USA: Donald Trump faces embarrassment when announcing tariff package

Watson USA: Donald Trump faces embarrassment when announcing tariff package Sven Fröhlich • 3 hours • 2 minutes read 10 percent on everything. Donald Trump threatens to plunge the global economy into the abyss with his tariff policy. Not the only embarrassment on another historic day in US history. Now he's declared war on the penguins as well. In his tariff rant dubbed "Liberation Day," Donald Trump presented a list of 185 trading partners on Wednesday evening that face higher tariffs on imports to the US. Among them are the Heard and McDonald Islands, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean where there's not much to see besides a few karst volcanoes and glaciers. The area is uninhabited; besides seals and birds, the only people living there are a few brave king penguins, who, at least according to our latest information, do not trade with the US. Donald Trump Escalates Trade War So be it, Trump probably thought at the height of his drastic tariff policy and the potential start of a global trade war, because small countries and crisis areas have been punished the most. The archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon and the small African state of Lesotho, about which Trump recently joked that "nobody has ever heard of," each receive 50 percent of the tariffs. Myanmar, which recently suffered a devastating earthquake, must cede 44 percent, and Syria, four months after the overthrow of dictator Assad, 41 percent. Donald Trump Forgets to Sign the Tariffs And as if pursuing an economic policy that most economists consider damaging wasn't embarrassing enough, Donald Trump immediately caused another embarrassment at his own expense. After Donald Trump solemnly announced his tariff policy in the White House Rose Garden, he walked off the stage, perhaps intoxicated with himself, only to encounter a staffer there who reminded him that the executive order formally imposing the tariffs still had to be signed. The verdicts on social media were correspondingly harsh. Some see this as proof of his stupidity, others of his mental derangement. Comparisons were even drawn to Joe Biden, Trump's predecessor in the Oval Office, whose advanced age was clearly evident in several appearances during the campaign. Previously, Trump spoke of a "day of liberation" for the US economy and accused several trading partners of having "looted and raped" the US with their tariff policies. Europe, for example, had "ripped off" the United States. From now on, tariffs of 20 percent are planned for Germany and the EU, and a flat import tax of ten percent will apply to all countries. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen "deeply regretted" the decision, but said Europe is "ready to respond."