U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., Feb. 12. UPI-Yonhap
U.S. President Donald Trump will announce "reciprocal" tariffs before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the White House this week, a U.S. official said Wednesday, as Trump is pushing for tariffs on U.S. imports to match what other trading partners impose on U.S. exports.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made the remarks as the Indian leader is set to hold a summit with Trump on Thursday, the last day of his two-day visit to the United States.
"I do believe it will come before the prime minister's visit tomorrow," Leavitt said during a press briefing.
Trump has been seeking to impose reciprocal tariffs, saying that they will ensure that the U.S. is "treated evenly with other countries." He has stressed that if other countries charge America, "we charge them."
The press secretary underscored the "golden rule" as to the proposed tariffs.
"It's the golden rule, which we all learned when we were growing up in school: Treat others the way you want to be treated," she told reporters.
"Far too many nations around this world have been ripping off the United States of America for far too long, and that's why the president believes this will be a great policy that will benefit American workers and improve our national security."
Earlier in the day, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said that the U.S. is in talks with other countries on "reciprocal" tariffs.
"That's a work in progress. Everybody's talking about it right now, and actually the conversations with other countries began this morning, really early," Hassett was quoted by Reuters as telling reporters.
On Tuesday, Peter Navarro, senior counselor for trade and manufacturing at the White House, told CNN that "there are no reciprocal tariffs yet" — a remark that raised speculation that it could take more time for the tariffs to be rolled out.
"Let's not jump the gun. What's going to happen is we're going to look at all of our trading partners, starting with the ones which we run the biggest deficits with, (and) find out if they're cheating the American people," Navarro told CNN.
"If they are, we are going to take measures to correct that wrong. That's what the president has promised for many years now."
Shipping containers are stacked at the Port of Oakland, Feb. 3 in Oakland, Calif. AFP-Yonhap
House Speaker Mike Johnson said that he believes Trump is considering exemptions to reciprocal tariffs, including the automobile and pharmaceutical industries, Reuters said.
Korean policymakers have been keenly watching Trump's tariff announcements as they could affect Korean companies seeking to build or strengthen their foothold in the U.S. market.
Trump has announced plans to reinstate a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and raise the tariff on aluminum imports to 25 percent from 10 percent — both set to take effect on March 12. He has also said that his administration is also looking into the possible imposition of tariffs on cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
Meanwhile, a White House official told AFP that 25-percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will be added to duties announced for Canada and Mexico, meaning that duties on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum will be cumulative and could reach 50 percent.
Trump agreed to pause 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods on Feb. 3, just hours before the tariffs had been set to go into effect, as the two countries pledged plans to prevent drug trafficking at their borders with the U.S. (Yonhap)