US President Donald Trump has promised further customs announcements in the coming week.
“We will have tariffs, especially reciprocal tariffs,” said Trump at a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the White House. He was actually asked by the press about tariffs on products from Japan, but his answer seemed to be more extensive. Trump spoke of an announcement next Monday or Tuesday.
Reciproken, i.e. mutual tariffs, means tariffs from the United States that are adapted to the customs level of the respective trading partner. It is about “paying a country so much or charging so much and we do the same,” said the Republican. “I think that’s the only fair way of doing it. In this way, nobody is damaged.” It affects everyone and resorted to mutuality, he emphasized. With a view to his meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister, Trump said: “We didn’t talk too much about tariffs.”
It was open to whom Trump’s customs threats were explicitly directed against and whether it would only be about Japan. Trump had recently announced against the European Union Zölle. For example, he said there was no schedule, but “pretty soon” would happen. Around a week ago, he also imposed tariffs from Canada, Mexico and China. After negotiations with Mexico and Canada, however, the planned tariffs for these two countries were initially suspended.
/NAU/DP/MIS
Washington (dpa-Afx)
Image sources: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Image, Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images