This is the highest level since the early 1910s, excluding a few weeks in 2025.
This theoretical rate, calculated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) based on commercial announcements, is based on constant trade volumes and was only 2.4% during Donald Trump’s tenure on January 20, 2025.
The announcement on April 2 of comprehensive tariffs and successive escalations against the main trading partners of the USA, led by China, briefly raised the average rate to 24.8% in May, calculated the WTO and the IMF — a level not seen since 1904, according to data from the United States International Trade Commission.
In the 1930s, this indicator, calculated by dividing the value of the taxes by the value of the imports, reached almost 20%.
The value updated today by the WTO and the IMF applies the tariffs announced per product to the trade volumes in 2024.
