Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: Just a week after a catastrophic 7.7-magnitude earthquake devastated Myanmar, resulting in over 3,000 fatalities, the country now faces another crisis in the form of severe tariffs imposed by former US President Donald Trump. These “Liberation Day” tariffs, set at a steep 44%, threaten to further cripple an economy already weakened by extensive infrastructure damage.
Myanmar, struggling politically and economically since the 2021 military takeover by Min Aung Hlaing that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government, has urgently appealed to the global community for support. General Hlaing is expected to attend the BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok, where he will discuss relief efforts for the recent earthquake devastation.
Myanmar is among several nations facing some of the highest US tariff rates globally. Cambodia faces a daunting 49% tariff, despite nearly 18% of its population living under the poverty line as per Asian Development Bank (ADB) data. Similarly, Laos, with an 18.3% poverty rate, confronts tariffs as high as 48%.
Lesotho, a nation previously described by Trump as unfamiliar to most, is burdened with the highest tariff of 50%, notwithstanding its severe public health challenges, including the world’s second-highest HIV prevalence rate.
Vietnam, despite actively working to reduce its trade surplus with the US by cutting tariffs on American imports, faces substantial tariffs of 46%. Sri Lanka, still recovering from its worst economic downturn since 2019, has also been targeted with a 44% tariff.
Notably, even territories with negligible human populations have not been spared. Norfolk Island, home to roughly 2,000 people, mostly descendants of the HMS Bounty mutineers, faces tariffs of 29%. Furthermore, Trump imposed a symbolic 10% tariff on the Heard and McDonald Islands, Australian territories in the sub-Antarctic, uninhabited by humans but renowned for their penguin populations.
