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President Donald Trump on Friday said he would be announcing tariffs next week that match the duties imposed by other countries, in what would be a major shift from his previous threat to impose an across-the-board tariff on all imports from across the world.
“I’ll be announcing that next week, reciprocal trade, so that we’re treated evenly with other countries,” he told reporters at a press briefing with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. “We don’t want any more, any less.” The president had previously threatened to impose a flat 10 or 20 percent universal tariff, and had tasked his administration with studying that possibility as part of a broader trade review due by April. 1
Trump, who said the tariffs would apply to every country, added that the announcement would likely come “Monday or Tuesday.”
“I think that’s the only fair way to do it that way nobody’s hurt,” the president continued. “They charge us, we charge them. It’s the same thing, and I seem to be going in that line as opposed to a flat fee tariff.”
The U.S. in many cases has lower tariffs than other countries for the same product, although Trump did not specify whether there would be exclusions to the new round of duties. Trump often cites higher tariffs imposed by foreign governments on cars, where the U.S. duty is only 2.5 percent.
During the campaign, Trump said he would work with Congress to pass the Reciprocal Trade Act that would give him the authority to raise the tariff on a particular foreign good to the level imposed by that country.
“Under the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act, other countries will have two choices — they’ll get rid of their tariffs on us, or they will pay us hundreds of billions of dollars, and the United States will make an absolute FORTUNE,” Trump said in a campaign video.
“If India, China, or any other country hits us with a 100 or 200 percent tariff on American-made goods, we will hit them with the same exact tariff. In other words, 100 percent is 100 percent. If they charge us we charge them — an eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount,” he added.
Currently, exporters in nearly every country around the world face the same tariffs on their exports to the United States, although the individual U.S. tariff rates vary depending on the product. Some tariff rates, like for cars, are low. Other tariff rates, like for clothing and shoes, are generally higher.
Under Trump’s “reciprocal tariff” approach, each individual product — and there are thousands of products in the U.S. tariff code — could have as many different tariff levels as there are countries in the world. That would vastly increase the complexity of collecting tariffs on goods.
Last month, a group of Republicans introduced the Reciprocal Trade Act in the House. If Trump implements a reciprocal tariff system using his own authority, it would be another power grab from Congress and could spur legal challenges from companies hurt by the move.
