The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has announced a package duty reciprocal which will affect global trade, including countries of Latin America as Guatemala. These rates seek to match the taxes that other nations apply to American products.
According to Trump’s announcement, Guatemala and other Latin American economies They will face a 10 % tariff on their exports to the US. Although this percentage is not as high as the taxes applied to China (54 %) or the European Union (20 %), this change could affect key sectors such as the Agroindustry and the manufacture.
Reciprocal tariffs are taxes that a country imposes on imported products with the same rate as another country applies to its exports.
In other words: “If they charge us, we charge them”according to Trump’s own words.
The foundations of these tariffs and the effects they could have on Guatemala’s economy are explained below.
Why did Trump call him a day of liberation?
Trump mentioned the term Economic liberation day, suggesting that its commercial policy seeks to free the United States from agreements that it considers disadvantageous.
However, what the president calls “liberation”, other countries and analysts see it as a brake on global trade and, therefore, as the first step towards a recession.
Even the Democrats in the US Congress have demonstrated against: “It is not the day of liberation, it is that of the recession.”
What are reciprocal tariffs?
Reciprocal tariffs are taxes that a country imposes on imported products, matching the rates that this country applies to its exports.
The idea is to establish an equitable commercial relationship: if a country taxes a foreign product with a certain percentage, the affected country responds with an equivalent tariff on similar products, he explains The Times In a specialized article.
Examples of reciprocal tariffs
- Cars between the United States and the European Union: The European Union imposes a 10 % tariff on cars imported from the USA, while the US applies only 2.5 % to European vehicles. Implementing reciprocal tariffs would imply that the US increases its 10 % rate to match the EU.
- Steel and aluminum: In February 2025, USA announced a 25 % tariff on all imports of steel and aluminum, in response to similar rates imposed by other countries to US products.
Effects for Guatemala
The first reaction to the measure imposed by Trump came from the agricultural sector, which expressed concern about 10 %global tariffs.
The Agro Chamber (Camagro) He assured in a statement that the new tariffs will have a negative impact on the agricultural production chains of Guatemala and that trade between the two countries has been beneficial and must be protected, according to their position issued by the Thursday, April 3, 2025.
Camagro warns that these tariffs will affect the competitiveness of the sector, rural jobs and productive investment.
In addition, the agricultural sector stressed the need for legal authorities to take action to respect the commercial commitments established in the Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Central America (DR-CAFTA), in force since 2004.
For its part, the Ministry of Economy (Mineco) indicated that it is analyzing Trump’s executive order.
📢The Guatemala Agro Chamber before the announcement of new tariffs by the USA. UU.📢 pic.twitter.com/7axsjtntf
– Chamber of Agro (@camagroguate) April 3, 2025
Why talk about a recession
The fear of a recession arises, according to experts, because reciprocal tariffs, increasing import and exports costs, can Reduce global trade.
This brake on the exchange of goods and services would affect production, employment and investment, which, in turn, It could decelerate economic growth.
When imposing higher rates, Products price rises for consumers and for companies that depend on raw materials or imported components.
This can generate a negative spiral in the economy, since Consumers spend less and companies face higher costswhich could lead to a generalized economic deceleration.
In addition, countries affected by these tariffs could respond with reprisals. Although analysts estimate that this response could be noticed in the short and medium term, they already consider that it would further increase commercial tensions and affect other economies, creating a Global uncertainty cycle.
Also read: Expectation grows for new Trump tariffs before the US Commercial Report