Wall Street Journal (gated) with the report on what appears to be much more aggressive tariffs coming on April 2 than Trump was letting on last week. WSJ citing unnamed sources:
Trump spent most of last week playing down expectations for his so-called reciprocal tariff plan on April 2, saying repeatedly that he would be “nicer” than his previous pledges to equalize U.S. tariffs with those charged by other countries, and would consider exempting some countries from tariffs altogether
But in recent days Trump has pushed his team to be more aggressive, encouraging them to devise plans that would apply higher rates of tariffs on a broader set of countries.
advisers have considered imposing global tariffs of up to 20% that would hit virtually all U.S. trading partners
reciprocal plan is also still on the table
administration official said Trump is inclined to tariff every country that the U.S. runs a trade deficit
likely the final action will be broader than earlier plans to prioritize levying tariffs on the U.S.’s biggest trading partners (the “dirty 15”)
considering unveiling a slate of new industry-specific tariffs that could hit critical minerals and products that contain them
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.