Is Trump Team Diluting The “Universal” Tariff Plan? Here’s What He Said

With just weeks to US President-elect Donald Trump’s Inauguration, his aides are reportedly exploring plans to translate the Republican leader’s campaign pledges of imposing universal tariffs on imports from overseas into policy. In the run-up to the Presidential polls, Donald Trump has called for “universal” tariffs as high as 10 or 20 per cent on all imports to the United States, and a 60 per cent levy on goods from China.

However, the Republican leader’s aides believe that certain adjustments might need to be made in the original plan to accommodate political or economic realities, CNN reported quoting three sources familiar with the development.

Per the report, the Trump team is trying to come up with plans that cut closely to the blanket tariffs the President-elect had proposed as a candidate. They are reportedly exploring enacting tariffs on a subset of critical industries – either in advance of or alongside a broader tariff program – to highlight trade imbalances and spur US manufacturing activity.

Sources said that the discussion is still active on the policy as no final decisions have been made yet. 

Earlier, a report in The Washington Post said that Trump’s team was making a big shift from his plans during the 2024 presidential campaign by exploring tariff plans that would be applied to every country but only cover critical imports. 

However, the President-elect took offence to the article’s description that the move would pare back his campaign pledge. “The story in the Washington Post, quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don’t exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back. That is wrong,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday.

If put into effect, the tariff plan of Trump’s team could lead to one of the biggest challenges to the global trade order in decades. It could invite retaliation from the rest of the world and drive prices up for consumers and businesses alike.

However, his economic advisers reportedly view this effort as necessary to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US economy. They are weighing options about how to move forward with something that resembles Trump’s original proposal but would limit the impact on the stock market and consumer prices. 

Even before implementation, Trump’s plans are reportedly facing resistance in his own camp, with incoming Treasury secretary, hedge fund investor Scott Bessent, “not entirely sold” on the idea of universal tariffs on all goods, CNN reported quoting people who have spoken with him.

Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who worked on international economic policy during the first term, recently said that there was “probably more work that needs to be done” on tariffs on China.

However, Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for Commerce secretary, has reportedly supported using tariffs as a negotiating tactic and his confidante and former economic adviser Larry Kudlow has also suggested that tariffs could offset the cost of tax cuts.