US President Donald Trump has ordered his trade advisers to come up with “reciprocal” tariffs for US trade partners to retaliate against unfair taxes, tariffs, regulations and subsidies in a move that could unleash a global trade war.
A senior White House official said tariffs would be imposed on a “country by country” basis following an examination, and beginning with the countries that the US has the highest trade deficit with.
The tariffs would be issued in “Trump time”, the official said, “which is to say very rapidly”. “This should be a matter of weeks, or in a few months,” he added.
The memo signed by Trump described the US’s trade deficit as a threat to US national and economic security, laying the ground for Trump to be able to use a range of national security laws to issue tariffs without needing to go to Congress.
White House officials said the Trump administration would use different legal powers to implement the levies, including Section 301 of the Trade Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
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