President Trump said he has settled on a final plan for sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs, but he declined to reveal the details ahead of an announcement in the Rose Garden at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, a move that appeared to rattle markets and governments around the world.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Mr. Trump said the U.S. would be “very nice, relatively speaking,” in imposing tariffs on a vast array of countries — including U.S. allies — that he believes are unfairly inhibiting the flow of American exports.
“That word reciprocal is very important,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “What they do to us, we do to them.”
The administration has been weighing several different strategies for the tariffs in recent weeks. One option examined by the White House is a 20 percent flat tariff on all imports, which advisers have said could help raise more than $6 trillion of revenue for the U.S. government.
But advisers have also discussed the idea of assigning different tariff levels to different countries, depending on the trade barriers they impose against American products. They have also said that some countries might avoid tariffs entirely by striking trade deals with the United States.
A White House official cautioned that the decision was not set in stone and that the president would make the final decision.
By Tuesday morning, the president’s comments appeared to leave markets uneasy. Stocks edged down at the start of trading, with the S&P 500 opening about 0.4 percent lower after a choppy day yesterday that ended with the index registering its worst month and quarter since 2022.
Investors are still seeking clarity on the scope of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, and the economic uncertainty surrounding a global trade war has fueled stock market volatility in recent weeks. Mr. Trump plans to unfurl his tariff plans on Wednesday at an event in the Rose Garden with his cabinet, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Danielle Kaye contributed reporting.
