Trump signs a plan for reciprocal tariffs on US trading partners, ushering in economic uncertainty

Trump signs a plan for reciprocal tariffs on US trading partners, ushering in economic uncertainty
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before signing an executive order as his aides watch at the White House in Washington on Feb. 13, 2025. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 14 February 2025
Follow

Trump signs a plan for reciprocal tariffs on US trading partners, ushering in economic uncertainty

Trump signs a plan for reciprocal tariffs on US trading partners, ushering in economic uncertainty
  • Says the reciprocal tariff is “fair to all. No other country can complain,” adding that the new tariffs would equalize the ability of US and foreign manufacturers to compete
  • Analysts warned that the politics of tariffs could easily backfire on Trump if his agenda pushes up inflation and grinds down growth

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Thursday rolled out his plan to increase US tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports, possibly triggering a broader economic confrontation with allies and rivals alike as he hopes to eliminate any trade imbalances.
“I’ve decided for purposes of fairness that I will charge a reciprocal tariff,” Trump said in the Oval Office at the proclamation signing. “It’s fair to all. No other country can complain.”
Trump’s Republican administration has insisted that its new tariffs would equalize the ability of US and foreign manufacturers to compete, though under current law these new taxes would likely be paid by American consumers and businesses either directly or in the form of higher prices.
The politics of tariffs could easily backfire on Trump if his agenda pushes up inflation and grinds down growth, making this a high stakes wager for a president eager to declare his authority over the US economy.
The tariff increases would be customized for each country with the partial goal of starting new trade negotiations. But other nations might also feel the need to respond with their own tariff increases on American goods. As a result, Trump may need to find ways to reassure consumers and businesses to counteract any uncertainty caused by his tariffs.
The United States does have low average tariffs, but Trump’s proclamation as written would seem designed to jack up taxes on imports, rather than pursue fairness as the United States also has regulatory restrictions that limit foreign products, said Scott Lincicome, a trade expert at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.
“It will inevitably mean higher tariffs, and thus higher taxes for American consumers and manufacturers,” he said. Trump’s tariffs plan “reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how the global economy works.”
Trump’s proclamation identifies value-added taxes — which are similar to sales taxes and common in the European Union — as a trade barrier to be included in any reciprocal tariff calculations. Other nations’ tariff rates, subsidies to industries, regulations and possible undervaluing of currencies would be among the factors the Trump administration would use to assess tariffs.
A senior White House official, who insisted on anonymity to preview the details on a call with reporters, said that the expected tariff revenues would separately help to balance the expected $1.9 trillion budget deficit. The official also said the reviews needed for the tariffs could be completed within a matter of weeks or a few months.
The possible tax increases on imports and exports could be large compared to the comparatively modest tariffs that Trump imposed during his first term. Trade in goods between Europe and the United States nearly totaled $1.3 trillion last year, with the United States exporting $267 billion less than it imports, according to the Census Bureau.
The president has openly antagonized multiple US trading partners over the past several weeks, levying tariff threats and inviting them to retaliate with import taxes of their own that could send the economy hurtling into a trade war.
Trump has put an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports due to that country’s role in the production of the opioid fentanyl. He also has readied tariffs on Canada and Mexico, America’s two largest trading partners, that could take effect in March after being suspended for 30 days. On top of that, on Monday, he removed the exemptions from his 2018 steel and aluminum tariffs. And he’s mused about new tariffs on computer chips and pharmaceutical drugs.
But by Trump’s own admission, his separate tariffs for national security and other reasons would be on top of the reciprocal tariffs, meaning that the playing field would not necessarily be level.
In the case of the 25 percent steel and aluminum tariffs, “that’s over and above this,” Trump said. Autos, computer chips and pharmaceuticals would also be tariffed at higher rates than what his reciprocal plan charges, he said.
The EU, Canada and Mexico have countermeasures ready to inflict economic pain on the United States in response to Trump’s actions, while China has already taken retaliatory steps with its own tariffs on US energy, agricultural machinery and large-engine autos as well as an antitrust investigation of Google.
The White House has argued that charging the same import taxes as other countries do would improve the fairness of trade, potentially raising revenues for the US government while also enabling negotiations that could eventually improve trade.
But Trump is also making a political wager that voters can tolerate higher inflation levels. Price spikes in 2021 and 2022 severely weakened the popularity of then-President Joe Biden, with voters so frustrated by inflation eroding their buying power that they chose last year to put Trump back in the White House to address the problem. Inflation has risen since November’s election, with the government reporting on Wednesday that the consumer price index is running at an annual rate of 3 percent.
The Trump team has decried criticism of its tariffs even as it has acknowledged the likelihood of some financial pain. It says that the tariffs have to be weighed against the possible extension and expansion of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts as well as efforts to curb regulations and force savings through the spending freezes and staff reductions in billionaire adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative.
But an obstacle to this approach might be the sequencing of the various policies and the possibilities of a wider trade conflict stifling investment and hiring amid the greater inflationary pressures.
Analysts at the bank Wells Fargo said in a Thursday report that the tariffs would likely hurt growth this year, just as the possibility of extended and expanded tax cuts could help growth recover in 2026.
Trump tried to minimize the likelihood that his policies would trigger anything more than a brief bump in inflation. But when asked if he would ask agencies to analyze the possible impact on prices, the president declined.
“There’s nothing to study,” Trump said. “It’s going to go well.”
 


