Trump slaps 15% tariff on Israel despite Netanyahu removing all tariffs on US — Here's why

Even as Israel has removed all tariffs on all US imports, President Donald Trump has slapped 15 per cent tariff on the country.

Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to impose tariffs on more than 60 countries that will come into effect from Friday.

In April, Trump had announced 17 per cent tariff on Israel, which means that he has reduced it by 2 per cent now.

Why does Israel face 15% tariff despite charging US 0%?

In line with the administration’s approach so far, Trump has not spared allies and partners in his rollout of tariffs. But he has not slapped tariffs on traditional US adversaries Russia or North Korea.

Trump’s argument of imposing tariff on Israel is the presence of trade deficit with Israel.

Even as Trump has dubbed these tariffs as ‘reciprocal’, they are not based on reciprocity. Instead, the White House has said that tariffs are based on trade deficits.

The White House has said that countries that run a trade deficit with the United States face a tariff of 15 per cent. Among these countries, those with minimal trade deficits face tariff of 10 per cent.

With Israel, the United States had a trade deficit of around $9.4 billion. Hence the country has been slapped with 15 per cent tariff.

Earlier this year in April, Israel removed all tariffs on US imports with the stated objective of facing 0 per cent tariff from Trump in return.

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“The goal of the move is to promote a zero-tariff policy between the countries and maintain positive trade relations with the US,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said at the time.