STUDY: Average U.S. Tariffs Increased From 1.5% to 28%, Now Comparable to Rates in Iran and Sudan

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President Trump claims that the United States has been “ripped off by virtually every country in the world.” With the exception of China, every country Trump has singled out for treating America unfairly is more open to trade than the United States itself.
In 2023, the US ranked 56th out of 165 countries for its freedom to trade. While US tariffs were low before Trump came to office, it still imposed rigid controls on the movement of people and capital, making it more difficult for Americans to do business with foreigners.
At one point in April 2025, the President’s trade war pushed the average US tariff rate up to 28 percent, giving the US the second-highest tariff rate in the world, just ahead of Sudan and Djibouti.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person in the 15 countries with the lowest tariffs is 4.5 times greater than in the 15 countries with the highest tariffs (US$43,502 vs. $9,703).
Trump’s tariffs drop the US from 56th to 76th place in the world in terms of freedom to trade and nearly knock it out of the top 10 in terms of total economic freedom.

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