Donald Trump threatened to ramp up his economic assault on some of America’s biggest trading partners on Thursday , vowing to impose new tariffs on countries that target products made in the US within weeks.
The US will impose “reciprocal” duties, the president announced on Thursday. “We want a level playing field,” he declared.
No new specific tariffs were announced. Instead, Trump signed a presidential memorandum ordering the development of a comprehensive plan to address what the White House described as “longstanding imbalances” in the global economy.
It is the latest bid by Trump to strain Washington’s trade ties with countries across the world – allies and rivals alike – to obtain political and economic concessions.
A press notice circulated by the Trump administration promised it would take action to “put the American worker first, improve our competitiveness in every area of industry, reduce our trade deficit, and bolster our economic and national security”.
US officials pointed to a series of examples of how they said other countries were not treating the US fairly. They pointed to the European Union’s 10% tariff on cars, alongside the 2.5% US tariff on cars, and claimed that shellfish from 48 states cannot be exported to the EU, while the bloc “can export all the shellfish it wants to America”.
They also cited a 100% tariff imposed by India on US motorcycles, while the US only charges 2.4%, and a 18% duty in Brazil on US ethanol, while the US charges 2.5%.
While the president and his allies believe that higher taxes on imports will help “Make America great again”, they have also claimed the mere threat of higher tariffs from the world’s largest economy can prompt nations to bend to Trump’s will.
Trump had trailed this announcement for days, at first promising news on Tuesday or Wednesday, before confirming early on Thursday morning that he would announce reciprocal tariffs – “THE BIG ONE”, he wrote on social media – later in the day.
The administration has so far threatened more tariffs than it has introduced. Duties on Colombia were shelved when it agreed to accept military aircraft carrying deported migrants; duties on Canada and Mexico have been repeatedly delayed; and modified duties on steel and aluminum, announced earlier this week, will not be enforced until next month.
An additional 10% tariffs on goods from China is, for now, the only threatened trade attack actually enforced since Trump returned to the White House. On Friday, it emerged that a key component of this – removing the longstanding duty-free status of low-cast packages – had been delayed.
Trump’s fixation with tariffs has alarmed economists, who have warned their imposition may derail his repeated promises to rapidly bring down prices for millions of Americans.
Inflation is already proving stubborn. In January, as Trump returned to office, it ticked up to an annualized rate of 3%.
But Trump has defended his strategy, claiming they could raise “trillions” of dollars for the US economy. “Tariffs are very powerful, both economically and in getting everything else you want,” he told reporters last week.
