President Donald Trump is taking into account a number of factors when deciding whether to employ mutual tariffs, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Trump has pledged for months to put in place mutual tariffs on other nations as a reaction to transfer fees and other business restrictions on American products. The taxes are scheduled to go into effect on April 2.
Each nation will get a quantity that we believe accurately represents their taxes on April 2, Bessent told Fox Business. It might be quite reduced for some nations. It might be quite high for some nations.
” We are going to go to them and say,” Look, here is where we think the tariff levels are, nontariff barriers, currency manipulation, unfair funding, labor suppression, and if you will stop this, we will not put up the tariff wall,” he said.
Bessent added that the Trump administration” will set up the price wall to protect our economy, protect our employees, and protect our business” if the nations don’t change those laws.
The four guidelines that the Trump presidency is considering are broken down below.
Nontariff barriers
Nontariffical barriers to commerce include restrictions, certificates, regulations, embargoes, and other methods that are not taxes.
Bessent stated in the meeting that nations that do not reduce their trade barriers will be subject to higher tariffs, which he said would defend the U.S. economy.
Currency deception
Currency deception occurs when a country intentionally weakens its currency for its exports to be cheaper and imports to be more expensive.Â
The Treasury Secretary is required to” consider whether states manipulate the rate of exchange between their money and the US dollar in order to prevent powerful balance of payments revisions or gain unfair competitive advantages in international trade” under Section 3004 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988.
In a press release, then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin labeled China as a currency manipulator for “devaluing its coin, while maintaining considerable foreign exchange reserves despite effective use of such devices in the past”. The United States applied that brand to China for the first time since 1994.
According to a December 2024 record from Reuters, China’s top legislators considered allowing the yuan to diminish as they prepared for the effects of Trump’s taxes.  ,
Harsh financing
Harsh financing refers to governments or other large investors subsidizing or giving financial assistance to specific companies, sectors, or regions in a way that distorts the market. Such policies could hurt competition and consumers.
For instance, the United States has much accused the European Union of subsidizing Airbus, a French-based rival to Boeing in Seattle. Additionally, the EU claimed that Boeing was being subfinanciated by the United States because of its millions of dollars in state deals.
Both parties reached a resolution in 2021 to resolve the 17-year debate and agree to halt tariffs for a five-year period.
” With the Boeing-Airbus partnership, we have made a significant step forward in the resolution of the longest trade debate in the WTO’s history. After a lot of research between the European Commission and the U.S. management, I’m pleased to see that,” said Western Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Labor repression
There are a number of ways to obstruct labor, including labor busting, offshoring, and restricting workers ‘ rights. Many nations ‘ labor methods differ from those of the United States, which allows for organizations in some professions and has a set minimum wage.
WHITE HOUSE promoting” Good NEWS OF THE ECONOMY” Past Crisis FEARS
Labor repression can make countries with fewer rights, such as Bangladesh and China, more attractive to companies due to their extremely low cost of operation.
Some nations permit the creation of” sweatshops,” where employees are only paid for their labor and put in incredibly long hours. This makes it easier for those nations to produce goods at lower prices than those with worker’s rights, which hurts competitors.
