President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to place tariffs on any country that currently places duties on U.S. goods and does not receive equal treatment from the United States.
Trump signed a memorandum ordering an investigation and report into the state of international trade with the United States. One of the chief goals of the report is to identify countries that currently place economic boundaries to goods from the United States, but do not suffer the same hurdles in getting access to U.S. markets.
“On Trade, I have decided, for purposes of Fairness, that I will charge a RECIPROCAL Tariff meaning, whatever Countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them – No more, no less!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“For many years, the U.S. has been treated unfairly by other Countries, both friend and foe. This System will immediately bring Fairness and Prosperity back into the previously complex and unfair System of Trade,” the president wrote. “I have instructed my Secretary of State, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of the Treasury, and United States Trade Representative (USTR) to do all work necessary to deliver RECIPROCITY to our System of Trade!”
The memo signed by Trump asserts that the reciprocal tariffs will help solve the U.S. trade deficit that “threatens our economic and national security, has hollowed out our industrial base, has reduced our overall national competitiveness, and has made our Nation dependent on other countries to meet our key security needs.”
A fact sheet produced by the White House lists several examples of the unfair trade practices that the memo intends to target, such as ethanol trade with Brazil.
“The U.S. tariff on ethanol is a mere 2.5%. Yet Brazil charges the U.S. ethanol exports a tariff of 18%. As a result, in 2024, the U.S. imported over $200 million in ethanol from Brazil while the U.S. exported only $52 million in ethanol to Brazil,” the fact sheet says.
Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick estimated that the study into U.S. international trade could be completed by April 1, leaving Trump to take action based on the results of the study afterward, according to Axios.
