The US President Donald Trump is pushing his senior advisers to take more decisive action on customs policy in preparation for April 2, the day a massive new tariff package is scheduled to be imposed.
This is reported by The Washington Post, citing sources.
While many of his allies on Wall Street and Capitol Hill have urged the White House to take a more conciliatory approach, Trump continues to push for aggressive measures to fundamentally transform the American economy, the people said.
Trumpʼs advisers are engaged in intense discussions about the exact amount of import tariffs that will be imposed, which officials say will affect trillions of dollars in trade.
The option considered the most likely, and publicly announced this month by the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, involves imposing tariffs on goods from 15% of countries that the administration considers to be the USʼs "worst trading partners," accounting for almost 90% of imports.
At the same time, Trump himself continues to convince his advisers that his administration should continue escalating trade measures, and in recent days has revived the idea of a universal tariff that would apply to most imported goods, regardless of their country of origin.
- After taking office, Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, raised tariffs on goods from China to 20 percent, and imposed 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, countries he accused of facilitating drug smuggling into the United States.
- China responded with mirror tariffs on March 4,and Mexico and Canada promised to respond the same day. On March 12, the EU announced tariffs on metals, whiskey, and products from the United States. On the same day, Canada imposed new tariffs on American goods.
- A new round of US tariffs is scheduled for April 2. Trump has repeatedly called this day "liberation day" for the US economy. It is currently unknown what tariffs are planned to be imposed.
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