White House Announces Investigation to Impose Reciprocal Tariffs on Other Countries

The U.S. Presidential Administration announced on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 13, that it will commence a comprehensive investigation to determine “the equivalent of a reciprocal tariff with respect to each foreign trading partner” on countries with existing tariffs on U.S. goods.

These tariffs will not be imposed immediately by the Administration, as the intent is to give countries time to either lower or eliminate their tariffs on U.S. goods, according to the White House. Currently, the US has one of the lowest average duty rates on imported goods.

According to news reports, the Commerce Secretary and U.S. Trade Representative will work with the Treasury and Homeland Security Secretaries to first review those countries with the highest tariffs on U.S. goods. It is anticipated that the investigation will not begin until after April 1, the due date for a number of reports on various trade-related issues. No deadline was specified for its completion.

According to a presidential memorandum released yesterday, the investigation will examine the following:

• Tariffs imposed on U.S. products.
• Unfair, discriminatory, or extraterritorial taxes imposed by trading partners on U.S. businesses, workers, and consumers, including a value-added tax.
• Costs to U.S. businesses, workers, and consumers arising from non-tariff barriers or measures; unfair or harmful acts, policies, or practices, including subsidies; and burdensome regulatory requirements on U.S. businesses operating in other countries.
• Policies and practices that cause exchange rates to deviate from their market value to the detriment of Americans.
• Wage suppression.
• Other mercantilist policies that make U.S. businesses and workers less competitive.
• Any other practice deemed to impose any unfair limitation on market access or any structural impediment to fair competition with the market economy of the U.S.
• The assessment resulting from the investigation will be delivered to the President within 180 days of the memorandum.

A.N. Deringer, Inc. continues to monitor the U.S. Administration’s trade policies and tariff developments and will update customers accordingly.