Trump Announces Marching Order for "Reciprocal Tariffs"

Feb. 13, 2025
By: Hannah B. Kreinik

After days of anticipation, President Trump gave an overview of his Fair and Reciprocal Plan, charging the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to investigate foreign tariffs and non-tariff barriers against U.S. products and potential reciprocal tariff solutions. This comes just after the President increased duties on steel and aluminum products (please click here and here to see our articles on the topic). The memorandum directing this action was not available at the time of publication.

The report will apparently review individual trading partners for the range of tariffs, “unfair” taxation, value-added taxation, and extraterritorial taxes placed on U.S. products. President Trump indicated that the reciprocal tariffs would be just that - reciprocal, meaning that the U.S. would only implement tariffs in equal amounts to the opposing trading nation. It was not clear whether some countries could see tariffs lowered as a result of the review. A report from OMB to the President is to be completed within 180 days of the memorandum. Preliminary indications are that a combination of Section 232 and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act would be cited as authority.

President Trump’s announcement is not a surprise as a similar report on the trade deficit was initiated on Inauguration Day (see our article on day 1 actions here). The day 1 memo and this latest memo are both in accord with statements made on the campaign trail regarding international trade and the United States’ role. Based on past trade actions it is likely that a number of key trading partners will have the opportunity to address specific issues with the United States and possibly change their ultimate duty rates.

For more Trump administration tariff and trade updates, please consult any of the attorneys at Barnes, Richardson & Colburn.