WASHINGTON (Reuters)-US President Donald Trump’s government will present a business partners on April 2 a proposal for reciprocal tariffs based on the imposed trade rates and barriers against US products, but also a negotiation opportunity to avoid a “tariff wall,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday.
“On April 2, each country will receive a number we believe to represent their fares,” Bessent told Fox Business Network. “For some countries, this number can be very low, for others, it can be very high.”
Trump has said that his reciprocal tariffs – which will seek to equate US fees to the rates of other countries and compensate for business practices that his government considers unfair – will come into force on April 2. But Bessent’s comments indicate that there may be a negotiation period before the new import fees begin.
“We will go to them and say, ‘See, here are tariff levels, non -tariff barriers, currency manipulation, unfair financing, suppression of manpower, and if you stop it, we won’t raise the tariff wall,” Bessent said about commercial partners.
Countries that do not reduce their commercial barriers will face higher rates to protect the US economy, their workers and industries, Bessent said.
