17% tariff on Israel?! Trump’s trade war hits close to home 

US President Donald Trump unveiled tonight (Wednesday-Thursday) his tariff plan, which is changing the economic order in the areas of trade by imposing tariffs on even the most significant trading partners of the United States.

As part of the plan, the United States will impose tariffs of 17% on Israeli products, and tariffs of at least 10% on all other countries. Trump announced the new plan, while holding a table detailing the tariffs each country imposes on the United States – and how much the United States will impose back on it.

According to the table, the European Union will be subject to a 20% tariff, a 34% tariff will be imposed on China, a 24% tariff on Japan, and a 26% tariff on India. Israel will be subject to a reciprocal tariff of 17%.

Trump's decision to impose tariffs on imports from Israel was made despite attempts made in Israel to prevent it. Yesterday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich signed an order effectively canceling tariffs on all imports from the United States, in the hope that the move will be well received in the country and that Israel will be removed from the tariff list.

According to an examination by the Tax Authority and the Chief Economist Department of the Ministry of Finance, the vast majority of products imported from the United States are completely exempt from customs duties (about 98%). However, there are relatively few products on which customs duties are imposed, with the total collection of customs duties on imports from the United States amounting to only about NIS 42 million per year.

According to him, most of the relevant customs clauses are imposed on the agricultural chapters. Israel preferred to give up this sum in the hope that the waiver would bring protection from Trump's tariffs, but tonight it turns out that the move was not enough.