The new United States tariff policy is now a reality and has already reshaped the global trade principals that were agreed since the enactment of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (“GATT”) and the World Trade Organization (“WTO”). The Most-Favored-Nation principle (“MFN”) has now been replaced by a reciprocal tariffs system unilaterally proposed by the United States, the largest world’s economy.

According to the reciprocal tariffs order issued by the president of the United States (the “RTO”)1 , the reciprocal tariffs are the response by the United States to the different trade barriers that countries have imposed on USA’s exports which, in their view, have created unsustainable trade deficits. Two days prior to the announcement of the RTO, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) issued the 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE), with a country-by country analysis detailing the trade barriers that they have identified as the basis to support the reciprocal tariffs under the RTO.

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