President Trump signed a memorandum Thursday directing his administration to implement “fair and reciprocal” trade tariffs on all major U.S. trading partners, including longtime allies.
The memo instructs Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, and Jamieson Greer, his global trade representative, to conduct a country-by-country assessment within 180 days to determine whether remedies are needed to ensure balanced trade relations. Russell Vought, Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, is also tasked with submitting a report within the same timeframe on the fiscal impact of the proposed 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 announced that additional import taxes on cars, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals would be implemented “over and above” the reciprocal tariffs, though those measures would come at a later stage.
Ahead of the memo’s signing, White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro told reporters that major exporting nations had created a “pernicious, trillion-dollar” trade deficit with the U.S. He specifically pointed to the European Union’s value-added tax as a trade barrier that disadvantages U.S. exports.