Closing arguments set to begin in pipeline company’s lawsuit against Greenpeace

Closing arguments set to begin in pipeline company’s lawsuit against Greenpeace
Updated 7 sec ago
Follow

Closing arguments set to begin in pipeline company’s lawsuit against Greenpeace

Closing arguments set to begin in pipeline company’s lawsuit against Greenpeace
  • Dallas-based Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Dakota Access alleged defamation, trespass, nuisance and other offenses by Netherlands-based Greenpeace International
  • The pipeline company is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars. Greenpeace has denied the allegations and says there is no evidence to support them
MANDAN:Closing arguments are scheduled to begin on Monday in a pipeline company’s lawsuit against Greenpeace, a case the environmental advocacy group said could have consequences for free speech and protest rights and threaten the organization’s future.
The jury will deliberate after the closing arguments and jury instructions. Nine jurors and two alternates have heard the case.
North Dakota District Court Judge James Gion told the jury last month when the trial began, “You are the judges of all questions of fact in this case,” and to “base your verdict on the evidence.”
Dallas-based Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Dakota Access alleged defamation, trespass, nuisance and other offenses by Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, its American branch Greenpeace USA, and funding arm Greenpeace Fund Inc. The pipeline company is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
The lawsuit stems from protests in 2016 and 2017 of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline and its Missouri River crossing upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation. The tribe for years has opposed the pipeline as a risk to its water supply. The pipeline has transported oil since mid-2017.
Trey Cox, an attorney for the pipeline company, previously said Greenpeace “planned, organized and funded a game plan to stop construction” of the pipeline, “whatever the cost.”
Cox also alleged Greenpeace paid outsiders to come into the area to protest, sent blockade supplies, organized or led protester trainings, passed “critical intel” to the protesters and told untrue statements to stop the line from being built.
He said a letter signed by leaders of Greenpeace International and Greenpeace USA and sent to Energy Transfer’s banks contained an allegedly defamatory statement that the company desecrated burial grounds and culturally important sites during construction.
Greenpeace’s “deceptive narrative scared off lenders” and the company lost half its banks, Cox said.
Attorneys for the Greenpeace entities denied the allegations, saying there is no evidence, they had little or no involvement with the protests and the letter was signed by hundreds of organizations from dozens of countries, with no financial institution to testify the organization received, read or was influenced by the letter.
Greenpeace representatives have said the lawsuit is an example of corporations abusing the legal system to go after critics and is a critical test of free speech and protest rights. An Energy Transfer spokesperson said the case is about Greenpeace not following the law, not free speech.

