Dispatch #13: Tariffs
Read about the ramifications of Donald Trump’s tariff bombshell, occupying the front pages of newspapers from São Paulo to Seoul.
Hello! For the end of the month, Translator has decided to take a slightly different approach to its weekly Dispatches, looking around the world at how differently one major story has been reported in a wide range of different media sources and languages. In April 2025 that story was the ramifications of Trump’s tariff bombshell, occupying the front pages of newspapers from Seoul to São Paulo.
In the Anglosphere, there has been much focus on the gyrations of global financial markets – and particularly the ups and downs of the US stock market – in response to the new US tariff policy. There’s been a lot of speculation, also focussed on the United States, as to the extent to which the policy is an American negotiating tool, or a new normal upending an era of relatively low barriers to global trade.
But, in reality, the tariff war is a story with many narratives. It has played out differently in different parts of the world as countries and companies try to work out the consequences for them. Trade relationships are complex. Trade wars can divert trade as well as prevent it. There are losers and winners – not always obvious. Uncertainty over tariffs affects business decisions about when, how much and where to invest. It has impacts on lives and livelihoods. And tariffs affect politics and geopolitics too – causing countries to rethink long-term dependencies. In all this, there are bound to be both unexpected consequences, and predictable ones that reinforce inequalities or structures already present in the global trading system.
So, for this month Translator has summarised eight articles which touch on this issue from a variety of perspectives, revealing the range of ways it has played out. These are summaries, not translations. The original pieces are always listed under the summary, and we invite you to explore more by clicking through to the original writing and journalism behind these summaries. Or you can leaf through our archive of Dispatches available both on our website or on our Substack to get an ever wider view of what is being written and read around the world.
We hope you enjoy the read.
P.S.: In the meantime, tell us what you like and dislike, themes you’d like to see explored from the perspective of different linguistic media landscapes. And, as ever, feel free to recommend specific pieces we should summarise for our Dispatches, or translate in full for the magazine.
Here’s what we’re looking for and how to let us know.
The word that travelled empires
What Trump’s favourite word reveals about centuries of empire, economy, and exchange.
Donald Trump has proudly declared “tariff” his fifth favourite word. At this point, many (including him) consider the word a totem of American economic power. Few appreciate the global journey the word made before ever reaching Washington.
In the 16th century, long before America’s rise, the Ottoman Empire controlled trade routes stretching across several continents. Merchants from Europe, Africa, and Asia travelled through it, bringing language along with their goods. The word ta’arif, from Arabic, meaning “to announce” or “to make known” was used in trading documents to list various kinds of fees. From there, it passed into Persian and Ottoman Turkish, and then into the languages of southern Europe, becoming tariffa in Italian and tarif in French. Finally, the word ‘tariff’ entered the English language.
Dr Canan Torlak, an economic historian based in Istanbul, says the word has long carried more than a merely technical meaning, developing overtones of power: who gets to apply a tariff, how much and on whom? “The Ottomans taxed foreigners more than their own people,” she explains: “it was a political tool, just like today”.
Trump’s tariffs, aimed at protecting US industries, follow the same principle. And so, a word born in the markets of Istanbul lives on in modern-day America.
Original article was written in Hausa and published in TRT Afrika on 18 April 2025. It’s available here.
TRT Afrika is a subsidiary of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation offering African news coverage in English, Hausa, Swahili and French.
Summary by ZN.
Political reconfiguration in Taiwan?
A leading politician suggests a moment of national crisis requires a strategic, cross-party response.
Trump’s announcement of a 32% tariff on Taiwanese exports comes at a time when the Taiwanese government and opposition parties are in heated confrontation, and the cross-straits situation is particularly tense.
In an article on a Taiwanese media platform, a leading politician warns: “this is not just a simple economic and trade issue, but also a major test of Taiwan’s overall strategic resilience”. Lin Fu-nan, a senior member of the Taiwan’s People’s Party, urges the public to look beyond the economic implications to consider it as a national security challenge. Tariffs, he says, should be seen as an extension of the ‘America First’ approach in the US-China struggle. If Taiwan doesn’t react fast it could suffer economically and lose its strategic foothold in global supply chains.
Lin Fu-nan argues that the government should take the lead in traversing party lines: “Now is not the time to argue about internal affairs; the government should work together to face external pressure, or we will be the laughingstock of the international community”. He suggests a “strategic dialogue platform” should be established to build a solution that has cross-party consensus.
