Reciprocal Tariff Details Remain Unknown
Bloomberg’s Skylar Woodhouse reported that “the White House hasn’t yet outlined what tariffs are coming, how they’ll be calculated, or what countries will need to do to secure coveted exemptions. Trump has also said his tariffs will account for other countries’ non-tariff barriers, though hasn’t detailed how those calculations will be made. The administration also hasn’t specified when these new tariffs will take effect.”
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this month said the Trump administration’s coming action would focus on what he called the ‘dirty 15,’ a percentage of the world’s economies that have substantial tariff and other barriers and together account for ‘a huge amount of our trading volume,'” Woodhouse reported. “Though Bessent didn’t name them, a Bloomberg Economics report shows 15 US trade partners, nine of which are in Asia, together account for more than 75% of all US imports and were also included in a recent administration document inviting public comment to identify any potential unfair trade practices.”
“The Trump administration has signaled that each country’s reciprocal tariffs could form the starting point for future negotiations, a stance that has sent countries rushing to offer concessions and play up their trade relationships with the US,” Woodhouse reported. “At the same time, Trump has also said he means to limit exceptions to his tariff push.”
Lawmakers Worry About Agriculture Retaliation
Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill reported that “swaths of Republicans on Capitol Hill are scrambling to shield their states from Donald Trump’s next wave of tariffs, a sign of the private alarm in the president’s party about the impacts of his trade agenda.”
“‘Tariffs in Kansas often are very harmful to agricultural producers, farmers and ranchers,’ said Sen. Jerry Moran of (R-Kan.). ‘And we’re often the retaliatory target by those we impose tariffs against,'” Lee Hill reported. “Moran said he is planning to push for exclusions to Trump’s tariffs to limit the fallout on his home state, where the agriculture sector is already facing some of the worst economic headwinds in years.”
“Administration officials also expect Trump on April 2 to move ahead with tariffs on foreign agriculture products, something the president floated in a Truth Social post earlier this month,” Lee Hill reported. “That has some Hill Republicans worrying that such a move would only trigger a new wave of retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. farm sector, plus cut American farmers off from critical export markets abroad when there won’t be enough demand in the U.S. to sell all of their goods.”
“Beyond Canada and Mexico, Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon said he’s heard from meat processors and popcorn producers in his state who have lost market access in Europe in the last week amid Trump’s trade tumult,” Lee Hill reported. “And while Bacon said new reciprocal tariffs may help lower trade barriers to some countries, the immediate result is higher costs for a lot of products: ‘In the end, consumers pay more. And so it’s going to raise costs.'”
Source : illinois.edu