Trump launches a plan to attack countries with ‘reciprocal’ tariffs

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, is sharpening the plans to hit the exports of countries that, according to him, have commercial policies that are unfair to the United States.

On Thursday, Trump signed a memorandum that instructed staff to develop custom tariffs for each country, taking into account characteristics such as their existing tariffs, exchange rates, commercial balances and other rules.

When describing its concerns, the White House said the tariffs imposed by other countries were not necessarily the biggest problem, highlighting the European Union for other policies that the Trump administration said that US exporters put disadvantage.

While there are great questions about the plans, the announcement is likely to start commercial conversations worldwide.

The memorandum signed by the president requested that the personnel report a plan for “reciprocal trade and rates” in 180 days.

The Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, said his team would be ready to deliver a plan to the president before April 1.

Trump issued his plan for the so -called reciprocal tariffs as part of his effort to bring investments to the United States and increase manufacturing.

“If you build your product in the United States, there are no tariffs,” he said, adding that he was “doing what was fair.”

“In almost all cases, they are charging us much more than we charge them, but those days have ended,” he said. “This should have been done a long time ago.”

In addition to the European Union, Trump’s movements are expected to have an impact on commercial relations with countries such as India, Vietnam and Thailand, which have relatively higher tariffs and trust the US. UU. As a large market for exports .

Trump signed the memorandum before a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has already taken measures to reduce tariffs in key items such as motorcycles, which Trump made a problem during his first mandate.

In recent days, officials in Thailand and Vietnam have also said they were reviewing trade with the United States.

Before Trump’s announcement, the European Union said it was committed to “maintaining a nearby association with the United States.”

“We will continue to seek a constructive commitment,” said Olof Gill, the spokesman for the Commission for Commerce. “At the same time, we are ready to protect our interests.”

A tariff is an import tax collected by the Government. The company pays that matters good.

Countries generally erect tariffs in an attempt to protect certain sectors from foreign competition.

Historically, the United States has defended free trade and has maintained most of its low tariffs, except in certain products such as footwear and, more recently, steel and aluminum.

On average, USA.

When establishing its plans, the White House cited tariff objections such as the 10% tax faced .

The White House also said that Brazil charges a 18% tariff on ethanol imports, while the United States charges a 2.5% rate on the same product.

But officials made it clear that the United States intends to use tariff which are based on the USA. As the rules of Europe for its Value Added Tax (VAT), a type of sales tax.

Thursday’s announcement occurs after a series of movements related to the fee of the new administration.

Earlier this week, Trump ordered the United States to start charging an import tax of 25% in all steel and aluminum brought to the country, ending exemptions for countries such as the European Union, the United Kingdom and Brazil. That must go into force next month.

He also raised tariffs on all goods from China to 10% and threatened to reach imports from Canada and Mexico with 25% tariffs, a plan that has been suspended until March.

The actions on Wall Street were raised after not announced immediate tariffs.

John Cassidy, Executive Director of Cedar Investment Management, said that the Trump Fast Fire Rate Ads series had baffled Wall Street, which “does not like the unknown.”

But he warned against excessive reaction, noting that the tariffs that Trump imposed during his first mandate had a relatively mild impact on the economy of the United States.

“I think Trump is playing a hand here and I think he has a very strong hand to play.” said.

However, Alex during, economist at the Tax Foundation, said it remained to see what changes could result from Trump’s movements.

He does not believe that tariffs are the best strategy to deal with commercial complaints, given the costs and uncertainty they introduce for US companies and retaliation risks.

“I think we are moving towards more and more rates with every next week and a greater escalation of a commercial war with other countries,” he said.

He pointed out that Trump in his first term moved away from the Trans Pacific Association, a free trade agreement that had intended to address some of these same problems with the countries of Asia.

“They were open to do this without having to put the United States through greater commercial uncertainty,” he said.

Trump has dismissed concerns about collateral commercial damage, saying that his plans will increase manufacturing in the United States in the long term.

“What will upload is that the jobs will increase,” he said. “Prices could rise a little in the short term, but prices will also decrease.”

But surveys indicate that the American public is still concerned about the cost of living and is not convinced about the benefits of tariffs, which economists have warned that they can lead to higher prices for companies and households in the United States.

A recent survey of the Faculty of Law of Marquette found that only 24% of respondents believe that tariffs will help the US economy, including just under half of the Republicans and only 12% of independents and 4% of the Democrats.

“The question is that these tariffs will lead to greater inflation, higher goods costs,” said Charles Franklin, survey director. “The equity argument is probably a good argument that the president achieves, but the impact on the price is much more difficult to sell.”

Reports provided by Tom Espin