Calling on the government to have a pragmatic approach to the cross-straits relations, he suggests “Taiwan should not be forced to take sides but should make good use of its role in key supply chains and become a bridge for regional stability and technological cooperation”.
Strategic balance, he suggests, is crucial to navigating the trilateral relationship between the US, China and Taiwan.
Original article was written in Traditional Chinese by Xu Bingwen and published in Storm Media (風傳媒) on 5 April 2025. It’s available here.
Storm Media (風傳媒) is a Chinese-language online news media headquartered in Taipei.
Summary by TMH.
A trade triumph for Egypt?
Trump’s trade war hits Asian exporters hard but for Egypt’s textile industry, it could be the break they've been waiting for.
With Egyptian exports facing only a minimal 10% tariff, Ahmed Al Bardini spots a unique opportunity for the national garment industry, as its goods become more competitive to the US market compared with southeast Asian rivals, such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and the Philippines, which now face tariffs of over 30%.
Industry leaders such as Fadel Marzouk of the Ready-Made Garments Export Council confirm that there has been a 15% uptick in exports, and that they are fielding increasing inquiries from American brands seeking to shift production from Asia to Egypt. This shift could attract other foreign investment as manufacturers seek tariff-friendly zones.
Challenges persist. Despite past preferential trade agreements such the QIZ (Qualifying Industrial Zones), Egypt has generally struggled to scale exports due to limited factory capacity, bureaucratic hurdles, and a shortage of skilled workers.
Sustainable success will require structural reform, Al Badini suggests. But if Egypt improves infrastructure, streamlines bureaucracy, and supports manufacturers with better financing and labour conditions, could the trade war mark a turning point for the country’s textile sector, from underdog to key global supplier?
Original article was written in Arabic by Ahmed Al Badini and published in Al Manassa on 15 April 2025. It’s available here.
Al Manassa is an Egyptian news website.
Summary by ZN.
Crisis for Korean auto industry
A professor discusses the cost for one of Korea’s key industries.
Professor Lee Ho-geun an automotive engineering academic at Daedeok University gives his assessment of the possible impact of the Trump tariffs.
Beginning his analysis with the Hyundai Motor Group, he illustrates how they will shortly lose their price competitiveness in the US, because their slim profit margins will make it impossible to continue exporting without increasing prices to the consumer.
But Professor Lee notes that, from his calculations, it is actually GM Korea (GM bought Daewoo back in 2002) which may suffer the most from the tariffs, given the proportion of its exports destined for the American market. At previous times of commercial difficulty, GM has opted to close down overseas production (in Australia in 2013, for instance; in Indonesia and Thailand in 2015).
While they are currently denying rumours of withdrawal from Korea, Professor Lee suggests they may be pressured into withdrawing in 2028 – that is, immediately after current government subsidy arrangements run out.
Original article was written in Korean by Lee Ho-geun and published in 한국아이닷컴 on 11 April 2025. It’s available here.
한국아이닷컴 is a Korean-language daily newspaper in Seoul.
Summary by TMH.
Vietnamese business leaders calm the storm
In Vietnam, many business owners speak up to reassure employees and shareholders.
Panic erupted in Vietnam when Trump announced plans to impose 46% tariffs on the country’s exports. Shares of many companies sold off, leading to a sharp and generalised fall of over 200 points in the nation’s stock market. In an article for VN Express, journalist Trong Hieu shares how business leaders have tried to stem the wave of fear, buying shares in their own companies in a bid to regain public confidence.
Leaders of the nation’s top commercial enterprises have rushed to declare the US market is just a drop in the ocean. Addressing the public by open letter, retail tycoon Mr. Nguyen Dang Quang explained: “our business model is less affected by the new US tariff policies because it focuses mainly on the domestic market.” (The tycoon sits on the board of Masan Group, their most familiar venture may be WinCommerce, the country’s largest retail chain.) He promised that the price of essential items at WinCommerce will remain competitive. The chairman of the agricultural giant HAGL Group insisted US tariffs would not affect the company’s activities, after the company’s share price fell by more than 20%. Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc also opted for a public letter, stating: “the company's banana products are mainly exported to China, South Korea and Japan, and absolutely no goods are exported to the US market”. Shortly afterwards, his daughter registered the purchase of 4 million shares of the company.