Threatened by US, Canada hugs France and Britain close

Threatened by US, Canada hugs France and Britain close
Updated 45 sec ago
Follow

Threatened by US, Canada hugs France and Britain close

Threatened by US, Canada hugs France and Britain close
  • Prime Minister Mark Carney expecting warm welcomes on three days of visits to Paris, London and Iqaluit in Canada’s northernmost territory, Nunavut
MONTEAL: With Canada’s economy and even sovereignty under unprecedented threat from its southern neighbor the United States, its new leader has embarked on a trans-Atlantic trip to strengthen ties with traditional friends France and Britain.
Just days into his mandate, Prime Minister Mark Carney faces threats on three fronts: A trade war with the Washington, US President Donald Trump’s threats to annex his country, and looming domestic elections.
But, despite the tension at home, he is expecting warm welcomes on three days of visits to Paris, London and Iqaluit in Canada’s northernmost territory, Nunavut.
“Canada was built upon a union of peoples – indigenous, French, and British,” Carney said, in a statement released before he set off from Ottawa on Sunday, two days after he was sworn in, replacing 10-year veteran prime minister Justin Trudeau as leader of the G7, NATO and Commonwealth power.
“My visit to France and the United Kingdom will strengthen trade, commercial, and defense ties with two of our strongest and most reliable partners, and my visit to Nunavut will be an opportunity to bolster Canada’s Arctic sovereignty and security, and our plan to unlock the North’s full economic potential.”
Carney did not say why Canada might be in need of “reliable partners,” but he didn’t need to – Trump’s imposition of an escalating raft of import tariffs on Canadian goods has threatened to trigger a recession, and his scorn for Canadian sovereignty sent jitters through the former ally.
Opinion polls show a large majority of Canadian voters reject Trump’s argument that their country would be better off as the “51st state of the United States,” but the trade war is a threat to the economy of the vast country of 41 million people, which has long enjoyed a close US partnership.
On Monday, 60-year-old Carney will be in Paris for a working dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and discuss how to, according to the Canadian leader’s office, “build stronger economic, commercial, and defense ties.”
According to the Elysee, the two leaders “will discuss Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, international crises, and projects at the heart” of the “strategic partnership” between Paris and Ottawa.
Canada, France and Britain are among the NATO members that have maintained strong support for Ukraine’s beleaguered government and military since Russia’s all-out invasion in February 2022, even as Trump’s US administration has bullied Kyiv to make concessions to Moscow.
London and Paris are putting together plans for a coalition security force in Ukraine and looking for allies.
France is Canada’s 11th-largest trading partner and Britain its third at a time when Trump’s tariffs and Canadian retaliatory measures are threatening trade with its huge southern neighbor – destination of three-quarters of Canada’s exports.
But Canada also has a “Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement” with the European Union, which includes France, and is a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which now also includes Britain.
After Paris, Carney heads for London, where he once worked as governor of the Bank Of England, for talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles III, the monarch who is head of state in both Britain and Canada.
In his first speech as prime minister, Carney said: “Security is a priority for this government, reinforcing our security, as is diversifying our trading and commercial relationships, of course, with both Europe and the United Kingdom.”
On his return leg, Carney will touch down in Iqaluit, in Nunavut, the Canadian territory closest to the Danish autonomous country of Greenland – another Trump target for annexation – to “reaffirm Canada’s Arctic security and sovereignty.”

US meat exports at risk as China lets registrations lapse

US meat exports at risk as China lets registrations lapse
Updated 49 min 39 sec ago
Follow

US meat exports at risk as China lets registrations lapse

US meat exports at risk as China lets registrations lapse
  • Expiration of roughly two-thirds of the total registered facilities could restrict US market access
  • In 2024, the US was China’s third-largest meat supplier by volume, trailing Brazil and Argentina

