'This is not the act of a friend': Governments react to Trump’s tariffs

'Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,' Trump said. 'But it is not going to happen anymore'

President Donald Trump announces new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

Sweeping new tariffs announced on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump were met with measured reactions from key trading partners, highlighting the lack of appetite for a full-fledged trade war.

Mr Trump presented the import taxes, which he calls “reciprocal tariffs” and range from 10% to 49%, in the simplest terms: the US would do to its trading partners what he said they had been doing to the US for decades.