Tel Aviv, April 5 -- Israeli leaders are scrambling to negotiate with the US administration to lower a newly imposed 17 per cent tariff on Israeli exports, which caught officials in Jerusalem by surprise. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich are expected to press for a reduction to 10 per cent, the minimum rate applied to some other nations.

Neither the Prime Minister's Office nor the Finance and Economy Ministries were informed in advance of the tariff hike. Smotrich convened an emergency meeting overnight with Ron Tomer, president of the Manufacturers Association of Israel, to assess the potential economic impact.

"We were aware of the tariff decision like everyone else, but the specific rates were n...