BEIJING: Export registrations for more than 1,000 US meat plants granted by China under the 2020 “Phase 1” trade deal lapsed on Sunday, China’s customs website showed, threatening US exports to the world’s largest buyer amid an ongoing tariff standoff.
The registration status for pork, beef and poultry plants across the US, including major producers Tyson Foods, Smithfield Packaged Meats and Cargill Meat Solutions was changed from “effective” to “expired,” according to the website of China’s General Administration of Customs.
The expiration of roughly two-thirds of the total registered facilities could restrict US market access and incur significant losses to a roughly $5 billion trade, a fresh affront to American farmers after Beijing earlier this month imposed retaliatory tariffs on some $21 billion worth of American farm goods.
Beijing requires food exporters to register with customs to sell in China.
The US Department of Agriculture has said China did not respond to repeated requests to renew plant registrations, potentially violating the Phase 1 trade agreement.
Under the Phase 1 trade deal, China is obligated to update its approved plant list within 20 days of receiving updates from the USDA.
Registrations for some 84 US plants lapsed in February and while shipments from these affected plants continue to clear customs, the industry doesn’t know for how long China will allow imports.
China’s customs department did not immediately respond to faxed questions.
In 2024, the US was China’s third-largest meat supplier by volume, trailing Brazil and Argentina, accounting for 590,000 tonnes or nine percent of China’s total meat imports.


South Korea’s opposition says delay of Yoon impeachment ruling is irresponsible

South Korea’s opposition says delay of Yoon impeachment ruling is irresponsible
Updated 58 min 31 sec ago
Follow

South Korea’s opposition says delay of Yoon impeachment ruling is irresponsible

South Korea’s opposition says delay of Yoon impeachment ruling is irresponsible
  • The eight-member Constitutional Court continued deliberations well into the third week
  • Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by the Democratic Party-controlled parliament in December

SEOUL: South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party on Monday urged the country’s Constitutional Court to swiftly rule on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, saying keeping the country waiting is “irresponsible” and deepening social division.
As the eight-member court continued deliberations well into the third week, political tensions have surged between those who demand Yoon’s ouster for declaring a short-lived martial law in December and supporters who want him reinstated.
The court had wrapped up arguments on February 25, where Yoon said his martial law declaration was needed to root out “anti-state” elements but he never intended to fully impose emergency military rule.
“The country and the people have come to the breaking point,” a Democratic Party leadership member Kim Min-seok said. “We wait for the court’s responsible decision. Further delay is not normal and irresponsible,” he told a party meeting.
In 2017, former president Park Geun-hye was removed from office 11 days after the final arguments in the Constitutional Court in her impeachment trial.
South Koreans have gathered in huge numbers in the capital Seoul supporting and backing the conservative leader’s removal, saying the delay has been frustrating and made confusion worse.
Yoon was impeached by the Democratic Party-controlled parliament in December for violating his constitutional duty. He committed acts that are a grave threat to rule of law and more than disqualify him from office, the impeachment motion said.
Yoon is on a separate criminal trial on charges of leading insurrection, which is punishable by death or life in prison.
The fallout of Yoon’s martial law declaration has widened the rifts between the conservatives and liberals and those in the public, adding stress on institutions and putting much of the government policy making in limbo.
Some of the country’s top military commanders have been taken off duty and face criminal trials for their roles in the martial law decree. Arguments in the trial of former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun on insurrection charges begin on Monday.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was briefly acting president after Yoon was impeached and suspended from power on December 14, has also been impeached and the country is now led by the Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok.


Trump says he will be speaking with Russia’s Putin on Tuesday

US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. (File/AFP)
US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. (File/AFP)
Updated 17 March 2025
Follow

Trump says he will be speaking with Russia’s Putin on Tuesday

US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. (File/AFP)
  • Trump is trying to win Putin’s support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal
  • Russia moves closer to ejecting Ukrainian forces from Kursk

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: US President Donald Trump said he plans to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday and discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

“I’ll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One during a late flight back to the Washington area from Florida.

“We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance,” Trump said.

Trump is trying to win Putin’s support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted last week, as both sides continued trading heavy aerial strikes through the weekend and Russia moved closer to ejecting Ukrainian forces from their months-old foothold in the western Russian region of Kursk.

“We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,” Trump said, when asked about concessions. “I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides, Ukraine and Russia. We are already talking about that, dividing up certain assets.”