While the finer details of President Trump’s tariff plan set to take effect on April 2 remain uncertain, reports hint that the administration will likely omit industry-specific tariffs to focus on applying reciprocal levies on a targeted set of nations.
Industry-specific tariffs on automobiles, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors are likely not going to be the target come April, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited Bloomberg as the first to report on the shift.
MDM Premium: How Distributors Can Add Value as an Information Hub Amid Tariff Turmoil
Instead, the White House will narrow its approach to apply reciprocal levies on targeted nations with “trade imbalances with the U.S.” While the nations have not yet been named, Canada, China, the European Union and Mexico, among others, are speculated.
But industry-specific tariffs may still be coming sooner than later. News outlets also reported that on March 24, Trump said he will soon announce tariffs targeting autos, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber.
“We’ll be announcing cars very shortly,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll be announcing pharmaceuticals at some point, because we have to have pharmaceuticals. So we’ll be announcing some of these things in the very near future, not the long future, the very near future.”
Reports noted that Trump added lumber and semiconductor industries to his list at a White House event later on March 24.
As of March 24, tariffs the U.S. have enacted include 20% duties on all Chinese imports; 25% duties on global steel and aluminum imports; and 25% duties on imports from Canada and Mexico that don’t comply with the North American trade agreement (USMCA) — linking those nations with the supply of fentanyl into the U.S.
The post White House Narrows Focus for April 2 Reciprocal Tariffs appeared first on Modern Distribution Management.