Lutnick Says Some Reciprocity Tariffs to Start April 2, Others in May or June
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, when asked by a Bloomberg TV reporter if tariffs will be hiked on April 2, or if a process begins then, said "some tariffs will come on right away," while others could take three weeks, four weeks, or two months, depending on which law is being used.
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"It will be very, very thoughtful, very organized," Lutnick asserted March 5. "They will stick. Treat us fairly, treat us thoughtfully, or don't trade with us."
Although in the past, the Commerce Department has made specific percentage recommendations to the president on commodities -- for instance, 24% on steel and 7.7% on aluminum -- current President Donald Trump has preferred "a nice round number," and imposed 25% tariffs on steel, and 10% on aluminum. In Trump's speech to Congress the evening of March 4, he said he has imposed 25% tariffs on lumber and copper. Both are at the early stages of Section 232 investigations on whether imports of those products imperil national security, and, if so, what remedy is needed.
In his speech, Trump also talked about reciprocal tariffs more broadly.
"Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it's our turn to start using them against those other countries. On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada. Have you heard of them? And countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them. It's very unfair. India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100%. China's average tariff on our products is twice what we charge them. And South Korea's average tariff is four times higher. Think of that, four times higher. And we give so much help militarily and in so many other ways to South Korea," he said.
The U.S. and South Korea have a free trade agreement, and after the speech, South Korea's foreign ministry said U.S. exports faced a 0.79% tariff on average last year.
Trump also said that he will hike tariffs to match trading partners' tariffs, and if they use non-tariff measures to keep the U.S. out of their markets, the U.S. will do that, too. American officials have said previously that they could use tariffs to address non-tariff barriers.