Trump spoke to reporters from the Oval Office about his decision, saying it was an “amazing day.” When asked if prices would rise as a result of the tariffs, he said that they “could go up somewhat” at first, but then “prices will also go down.”

President Donald Trump on Thursday moved to tear up decades-old low U.S. tariff rates, raising them to match those of other countries and counteract other barriers to American goods to try to shrink a U.

US President Donald Trump is sharpening plans to hit exports from countries that he says have trade policies that are unfair to the US. On Thursday, Trump signed a memo that instructed staff to develop custom tariffs for each country,

4.8%. That’s how much the U.S.’ weighted average tariff rate would be if Trump implemented the country-level strategy, Deutsche Bank economists led by Justin Weidner estimated in a Monday note. That’s a 3.3 percentage-point increase from the 1.5% effective rate U.S. imports had in 2022, according to the World Bank.

Trump calls it unfair that some countries apply higher tariffs to specific American goods than the U.S. applies back. A new executive order seeks to change that.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he plans to unveil reciprocal tariffs on Thursday but gave no other details. "Today is the big one: reciprocal tariffs," Trump wrote on his social media platform. Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.