Trump signs a plan for mutual tariffs on US trading partners

Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump On Thursday, his plan to increase US tariffs rolled out to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports, which may trigger a wider financial confrontation with allies and rivals as he hopes to eliminate any trading balances.

“I have decided for justice that I would like to charge a mutual duty,” Trump said in the Oval Office by Proclamation Signing. “It’s fair to everyone. No other country can complain. “

Trump’s Republican Administration has insisted that its New tariffs Would plan the playing field between US producers and foreign competitors, although these new taxes under the current law would probably be paid by US consumers and businesses either directly or in the form of higher prices.

The policy of the tariffs could easily beat back on Trump if his agenda pushing inflation up and grinding’s growth, making this a high effort for a president who is eager to declare his authority over the US economy.

The tariffs will be adapted for each country with the partial goal of starting trade with new negotiations. But other nations may also feel the need to respond with their own customs increases on US goods. As a result, Trump may find ways to reassure consumers and businesses to counteract any uncertainty caused by his tariffs.

Trump’s proclamation identifies value -adding taxes – similar to VAT and ordinary in the European Union – as a trade barrier to be included in any mutual customs calculations. Other nations’ duty prices, subsidies for industries, regulations and possible underestimation of currencies would be among the factors that the Trump administration would use to assess customs.

A senior official in the White House who insisted on anonymity to view the details of a call with journalists said that the expected customs revenue would separately help balance the expected $ 1.9 trillion deficit. The official also said that the reviews needed for the tariffs could be completed within a few weeks or a few months.

The possible tax increases in import and export may be large compared to the relatively modest tariffs that Trump introduced during his first period. Trading in goods between Europe and the United States was almost $ 1.3 trillion last year, with the United States exporting $ 267 billion less than it imports, according to the Census Bureau.

The president is open antagonized several US trading partners Over the past few weeks, customs threats charged and invite them to retaliate with import duties that could send the economy throwing itself into a trade war.

Trump has laid Additional 10% Customs on Chinese Import Because of the role of the country in the production of Opioid Fentanyl. He has too Dealed Customs Rates on Canada and MexicoAmerica’s two largest trading partners that could come into force in March after being suspended for 30 days. At the top of it, he removed the exceptions of his 2018 steel and aluminum starfish on Monday. And he has been thinking of new tariffs on computer chips and pharmaceutical drugs.

In case of The 25% steel and aluminum garments To be imposed by Trump, it would be part of the mutual customs calculations, an official of the White House told Associated Press, insisting on anonymity to explain the administration’s approach. The official did not know if Trump’s planned tariffs on computer chips and pharmaceutical drugs would be separate from how the mutual tariffs are calculated as they could have separate justifications such as national security.

The EU, Canada and Mexico have counter -measures ready to inflict on the financial pain of the United States in response to Trump’s actions, while China has already taken retaliation step study of Google.

The White House has claimed that the collection of the same import duties that other countries do would improve the righteousness of trade and potentially raise revenue for the US government and at the same time enable negotiations that could eventually improve trade.

But Trump is also making a political effort for voters to tolerate higher levels of inflation. Price tips in 2021 and 2022 severely weakened the popularity of then -President Joe Bid, with voters so frustrated that inflation erodes their purchasing power that they chose last year to put Trump back into the White House to tackle the problem. Inflation has risen since the November election when the government reported Wednesday that it Consumer Price Index Runs at an annual rate of 3%.

The Trump team has interrupted criticism of its tariffs, although it has acknowledged the likelihood of some financial pain. It says the tariffs must be weighed against the possible extension and expansion of Trump’s tax cuts in 2017 as well as the efforts to limit rules and force savings through Expenses freeze and staff reductions In billionaire adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Department of Government Efficiency.

But an obstacle to this approach can be the sequencing of the different policies and the possibilities of a wider trade -flick that suffocates investment and hires in the midst of the larger inflation pressure.

Analysts in Bank Wells Fargo said in a Thursday report that the tariffs were likely to hurt growth this year, just as the expanded tax cuts could help the growth of recovering in 2026.

“Tariffs give a modest stagflationary shock to an economy,” says the report. “The US economy went into 2025 with a lot of momentum, but we look for real GDP growth to downplay a little over the next few quarters, as the price setting effects of duty costs. “