President Donald Trump outlined a new trade policy focused on fairness and reciprocity and said that the US would implement reciprocal tariffs, charging other countries the same tariffs they impose on American goods.
Trump emphasised that this approach would address unfair trade practices, including non-monetary barriers, subsidies, and VAT systems, while encouraging foreign countries to either reduce or eliminate tariffs against the US.
Sharing a post on X on Monday (local time), Trump said, “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!”
The post added, “For purposes of this United States Policy, we will consider countries that use the VAT System, which is far more punitive than a tariff, to be similar to that of a tariff. Sending merchandise, product, or anything by any other name through another country, for purposes of unfairly harming America, will not be accepted. In addition, we will make provision for subsidies provided by countries in order to take economic advantage of the United States.”
Trump further said that provisions will also be made for Nonmonetary Tariffs and Trade Barriers.
The post said, “Likewise, provisions will be made for Nonmonetary Tariffs and Trade Barriers that some countries charge in order to keep our product out of their domain or, if they do not even let US businesses operate. We are able to accurately determine the cost of these Nonmonetary Trade Barriers. It is fair to all, no other country can complain and, in some cases, if a country feels that the United States would be getting too high a Tariff, all they have to do is reduce or terminate their Tariff against us. There are no tariffs if you manufacture or build your product in the United States.”