All businesses have expressed they will continue to monitor the impact of the tariff and employ a flexible pricing strategy.
Original article was written in Vietnamese by Trong Hieu and published in VN Express on 9 April 2025. It’s available here.
VN Express is an online newspaper, and the first newspaper in Vietnam that was not produced in paper format.
Summary by TMH.
Africa's economic crossroads
African nations are rethinking their economic future.
Once a cornerstone of US-Africa trade, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) now stands effectively nullified by Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs, ultimately jeopardising key sectors as varied as South Africa’s auto industry and Lesotho’s textile industry.
But crisis is giving way to recalibration, writes Francis Silva in this article for Tuko News. Leaders like Kenya’s President William Ruto and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa have emphasised the need for intra-African trade and cooperation, especially under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with suggestions it could lift 30 million people out of poverty by 2035.
With external shocks mounting, from rising inflation to currency depreciation, many African nations are accelerating industrial diversification, regional integration, and South-South partnerships. China’s Belt and Road Initiative and growing BRICS engagement are part of a pivot away from Western dependency.
As Silva sees it, the message is clear: Africa must control its own economic destiny. The US tariffs may have triggered a crisis, but they also open the door to long-overdue reform and greater sovereignty in global trade.
Original article was written in Swahili by Francis Silva and published in Toko News on 16 April 2025. It’s available here.
Tuko News is a Kenyan digital media and news platform.
Summary by ZN.
The Trump tariffs are also a matter of gender
Why tariffs disproportionately affect women.
In Brazil’s Folha de S. Paulo, journalist Bianca Santana notes the way in which the tariff wars accentuate an existing gender inequality in the global trade system, citing the concept of the “pink tariff” (for example, in the US imported men’s shirts were already taxed at 8% and women’s at 14%).
The new, higher tariffs, she suggests, are likely to increase precarity in workplaces across the Global South in which women represent the majority of the workforce.
We shouldn’t be surprised, she writes – the global trade system is mostly made by men, resulting in what Susan Scafidi of the US-based Fashion Law Institute refers to as “financial micro-aggressions”.
“It’s a political choice”, Santana notes: “it can’t be read as unintentional or a side-effect”. In trade, as in so much else, apparently technical matters have gender consequences.
Original article was written in Portuguese by Bianca Santana and published in Folha de S. Paulo on 13 April 2025. It’s available here.
Folha de S Paulo is a daily newspaper in Brazil.
Summary by CEM.
Bust-up in Bordeaux
Short work at one of Cognac’s ‘Big Three’.
France’s cognac industry is buckling under the double whammy of tariffs and other trade measures placed on it by China and the US.
The industry employs 72,500 people across France. Much of this is in the Charente region in the South-West of France, and heavily dependent on exports: Le Figaro estimates 98% of the sales of Rémy Martin – one of the ‘Big Three’ producers alongside Hennessy and Martell – are exports, representing 3.35 billion Euros.
Problems for Rémy Martin began in mid-November with tit-for-tat trade measures between China and the EU. Beijing introduced temporary measures for European brandy imports (“mainly cognac”, comments Le Figaro) requiring an amount to be lodged with Chinese customs for each shipment, in response to EU measures against subsidised EVs from China.
Things got much worse earlier this month when Donald Trump slapped a 20% tariff on all European goods. (The US represents 38% of Rémy Martin’s exports; China takes 25%). This was the final nail in the coffin (or perhaps the oak barrel) for CEO Éric Vallat, who stepped down on 10 April after five years in office.
Two thirds of the 390 workers at Rémy Martin’s Merpins bottling plant outside the town of Cognac have now been put on ‘partial unemployment’: losing one week of employment a month for a 7% pay cut. Trade unionist David Charrier, who has been with the company for three decades, notes: “I have known complicated years when there have been crises, but we’ve never had crises affecting both our largest markets”.
Paris has obtained a three-month delay of additional Chinese custom duties. But how long is it before other companies are forced to follow Rémy Martin’s decision?
Original article was written in French and published in Le Figaro (originally from AFP) on 16 April 2025. It’s available here.
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826.
Summary by ML.
That’s all for now — we hope you’ve enjoyed the read. Keep an eye out for our next Dispatch of translated summaries this time next week!
The Translator team