US President Donald Trump has said that he does not plan to create exceptions for steel and aluminum tariffs and announced that reciprocal and sector-specific tariffs on US trade partners will be applied starting April 2.
“April 2 is a liberating day for our country,” Trump said on Sunday. He said that US is getting back the wealth that “very, very foolish presidents gave away because they had no clue what they were doing.”
Trump has repeatedly said that he does not plan to exempt any country from his trade actions.
Trump explained that the US imposes charges on other countries, and in return, those countries charge the US. He also mentioned that, on top of that, there will be additional tariffs on cars, steel, and aluminum.
The US has imposed a 20% tariff on China and a 25% levy on steel and aluminum. The 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico was suspended on March 6 after a one-month delay for automakers under the North American trade agreement.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt explained that the suspension was announced after Trump spoke with the “big 3” automakers, namely Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, and asked them to move their production lines from Canada and Mexico to the US.
In his first speech of his second term at a joint session of Congress, Trump mentioned countries he believes charge “very high” and “unfair” tariffs on US goods and promised to impose similar tariffs in return. He said that India charged US auto tariffs that were over 100 percent.”
The Centre had last week revealed that the United States had not imposed reciprocal tariffs on India so far. They also stated that both sides are planning to negotiate a trade deal that will focus on increasing market access, lowering import duties and non-tariff barriers, and improving supply chain integration.
(With Reuters Inputs)