Subaru Corp. vehicles bound for shipment at a port at dusk in Yokohama, Japan. (Toru Hanai/Bloomberg News)
President Donald Trump said he will announce tariffs on automobile imports in the coming days — and indicated nations will receive breaks from next week’s “reciprocal” tariffs.
Trump’s comments at the White House on March 24 sowed further confusion about his plans for a sweeping tariff announcement scheduled for April 2. The president told reporters he planned to proceed with long-threatened auto import tariffs “fairly soon, over the next few days” ahead of the broader package.
Trump said his tariff rollout for April 2 would focus on so-called reciprocal duties, featuring rates on a country-by-country basis corresponding to tariffs and other trade barriers on U.S. products. The president twice signaled trading partners would receive possible exemptions or reductions.
Trump
“I may give a lot of countries breaks,” Trump said. “They’ve charged us so much that I’m embarrassed to charge them what they’ve charged us, but it’ll be substantial, and you’ll be hearing about that on April 2.”
Trump also said he planned to proceed with sector-specific tariffs on lumber and semiconductors “down the road,” without elaborating. Earlier April 2, he repeated his threat to impose duties on pharmaceutical drugs and said they would come in “the very near future.”
On top of that, Trump announced on social media he would charge a 25% tariff on other nations purchasing Venezuelan oil starting April 2.
The president’s barrage marked the latest example of his erratic approach to trade policy, which has frazzled investors and foreign governments.
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The Bloomberg dollar index briefly erased gains March 24 in afternoon trading after the president said additional tariffs related to certain sectors would be announced in the coming days. The Mexican peso strengthened to a session high after Trump previewed breaks for “a lot of countries.”
Trump has touted his April 2 announcement as a “Liberation Day,” heralding the start of a more protectionist policy meant as retribution against trading partners he has long accused of “ripping off” the U.S. While his plans mark a significant expansion of tariffs, people familiar with internal discussions said a more targeted package of duties was set to be put in place next week.
Nations in the crosshairs of U.S. tariffs have rushed to set up meetings with Trump administration officials to offer concessions and other defensive responses in an effort to earn exceptions from the reciprocal tariffs.
European Union trade chief Maros Sefcovic is scheduled to meet March 25 with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. India’s government is planning to seek exemptions when an American delegation arrives March 25 for ongoing talks on bilateral trade.
