Trump administration readies reciprocal US tariffs as trade war fears mount

I would suggest to you that the tariffs we imposed on China were historic and large, and we had no problem at all with that,

Navarro said

The complexity of devising a fully reciprocal tariff system with all other countries and covering all products would be enormous,

said Tim Brightbill, a trade lawyer at Wiley Rein LLP

Peter Navarrotrade adviser

The goal is to have fair and reciprocal trade, and if we have that we will have jobs, high wages and high productivity,

Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro said Thursday on Bloomberg Television

It’s a two-way street,

Lutnick told reporters Thursday after Trump signed the directive

So far, it seems more like an invitation to negotiate,

said Mercatus Center senior research fellow Christine McDaniel

Despite the appearance of subsidizing exports and punishing imports, however, a border-adjusted VAT is trade neutral,

they said in a Wednesday report

The more major countries retaliate, the more other countries will be tempted to join in,

he told AFP

Suppose that Brazil drops its tariffs on US autos, but keeps its tariffs the same on all foreign autos" for example

he added

This is every country, and essentially, when they treat us fairly, we treat them fairly,

Trump told reporters

It doesn't matter whether it's strategic competitors like Communist China or allies like the European Union or Japan or Korea,

a White House official told reporters on Thursday (Feb 13).

Every one of those countries is taking advantage of us in different ways, and the president characterizes this as a lack of reciprocal trade,

the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity

With reciprocity, as defined by Trump, U.S. tariffs would probably on average 10 to 15 percentage points higher. In my opinion, tariffs actually hurt the U.S. economy, so while they would raise revenue ... they would reduce GDP growth,

Hufbauer said

You can't change your supply chain overnight, and with the number and pace of these changes, even if you tried to stay ahead of it, can you stay ahead of it

said David Young, an executive with the Conference Board, a global business group

I may do it later on or I may do it tomorrow morning, but we'll be signing reciprocal tariffs,

Trump told reporters at the White House

This approach will be of comprehensive scope, examining non-reciprocal trade relationships with all United States trading partners,

it said

George W. Bushpresident

But if countries refuse, and the US raises its tariffs, then it is bad for the US" as American importers will face higher prices

said McDaniel, a former official in George W Bush's administration

Peter Navarrotrade adviser

Major exporting nations of the world attack our markets with punishing tariffs and even more punishing non-tariff barriers."

Ahead of Trump's Oval Office comments, Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro told reporters

Kaitlan CollinscNN host

Excuse me, we haven't asked you to speak yet."

As the reporter, CNN's Kaitlan Collins, began to ask a question, Trump quickly cut in, saying

It’s not like tomorrow we’re going to suddenly have 50% tariffs across the board,

Lerner said

It’s going to be really hard to fight inflation when we’re putting a big sales tax on our imports,

said Christine McDaniel, senior research fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, a think tank that studies markets