Trump Moves to Impose Reciprocal Tariffs, But Not Now

“President Donald Trump ordered his administration to consider imposing reciprocal tariffs on numerous trading partners, raising the prospect of a wider campaign against a global system he complains is tilted against the US,” Bloomberg reports.

“The president on Thursday signed a measure directing the US Trade Representative and Commerce secretary to propose new levies on a country-by-country basis in an effort to rebalance trade relations — a sweeping process that could take weeks or months to complete, according to a senior White House official, leaving no clear date when they would take effect.”

New York Times: “It’s hard to overstate what a dramatic overhaul of the global trading system this would be. For decades, the U.S. has set its tariff levels through negotiations at international trade bodies like the W.T.O. The president is effectively throwing that system out the window, and saying that he and his advisers will now decide.”