Gavin Bade of The Wall Street Journal reports that President Trump will announce reciprocal tariffs on countries that tax U.S. exports, aiming to match their tariffs. The plan could affect both developing and developed nations and challenge global trade norms. Bade writes:
President Trump on Thursday is expected to outline reciprocal tariffs on nations that have imposed levies on U.S. exports, the White House said, using executive action to bring to life a far-reaching proposal from his first term that never came to fruition.
Among Trump aides, Peter Navarro, the president’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, is a leading advocate for the reciprocal-tariff idea, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Navarro pushed the idea during Trump’s first term, advocating for lawmakers to sign on to a reciprocal-tariff bill put forth by then-Rep. Sean Duffy (R., Wis.), now Trump’s secretary of transportation. […]
“Reciprocal trade. It’s the most fair thing in the world,” Navarro said on CNN on Tuesday. “If they’re cheating us, then that shouldn’t be allowed to happen.”
Navarro is “one of many” implementing the policy, a White House official said, adding that Trump has been pursuing reciprocal tariffs since his first term.
Trump recently said he would soon announce a plan to equalize duties with virtually all U.S. trading partners, telling reporters that the action would mean that if a country charges a certain tariff on the U.S., it will receive the same treatment for its exports to America.
“This is something he believes strongly in,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday, adding that Trump would outline the tariffs Thursday. “It’s the golden rule, which we all learned when we were growing up in school: treat others the way you want to be treated.” […]
Trump and his allies have long argued that China and other nations game WTO rules and cheat the U.S.
“The WTO hasn’t worked for a long time,” Hagerty said. He added that he hoped the reciprocal tariff action “will spark a global questioning by our trade partners for them to ask themselves if they have dealt fairly with the United States.”
Read more here.
