On April 2: Trump to impose reciprocal tariffs on American imports

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: US President Donald Trump said he would be imposing both broad reciprocal tariffs and additional sector-specific tariffs on April 2, the media reported on Monday.

“April 2 is a liberating day for our country,” Trump said. “We’re getting back some of the wealth that very, very foolish presidents gave away because they had no clue what they were doing.”

The US President told reporters aboard Air Force One that “in certain cases, both” types of levies would be placed on foreign goods imported to the US.

“They charge us and we charge them and then in addition to that on autos, on steel, on aluminium, are going to have additional tariffs,” Trump said on Sunday.

The remarks signal that he plans to press ahead with a more aggressive tariff regime, despite initial moves roiling financial markets and straining alliances.

Earlier, Trump said that his administration is preparing what he called reciprocal tariffs which would hit imports from each country with a tariff rate determined based on a calculation incorporating its own tariff and non-tariff barriers.

But he also said he wants to prepare key US industries, including automobiles, steel, aluminium, microprocessors, and pharmaceuticals. It is unclear whether those sectoral tariffs would be incorporated into or added on top of the reciprocal tariff regime, the reports said.

Trump has already imposed a 20 percent tariff rate in China, as well as a 25 percent levy on steel and aluminium. He also announced a 25 percent tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods, but subsequently offered a one-month extension for goods compliant with the North American trade deal, known as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), negotiated during his first term as the President (2017-21).

He also said Canadian energy and potash, a key fertiliser, would only be hit with a 10 percent tax.