Trump's tariffs on April 2 will be narrower than previously threatened, sources say
Source: ABC News
March 24, 2025, 4:19 PM
President Donald Trump’s plan for reciprocal tariffs on April 2 is expected to be more targeted and narrower than what the president has vowed in the past, but the plan is still under discussion, sources told ABC News. The fresh round of duties, however, would still mark a significant escalation for the U.S. and its trading partners. In February, Trump ordered federal agencies to look into virtually every U.S. trading partner in evaluating what reciprocal tariff rate to put on them.
“April 2nd is Liberation Day in America!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “For DECADES we have been ripped off and abused by every nation in the World, both friend and foe. Now it is finally time for the Good Ol’ USA to get some of that MONEY, and RESPECT, BACK. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!”
Trump’s officials have been signaling a more conciliatory tone in recent interviews. “One of the things we see from markets is they’re expecting ... these really large tariffs on every single country,” Kevin Hassett, Trump’s National Economic Council director, said on Fox News. “I think markets need to change their expectations, because it’s not everybody that cheats us on trade, it’s just a few countries and those countries are going to be seeing some tariffs.”
The administration is focused on trading partners who have major trade imbalances with the U.S., the sources said. “It’s 15% of the countries, but it’s a huge amount of our trading volume,” U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent said last week. Last year, according to federal census data, the U.S. had the biggest trade deficits with China, the EU, Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Canada, India, Thailand, Switzerland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and South Africa.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/trumps-tariffs-april-2-narrower-previously-threatened-sources/story?id=120091898
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