President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Thursday calling for “fair and reciprocal” trade tariffs on all major U.S. trading partners, including longtime allies.
The memo calls on Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, and Jamieson Greer, his global trade representative, to assess within 180 days in a country-by-country report whether “remedies” are necessary to ensure reciprocal trade relations. Russell Vought, Trump’s nominee to head the powerful Office of Management and Budget, will likewise submit a report within that time period on the fiscal impact of instituting the measures.
“I’ve decided, for purposes of fairness, that I will charge a reciprocal tariff, meaning whatever countries charge the United States of America,” Trump said Thursday. “In almost all cases, they’re charging us vastly more than we charge them but those days are over.
Trump also said there would be additional import taxes on cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals “over and above” the reciprocal tariffs, though these would come later.