US President Donald Trump on Easter Sunday issued a stern message to foreign trade partners, posting an eight-point record of alleged “non-tariff lying ” techniques that he claimed could damage relations with the United States. Among the mentioned tactics were money adjustment, government subsidies, counterfeiting, and transshipping to escape tariffs.
The post comes soon after Trump announced a 90-day suspension of mutual taxes for most US business allies—excluding China. Speaking to reporters next Thursday in the Oval Office, Trump said discussions with Beijing were continued. “Yeah, we’re talking to China. I do say they have reached out a number of days, ” he said.
Trump’s ‘non-tariff cheating ’ list:
- Currency deception
- VATs which act as taxes and import grants
- Tossing below value
- Export grants and other government grants
- Safe agricultural requirements ( electronic. g. , no physically engineered maize in EU)
- Protective technical standards ( Japan’s bowling ball test )
- Counterfeiting, piracy, and IP theft ( over$ 1 trillion a year )
- Transshipping to escape taxes
The 78-year-old has long criticised what he describes as skewed business plans. In Sunday ’s post, he also revived a controversial claim first made in 2018 about Japan’s so-called “bowling ball test ” used to reject US-made vehicles.
“It’s the ball game check. They take a bowling ball from 20 feet up in the air and drop it on the helmet of the vehicle, ” Trump said. “If the robin holes, the car does n’t count. It’s unpleasant. ”
While the White House recently described the note as a prank, Trump’s determination to repeat it underscores his continued concerns over what he views as mercantilist trade barriers against British goods.
