Despite Great Snow, Lebanon's Ski Season Suffers Amidst Crisis

People ride a ski lift at Mzaar Ski Resort in Kfardebian, Lebanon January 11, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
People ride a ski lift at Mzaar Ski Resort in Kfardebian, Lebanon January 11, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
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Despite Great Snow, Lebanon's Ski Season Suffers Amidst Crisis

People ride a ski lift at Mzaar Ski Resort in Kfardebian, Lebanon January 11, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
People ride a ski lift at Mzaar Ski Resort in Kfardebian, Lebanon January 11, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

It is a sunny day on Lebanon’s ski slopes after weeks of snowfall but, as the economic crisis bites, there is no sign of the traffic that would typically jam the road.

“It is still slow, but the weather is great and the snow as well, so we invite everyone to come,” said Nicole Wakim Freiha, marketing and development manager of Mzaar ski resort, which has slashed prices by 30% in a bid to entice skiers.

With views stretching out to the Mediterranean to the west and Syria to the east, Mzaar has some of Lebanon’s best ski runs. But several of the slopes have remained closed since the first heavy snow in December, reflecting demand.

Tourism has traditionally been an important part of the Lebanese economy, which is mired in its worst crisis since the 1975-90 war. The crisis has led banks to impose tight restrictions on how much cash savers can withdraw, forcing even those with money to think more carefully before they spend.

“This year it is looking less crowded, this year when we came on the road, traffic was less,” said tour guide Bassam Dalle. “It’s obvious, we all know why.”

A Finnish guide who organizes snowmobile tours in the area said a third of the Nordic tourists who had booked with him this year had canceled.

“It’s a fantastic place, amazing mountain ranges ... plenty of snow, sunshine, warm, and people are very friendly, so it’s a dream destination,” said the guide.

Skier Gaby Tabbal was enjoying the day, though several slopes were shut. Though numbers were down, he noted there were still people skiing: “This is the first day this year, the weather is beautiful, the snow is beautiful.”



Despite Trump Pause, Overall US Tariff Rate at Highest in a Century

Trucks drive to unload cargo shipping containers as cranes and the Vincent Thomas Bridge stand on the horizon at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California on April 10, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)
Trucks drive to unload cargo shipping containers as cranes and the Vincent Thomas Bridge stand on the horizon at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California on April 10, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)
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Despite Trump Pause, Overall US Tariff Rate at Highest in a Century

Trucks drive to unload cargo shipping containers as cranes and the Vincent Thomas Bridge stand on the horizon at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California on April 10, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)
Trucks drive to unload cargo shipping containers as cranes and the Vincent Thomas Bridge stand on the horizon at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California on April 10, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

US President Donald Trump's delay of steeper tariffs may have won brief respite on Wall Street, but analysts say his actions -- which hit China especially hard -- already bring the average US effective tariff rate to its highest in over a century.

Besides imposing sweeping new 10 percent tariffs on goods from most US trading partners, Trump has also unleashed steep duties on imports of steel, aluminum and autos since his White House return.

But on Wednesday, he backed off even higher rates on dozens of economies, including the European Union and Asian manufacturing hub Vietnam, following a sharp sell-off in US government bond markets -- though he doubled down on action against China.

Many goods from the world's second biggest economy now face levies of at least 145 percent -- the total additional figure Trump has imposed this year.

"The newly imposed tariffs now affect $2.4 trillion of US imports, or nearly 75 percent," said Erica York of the Tax Foundation.

"Compared to Trump's first term, this is a massive escalation, as his first tariffs affected about $380 billion of US imports or 15 percent," she told AFP.

'Highest since 1903'

Researchers from the Budget Lab at Yale University estimate that "consumers face an overall average effective tariff rate of 27 percent, the highest since 1903."

"This is only slightly different from where the effective rate was before the late-April 9 announcement," they added.

Even after accounting for consumption shifts, the average tariff rate will be 18.5 percent, the Budget Lab anticipates. This would be the highest since 1933.

Thibault Denamiel, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), estimates that the US tariff rate was 2.4 percent in December 2024 -- a figure which now stands north of 20 percent.

"That's mostly due to the fact that we still have a 125 percent tariff rate on China," he said, referring to the latest duty Trump imposed on Chinese goods.

The 125 percent tariff, which took effect Thursday, coupled with an earlier 20 percent over China's alleged role in the fentanyl supply chain, putting Trump's new tariffs targeting China this year to 145 percent.

Even a much lower tariff would significantly impact the world's biggest economy, Denamiel said, noting that China is the United States' third most important trading partner.

Analysts have also pointed out that Trump's actions marked the biggest tariff increase since the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930, which deepened the Great Depression.

Shrinking imports

Trump has claimed the United States was "taking in almost $2 billion a day" from tariffs.

He has referred to them as a means to raise government revenue, boost the country's industrial sectors and to pressure other governments on US priorities.

But experts warn that prohibitively high duties on China will likely cause US imports from the country to contract.

With Chinese tariffs reaching punitive levels, even conservative estimates suggest that China's share of imports "should shrink dramatically," said JPMorgan chief US economist Michael Feroli in a recent note.

If this were to happen, York of the Tax Foundation added that imports from China would end up generating "very little tariff revenue."

"Overall, we estimate the tariffs and announced retaliation will shrink US GDP by 1.0 percent," she said.

With Trump's latest actions, Feroli expects "the drag from trade policy is likely to be somewhat less than before, and thus the prospect of a recession is a closer call."

"However, we still think a contraction in real activity later this year is more likely than not," he added.