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President Donald Trump is taking additional measures to alter the world commercial system, with plans to sign an order this week that would require the American import tariffs coincide with the tax rates charged by other countries.
“It’s time to be reciprocal,” Trump told journalists earlier this week. “You will hear that word a lot. Reciprocal. If they charge us, we charge them. “
The president had suggested that the order would come on Tuesday or Wednesday. But when it happened on Tuesday without officially announcing tariffs, Trump was not specific at the time, telling journalists on Wednesday afternoon: “I can do it later, or I can do it tomorrow morning.” The White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said she believes that the tariffs would come before Thursday’s visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As Trump has unleashed a series of tariffs after being in power for less than a month, he has taken possession of the path of the US economy. It is a commitment that their economic ideas can deliver significant results for voters, even if by Trump’s admission, import taxes could imply certain financial pain in the form of inflation and economic interruptions. Despite the entire Trump talk, the impact will probably depend on the details of the rates and how other nations respond.
An order of reciprocal tariffs could be equivalent to a substantial tax increase to be largely assumed by US consumers and companies, since the census office reported that the country had total imports of $ 4.1 billion last year. Tariffs could trigger retaliation measures of commercial partners that could grow growth worldwide and restore where the United States meets allies and rivals equally.
By signing the order, Trump would fulfill his promise of long time to increase taxes on most imported goods, a clear rest with their recent predecessors of the White House that saw tariffs as specific tools for strategically use or barriers that are worth it lower. Trump has broken with that precedent in saying that he wants to return to the United States to the 1890s when import taxes were the source of dominant income of the government.
But if work profits never materialize and if inflation remains high, it is an easy attack line for the democratic legislators and candidates that Trump helped the ultraweal at the expense of the middle class.
“It doesn’t matter how to cut it, costs will increase for consumers,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer from New York earlier this month. “I will work with my colleagues to undo this disaster, get costs and get these multimillionaires from the road.”
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Trump put 10% tariffs on China on his contributions to the production of illicit drug fentanyl, and China has taken retaliation measures. He said that it is ready if necessary on March 1, after a suspension of 30 days, to put tariffs to Mexico and Canada for their belief that they should do more to combat illegal immigration and drug smuggration.
On Monday, he closed the exemptions to his 2018 tariffs on steel and aluminum, in addition to increasing aluminum rates. He has also talked about additional taxes on imported cars, computer chips and pharmaceutical medications.
Many of the dominant business partners of the United States are preparing for an economic breakdown in reaction to possible Trump actions.
In response to steel and aluminum tariffs, the head of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, said Tuesday: “Unjustified tariffs in the EU will not remain unanswered: they will trigger firm and proportional countermeasures.” That means that motorcycles, jeans, bourbon and peanut butter in the United States could face new taxes abroad. Mexico and Canada, the two largest commercial partners in the United States, have also prepared countermeasures.
Multiple Trump assistants have said privately that Trump’s long data goal with tariffs has been reciprocity. But Trump has also portrayed tariffs as a diplomatic tool to try to force Canada and Mexico to spend more resources to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking in the United States. He also repeatedly suggested that tariffs would be a source of income that could compensate for their planned income tax cuts.
But even before Trump formally signed the order, Goldman Sachs analysts concluded on Tuesday that it was unlikely to be the last word about tariffs.
“Of course, even if President Trump believes that reciprocal tariff ” Investment Bank analysts wrote.
Michael Zezas, Morgan Stanley’s strategist, wrote in a Sunday note that the “tariff trajectory” would shape what happens with growth, inflation, interest rates and federal reserve policies this year.
“It is an important change in the era of globalization, when companies reduced expenses when looking for labor and lower seas costs,” Zezas said. “It is likely that this transition takes many years, creating challenges for some substantial opportunities for others.”
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press
