Not every nation targeted by President Donald Trump’s tariffs was openly angered, but fans of the sweeping import taxes that sent global markets spiraling on Thursday were few and far between among world leaders.

In the United States’ immediate neighborhood, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed optimism about trade relations with the Trump administration, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney — in the midst of an election campaign that has been dominated by his nation’s relationship with the U.S. — promised a fight that “will cause maximum impact in the United States and minimum impact in Canada.”

“They are all unjustified, unwarranted and, in our judgement, misguided,” Carney said at a press conference after postponing his campaign scheduled to return to Ottawa to address the tariffs. “If the United States no longer wants to lead, Canada will. Canada is strengthening our trade relationships with reliable partners.”

Carney noted Canada, which is arguing to the World Trade Organization that Trump’s tariffs are illegal under international law, won’t retaliate with tariffs on U.S. auto parts due to the integration of the North American auto manufacturing sector across borders but will continue to retaliate by placing import taxes on billions in U.S. goods. He said Trump agreed to meet with the Canadian prime minister, either Carney or one of his rivals, after the election later this month.

Already Canada is seeing an impact, with automaker Stellantis shutting down its assembly plant in Windsor, Canada, for two weeks from April 7. Autos are Canada’s second-largest export and the sector employs 125,000 Canadians directly and almost another 500,000 in related industries.

Stellantis, the maker of brands like Dodge and Jeep, also announced that it would pause production at its assembly plant in Toluca west of Mexico City for the month of April while it assesses the tariffs' impact on its operations.

In Mexico, Sheinbaum was much less aggressive in her response to the tariffs on her auto industry and the global economic volatility triggered by U.S. tariff policy. She pointed to the relationship she’s developed with Trump’s government in the months since he returned to power and pledged to continue to negotiate an end to the 25% tariffs the U.S. placed on Mexico auto exports, while noting no additional tariffs were announced by Trump yesterday.

“During my last call with President Trump, I said that, in the case of reciprocal tariffs, my understanding was that there wouldn’t be tariffs [on Mexico], because Mexico doesn’t place tariffs on the United States," Sheinbaum said on Thursday.

Much of Central and South America escaped the worst of Trump’s wrath with the baseline 10% tariff, though the Congress in Brazil — Latin America’s largest economy — gave President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva power to retaliate against the U.S, its top trade partner after China. The U.S. imports Brazilian crude oil, aircraft, coffee, cellulose and beef and had a trade surplus that reached $28.6 billion in goods and services last year.

"The rest of the world wants to see is there any way they can make a deal. They've taken advantage of us for many, many years," Trump said on Thursday.

Here’s how the leaders throughout of the world are reacting to Trump’s tariffs in the immediate aftermath:

Africa

Lesotho’s trade minister told the AFP that his government is dispatching a delegation to Washington to meet with Trump administration officials after his country was hit with the highest tariff rate of those announced yesterday: 50%. The U.S. imports hundreds of millions of dollars in textiles and diamonds from the tiny, landlocked country in southern Africa each year.

In his speech to a joint session of Congress last month, Trump mocked the country and said “nobody has ever heard of” it. 

South Africa, who Trump has repeatedly railed against and did so again on Wednesday as he announced the tariffs, issued a statement through the president’s office objecting to the tariffs as “punitive” and “a barrier to trade and shared prosperity,” pledging to urgently negotiate a new trade deal with the U.S.

Asia

India’s government also said they are seeking to expedite the negotiations for a trade agreement with the U.S. to potentially garner some concessions and offset the impact of higher import taxes. Trump instituted a 26% tariff on India’s exports to the U.S.

The U.S was New Delhi’s biggest trading partner in 2024 with trade estimated at $129 billion. The countries have now set an ambitious target of more than doubling their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

China responded to Trump’s 34% levy on top of an earlier 20% tariff by accusing the U.S. of “bullying” and warning “there are no winners in trade wars and tariff wars.” China has already retaliated against the U.S.

“Protectionism is not a way out,” China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said, calling for trade talks. “It is clear to everyone that more and more countries are opposing the U.S.’s unilateral bullying actions, such as imposing tariffs.”

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said it was “extremely regrettable” that the U.S. slapped the 25% auto tariff on Japan despite its huge contribution to the U.S. economy.

Japanese companies have been the world’s biggest investors in the U.S. since 2019, especially automakers, creating jobs for millions of Americans, Ishiba said.

Ishiba said Japan will continue to strongly request the U.S. to reconsider its tariffs measures and that he will directly negotiate with Trump, whenever it is considered appropriate.

China, Japan and South Korea — unlikely allies — are working to respond to the U.S. tariffs cooperatively, the Chinese government has said. 

Taiwan responded to the imposition of a 32% tariff on its high-tech economy by calling it “strongly unreasonable and highly regrettable,” adding it would “lodge solemn representations with the United States.”

Europe

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that the tariffs are a “major blow to the world economy.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz offered similar sentiment, warning “there will only be losers.”

“The consequences will be dire for millions of people around the globe,” von der Leyen said. Groceries, transport and medicines will cost more, she said, “And this is hurting, in particular, the most vulnerable citizens.”

Von der Leyen acknowledged that the world trading system has “serious deficiencies” and said the EU was ready to negotiate with the U.S.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. government would react with “cool and calm heads” to Trump’s announcement of a 10% tariff on imports from Britain. Officials in his government later said they would pursue a free trade deal with the U.S. and weren’t considering retaliatory tariffs.

But France President Emmanuel Macron urged French industries to suspend any investments in the U.S. and warned in particular the European Union could make life more difficult for U.S. tech companies on the continent. 

Australia

Australia was hit with Trump’s 10% baseline levy, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was still displeased, calling the move “totally unwarranted” with “no basis in logic” and “not the act of a friend.”

Australian officials also expressed confusion as Trump’s tariffs targeted small and, in some cases, uninhabited islands in the Pacific and off the coast of Antarctica with tariffs. The Heard and McDonald Islands in the remote Antarctic, which together form an uninhabited Australian territory is also on Trump’s list and subject to 10% tariffs 

The mostly barren islands between Madagascar and Antarctica have two active volcanoes and can only be reached by sea. According to the CIA’s World Factbook, the islands are “uninhabited and mostly ice covered.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.