OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Thursday, President Donald Trump unveiled a plan for fair, free and reciprocal trade, ordering concerned agencies to chalk out plans for new reciprocal tariffs that could boost the United States' revenue.
Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum ordering the development of a comprehensive plan for restoring fairness in U.S. trade relationships and countering non-reciprocal trading arrangements.
The 'Fair and Reciprocal Plan' will seek to correct longstanding imbalances in international trade and ensure fairness across the board.
'Gone are the days of America being taken advantage of: this plan will put the American worker first, improve our competitiveness in every area of industry, reduce our trade deficit, and bolster our economic and national security,' the Memo says.
The United States is one of the most open economies in the world, yet our trading partners keep their markets closed to our exports. This lack of reciprocity is unfair and contributes to our large and persistent annual trade deficit, Trump said.
The White House cited a few examples where trading partners do not give the United States reciprocal treatment.
The U.S. tariff on ethanol is a 2.5 percent. Yet Brazil charges the U.S. ethanol exports a tariff of 18 percent. As a result, in 2024, the U.S. imported more than $200 million in ethanol from Brazil while the U.S. exported only $52 million in ethanol to Brazil.
The U.S. average applied Most Favored Nation tariff, or MNF, on agricultural goods is 5 percent. But India's average applied MFN tariff is 39 percent. India also charges a 100 percent tariff on U.S. motorcycles, while the U.S. only charge a 2.4 percent tariff on Indian motorcycles.
While the European Union export all the shellfish it wants to America, the EU bans shellfish exports from 48 U.S. states, despite committing in 2020 to expedite approvals for shellfish exports. As a result, in 2023, the U.S. imported $274 million in shellfish from the EU but exported only $38 million. The EU also imposes a 10 percent tariff on imported cars. Yet the U.S. only imposes a 2.5 percent tariff.
This lack of reciprocity is one source of America's large and persistent annual trade deficit in goods.
In 2024, U.S. trade deficit in goods exceeded $1 trillion.
The United States' trading partners hand American companies a huge bill for what they call a digital service tax.
Trump's plan to restore fairness in international trade was applauded by industry groups.
'We thank President Trump for taking this action and hope this reciprocal tariff will help encourage a return to free and fair ethanol trade relationship with Brazil,' said Renewable Fuels Association.
American Iron and Steel Institute said it looks forward to working with the Secretary of Commerce, the U.S. Trade Representative and other key administration officials as they develop their plan of action to ensure reciprocity in international trade and to preserve the competitiveness of the American steel industry and other sectors.
Last week, Trump had announced 25 percent tariffs to force Canada and Mexico to make long-overdue changes at U.S. northern and southern borders.
Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2025 AFX News
