Poor Netanyahu – Econlib

Israel’s government has made a significant decision to cancel all remaining tariffs on American imports in anticipation of President Trump’s upcoming announcement of new levies. This move is aimed at securing exemption for Israel from the wave of tariffs that Trump is set to unveil.

Since 1985, Israel and the United States have had a strong free-trade agreement in place, which has exempted most American products from Israeli tariffs. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the decision to eliminate all remaining tariffs as a step towards enhancing trade liberalization between the two countries.

This news was reported by Matthew Mpoke Bigg in an article titled “On Eve of Trump’s Tariffs Announcement, Israel Says It Will Lift All Duties on U.S. Imports” published in the New York Times on April 2, 2025.

While Netanyahu may have initially misunderstood Trump’s intentions regarding reciprocal tariffs, the decision to eliminate tariffs on all imports from the United States is a positive one. This move is expected to benefit the majority of Israelis and contribute to a slight increase in the country’s real GDP. However, there is still room for further improvement by reducing tariffs on all imports to zero.