On February 14, Financial Associated Press reported (Editor: Xia Junxiong) that on Thursday, February 13, U.S. Eastern Time, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum proposing the implementation of reciprocal tariffs. He believes this will combat unfair and discriminatory tariffs from other countries.

Reciprocal tariffs will be customized for each trading partner based on five different aspects, including: tariffs imposed on U.S. products, unfair taxation, costs incurred by U.S. businesses and consumers due to their policies, exchange rates, and any other unfair trade practices identified by the U.S. Trade Representative's Office.

Reciprocal tariffs will not take effect immediately, but the signing of the memorandum marks the government's initiation of a review process to pave the way for implementing the tariffs. White House officials stated that Trump hopes to push for the tariffs to take effect as soon as possible, expected to be implemented "within weeks" or "at most a few months".

According to the memorandum, Trump instructed his nominees for Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Trade Representative nominee Jamison Greer, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Betancourt, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to negotiate and "swiftly" submit specific tariff proposals for various countries.

Subsequently, Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, will submit a report within 180 days assessing the impact of the tariffs on finances.

Lutnick predicted on Thursday that the new tariffs would take effect on April 2.

"Our research should be completed by April 1. Therefore, if the president is willing, we will provide him the opportunity to implement it starting April 2," Lutnick stated in the Oval Office.

Trump stated that the new tariffs will have a positive impact on employment in the USA, although they may lead to price increases in the short term.

"I believe that job opportunities will increase, prices may rise in the short term, but will fall afterwards," Trump said. "In the long run, this will allow our country to profit greatly."

Trump focused on what he called "non-MMF barriers," which American officials define as the different ways countries "exploit the USA," such as Japan's high structural trade barriers and India's high tariffs.

An official from the Trump administration stated that both strategic competitors and traditional allies are taking advantage of the USA in different ways, which Trump referred to as "a lack of reciprocal trade."

Editor/Somer