- President Donald Trump starts a country-by-country review of tariffs placed on American exports.
- Economists warn that, at least in the short term, Trump's tariff policy is likely to cost American consumers more, not less.
- Trump's tariff announcement comes amid rising inflation and high egg prices.
President Donald Trump put some of his tariff plans into motion on Thursday, vowing to use “reciprocal tariffs,” per CNN. Trump said he intends to leverage the reciprocal tariffs on trading partners who tax goods imported from the United States.
Specifically, he’s launching a country-by-country review of the tariffs other nations impose on the United States, according to Forbes. This process could take up to several months and will result in tariffs individualized to each country.
White House officials said that the tariffs will not go into effect for several more months.
“Very simply, it’s if they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said on Sunday.
This memorandum starts to enact one of Trump’s campaign promises, where he put forth the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act — an “eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff” policy where America will enact equal tariffs on countries that tax American imports.
How these tariffs will help — and harm — your wallet
Trump has already put country-specific tariffs on China, while pausing potential tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico as part of Trump’s deal with their leaders, as well as 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum, according to CNBC.
Trump has also floated plans to tax industrial goods on things like cars.
Trump’s plan to boost tariffs isn’t likely to endear him to global leaders, but in the long run, may cause nations already imposing tariffs on American goods to back off these measures. Ultimately, this could lower the price of American goods.
“This is something he believes strongly in, and it’s very simple logic as to why the president wants to impose reciprocal tariffs,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, per CNN. She said that other nations have been “ripping off” the U.S., “and that’s why the president believes this will be a great policy that will benefit American workers and improve our national security.”
In the short run, tariffs are likely to strain American wallets. The tariffs could start a trade war between Europe, China, Canada, Mexico and the United States and/or could cause a “stagflationary” shock to the American economy, where inflation increases while growth stagnates, per Yahoo Finance.
The Tax Foundation has estimated that Trump’s current tariffs could shrink U.S. gross domestic product, or GDP, up to 0.4% as well as cost American households over $800 in 2025.
All this follows an unexpected inflation spike in January, per the BBC. Inflation rose by 3% over the year ending in January, the highest rate in six months, and was due to higher costs of goods and services ranging from medicine to insurance.
In particular, egg prices are at an all-time high: The Financial Times reports that a dozen eggs passed $8 in wholesale markets this week. Meanwhile, Walmart and Kroger have started rationing purchases and Waffle House has added a surcharge for eggs.
Nevertheless, the price of eggs is not under Trump’s control: As the Deseret News previously reported, bird flu and egg thievery has contributed to the dramatic increase.