Fitch Ratings Agency said on Monday that Donald Trump’s victory for a second presidential term may lead to a significant decline in the growth of the economies of a number of Asian countries, with China, South Korea and Vietnam being particularly affected.
According to the agency’s worst-case scenarios, real GDP in the three countries in 2028 could be 1% or more lower than the agency’s current projections if US trade protectionism increases sharply.
As part of his electoral platform in the race for the White House, the former president presented plans to impose comprehensive customs duties ranging between 10% and 20% on almost all imports, in addition to customs duties of 60% or more on goods from China.
Fitch said increased trade tensions could have significant impacts on countries and companies that export goods to the United States, and said India would be relatively unaffected because it is less export-oriented.
500% duty on Mexico
In a related context, Trump hinted at the possibility of imposing customs duties of up to at least 200% on vehicles imported from Mexico, saying that this step aims to prevent the sale of cars from Mexico City to Washington.
He added during an interview with Fox News broadcast yesterday, “What I will do is (I will impose customs duties) 200% or 500%, I don’t care. I will set a number that makes it impossible to sell a single car… I don’t want them to harm our car companies.”
Trump – who will run in the presidential elections against Democrat Kamla Harris on November 5 – had previously pledged to impose 100% customs duties on imported cars and trucks if he is elected president, with the aim of helping the local auto industry.
Trump raised this percentage to 200% during his speech at an election rally a few days ago in Juneau, Wisconsin.
He stated during his interview with Fox News, “When I use the number 200, I mean it… I do not want their cars. They will not be able to sell cars. I will not allow them to build a factory on the other side of the border and sell millions of cars in the United States and destroy Detroit even more.”
Auto manufacturers said in 2019 that imposing customs duties of about 25% on cars coming from Mexico and their components could have a severe impact on the industry and raise vehicle costs.
