Donald Trump to impose auto tariffs soon, hints at reciprocal duty breaks

Trump said his tariff roll-out would focus on so-called reciprocal duties, featuring rates on a country-by-country basis corresponding to tariffs and other trade barriers on US products

By Josh Wingrove

   

President Donald Trump said he will announce tariffs on automobile imports in the coming days — and indicated nations will receive breaks from next week’s “reciprocal” tariffs.

 

Trump’s comments at the White House Monday sowed further confusion about his plans for a sweeping tariff announcement scheduled for April 2. The president told reporters he planned to proceed with long-threatened auto import tariffs “fairly soon, over the next few days” ahead of the broader package. 

 

Trump said his tariff roll-out next Wednesday would focus on so-called reciprocal duties, featuring rates on a country-by-country basis corresponding to tariffs and other trade barriers on US products. The president twice on Monday signaled trading partners would receive possible exemptions or reductions. 

 

“I may give a lot of countries breaks,” Trump said. “They’ve charged us so much that I’m embarrassed to charge them what they’ve charged us, but it’ll be substantial, and you’ll be hearing about that on April 2.”

 

Trump also said he planned to proceed with sector-specific tariffs on lumber and semiconductors “down the road,” without elaborating. Earlier Monday, he repeated his threat to impose duties on pharmaceutical drugs and said they would come in “the very near future.”

 

On top of that, Trump announced on social media he would charge a 25 per cent tariff on other nations purchasing Venezuelan oil starting on April 2. 

 

The president’s barrage marked the latest example of his erratic approach to trade policy, which has frazzled investors and foreign governments. 

 

The Bloomberg dollar index briefly erased gains in Monday afternoon trading after the president said additional tariffs related to certain sectors would be announced in the coming days. The Mexican peso strengthened to a session high after Trump previewed breaks for “a lot of countries.”

 

Trump has touted his April 2 announcement as a “Liberation Day,”, heralding the start of a more protectionist policy meant as retribution against trading partners he has long accused of “ripping off” the US. While his plans mark a significant expansion of tariffs, people familiar with internal discussions said a more targeted package of duties was set to be put in place next week.  

 

Nations in the crosshairs of US tariffs have rushed to set up meetings with Trump administration officials to offer concessions and other defensive responses in an effort to earn exceptions from the reciprocal tariffs. 

 

European Union trade chief Maros Sefcovic is scheduled to meet Tuesday with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. India’s government is planning to seek exemptions when an American delegation arrives Tuesday for ongoing talks on bilateral trade.