CBS News Interviews Confused Liechtensteiners Wondering Why Trump Hit Them With Massive Tariffs
CBS News senior foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer interviewed several “puzzled and very sad” citizens of Liechtenstein this week after President Donald Trump hit the tiny country with a population of just 41,000 with a 37% tariff rate.
In her report, Palmer pointed out that while the entire country of Liechtenstein could fit inside New York City four times over, the “Alpine paradise” was “home to several world-class makers of premium products that turned it into a tariff target: Power tools, for example; cables and connectors; and high-quality fillings and false teeth.”
“So basically, Liechtenstein is being punished for making things America wants to buy?” Palmer asked a Liechtenstein economist, who replied, “Exactly yes.”
He added, “Liechtenstein is so tiny, it doesn’t have influence in the world.”
Another local, an ex-banker, laughed at the absurdity of the tariffs, remarking, “It’s irrational… It’s for laughing because Liechtenstein has 40,000 people,” while a local newspaper editor said, “You don’t know what’s coming next. You wake up in the morning, you have to check the news what Mr. Trump has decided last night.”
“No one understands why just because they don’t buy as much from the U.S. as they sell to it, Liechtenstein got clobbered,” reported Palmer. “No one here gets how President Trump can think they’re ripping off America.”
She revealed that companies in Liechtenstein were currently considering their options in the wake of the tariffs, “And that includes markets outside the U.S., maybe finding ways to circumvent the tariffs, and certainly applying diplomatic pressure in Washington hoping that President Trump will change his mind.”
Palmer concluded, “They point out that they not only make good things that Americans want to buy, they buy themselves plenty of American services that weren’t accounted for in the tariffs, and they directly employ 7,000 Americans inside America. They say they’ve lived up to their side of the bargain as good trading partners and they’re frankly puzzled and very sad.”
Watch above via CBS News.
