces inflationary pressure on their supply chains. Long US Importers/Retailers on margin relief. Regulatory uncertainty; if the Commerce Secretary conducts a fast-track study, tariffs could rise again sooner than expected.
Eamon Javers
Senior Washington Correspondent
"All of those agreements are now reset to 10%... The European Union, which was at 15% now will be at ten. Japan was at 15% now at ten, India was at 18, now at ten, South Korea was at 15, now at ten. And Vietnam will be the big winner here. They were at 20%... They also come down to 10%." The immediate reduction in tariff rates (from as high as 20% down to 10%) acts as a massive stimulus for the export economies of these specific nations. Vietnam has the highest delta (a 1000bps cut), making it the primary beneficiary. This lowers the cost of doing business with the US and should drive equity performance in these regions. Long country-specific ETFs, overweight Vietnam (VNM). The White House explicitly stated they "reserve the right to raise those tariff rates back up" after a formal review process (90-180 days).
