Donald Trump is going to impose reciprocal tariffs on Thursday afternoon, the U.S. president said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“NEWS CONFERENCE ON RECIPROCAL TARIFFS TODAY, 1:00 P.M., THE OVAL OFFICE. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump said in the post.
He posted earlier in the day, saying it was going to be a “big one.”
“THREE GREAT WEEKS, PERHAPS THE BEST EVER, BUT TODAY IS THE BIG ONE: RECIPROCAL TARIFFS!!! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
Trump on Monday signed a pair of executive orders that will impose 25 per cent tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum on March 12, with no exceptions or exemptions.
“It’s a big deal. This is the beginning of making America rich again,” Trump said as he signed the orders in the Oval Office.
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The move drew widespread condemnation from some of the United States’ closest trading partners, including Canada.
What are reciprocal tariffs?
After weeks of focus on retaliatory tariffs, many may wonder what the term “reciprocal” means.
Trump has not specified in detail how he defines the term.
There remains uncertainty about whether his order would apply only to matching tariffs or to including other foreign taxes that he views as a barrier to exporting American goods.
Broadly speaking, a reciprocal tariff would appear to be aimed at matching either the value or the spirit of any tariffs in place by other countries on American products.
This is different from what has become known in the Canadian context as a retaliatory tariff, which has been used when discussing a response to hit back at new tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Canada.
For example, Canada does not have across-the-board tariffs on American goods. If Trump follows through on his threat to impose those sweeping 25 per cent tariffs next month, those sweeping U.S. tariffs would not be reciprocal, since Canada does not have any matching ones already in place.
Canada has a list ready of retaliatory tariffs that the government will impose in direct response if that happens, which Trudeau has said are crafted to inflict pain on American consumers while minimizing pain on Canadians.
–with files from The Associated Press
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Trump set to impose sweeping reciprocal tariffs within hours: ‘The big one’
