Trump Readies Matching Tariffs on Trade Partners

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is taking additional action to upset the world trade system, with plans to sign an order as soon as Feb. 12 that would require that U.S. tariffs on imports match the tax rates charged by other countries.

“It’s time to be reciprocal,” Trump told reporters earlier this week. “You’ll be hearing that word a lot. Reciprocal. If they charge us, we charge them.”

The president had suggested that the order would come Feb. 11 or 12. But when Feb. 11 passed without the tariffs being officially announced, Trump was asked if he would sign the order on Feb. 12 and Trump answered: “We’ll see what happens.”

As Trump has unleashed a series of tariffs after being in power for less than a month, he has fully taken ownership of the path of the U.S. economy. It’s a bet that his economic ideas can eventually deliver meaningful results for voters, even if by Trump’s own admission the import taxes could involve some financial pain in the form of inflation and economic disruptions. For all of Trump’s talk, the impact will likely depend on the details of the tariffs and how other nations respond.

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