President Donald Trump is slowly unveiling his new tariff regime to replace the one knocked down by the Supreme Court earlier this year.
So far, it’s more restrained than the previous version — a nod to the country’s current economic realities.
The Trump administration this week proposed new duties on more than 60 countries after hurried trade investigations — in many cases suggesting tariffs substantially lower than the illegal ones it imposed last year. The White House also announced it is further paring back its high tariffs on goods made with steel, aluminum and copper in a bid to ease the burden on the agriculture and manufacturing industries, in particular.
It’s a sign of how Trump’s trade agenda is being shaped by two divergent forces: A political imperative to lower the cost of everyday goods, and Trump’s desire to “reindustrialize” the U.S. by erecting a high tariff wall to protect domestic manufacturing. That balance will continue to be tested as the administration looks to roll out several more rounds of tariff proposals in the coming weeks.
