Source: The White House; Translated by:
To: Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Homeland Security, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, United States Trade Representative, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, Senior Advisor to the President on Trade and Manufacturing
The United States is one of the most open economies in the world, with an average weighted tariff rate among the lowest. The barriers the U.S. has set on imports are fewer than those of other major world economies, including those with similar political and economic systems. For years, the U.S. has been treated unfairly by trade partners, whether friends or foes. This lack of reciprocity is one of the significant and ongoing sources of our country’s annual trade deficit—closed foreign markets lead to a reduction in U.S. exports, while an open domestic market leads to an increase in imports.
Our workers and industries are the first to be impacted by unfair practices and are unable to access foreign markets. As stated in the President’s memorandum dated January 20, 2025 (America First Trade Policy Memorandum), this situation is unsustainable. The United States’ trade deficit threatens our economy and national security, hollowing out our industrial base, reducing our overall national competitiveness, and making our country dependent on others to meet our critical security needs. By making trade more reciprocal and balanced, we can reduce the trade deficit; grow the American economy; improve trade relations with our trading partners, benefiting American workers, manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, entrepreneurs, and businesses.
The U.S. policy is to reduce the enormous trade deficit that we persistently have each year and to address other unfair and imbalanced aspects of trade with foreign trading partners. To implement this policy, I will introduce the “Fair Reciprocity Plan” (the Plan). Under this plan, this administration will vigorously address non-reciprocal trade arrangements with trading partners and establish reciprocal tariffs that are equal with each foreign trading partner. This approach will be comprehensive, reviewing the non-reciprocal trade relationships the U.S. has with all trading partners, including:
(a) Tariffs imposed on American products;
(b) Our trading partners impose unfair, discriminatory, or extraterritorial taxes on American businesses, workers, and consumers, including value-added tax;
© costs to U.S. businesses, workers, and consumers as a result of non-tariff barriers or measures, as well as unfair or harmful acts, policies, or practices, including subsidies, and onerous regulatory requirements imposed on U.S. businesses operating in other countries; (d) Policies and practices that cause exchange rates to deviate from market values to the detriment of the American people; depressing wages; and other mercantilist policies that have made U.S. businesses and workers less competitive; and (e) any other practice that the United States Trade Representative, in consultation with the Secretaries of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, and the President’s Senior Adviser on Trade and Manufacturing, considers to be imposing any unfair restrictions on market access or any structural impediment to fair competition with the U.S. market economy.
The plan should take into account the losses caused by measures detrimental to the United States, regardless of their names, whether written or unwritten, to ensure comprehensive fairness and balance in the entire international trade system.
(a) After submitting the report to the designated agency in accordance with the America First Trade Policy Memorandum, the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative should consult with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the President’s Assistant for Economic Policy, the President’s Senior Advisor on Trade and Manufacturing, and other heads of agencies and departments that the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative deem relevant, to take all necessary actions within their respective legal authorities to investigate any harm caused to the United States by any non-reciprocal trade arrangements made by any trading partner. After completing such necessary actions, they should submit a report to me detailing the remedies proposed to establish reciprocal trade relations with each trading partner.
(b) Within 180 days of the issuance of this memorandum, the Director of the Management and Budget Office shall assess all financial impacts on the federal government and the impact of any information collection requests on the public, and submit a written assessment report to the President.
Regarding this memorandum:
(A) “Value-added tax” refers to a type of consumption tax levied on the value added at each stage of the supply chain for goods or services. )b( “Non-tariff barriers” or “measures” refer to any restrictions, measures, or policies taken by the government to limit, prevent, or obstruct international trade in goods or non-monetary barriers, including import policies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical trade barriers, government procurement, export subsidies, lack of intellectual property protection, digital trade barriers, and anti-competitive behavior by state-owned or private enterprises tolerated by the government.
(a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to diminish or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to any executive department or agency or its head; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget related to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) The implementation of this memorandum shall be consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. © This memorandum is not intended, and shall not be construed, to create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, agents, or any other person.
(d) The U.S. Trade Representative is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
On February 13, 2025, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing the development of a comprehensive plan to restore fairness in U.S. trade relations and combat non-reciprocal trade arrangements.
The “Fair Mutual Benefit Program” will seek to address the long-standing issue of international trade imbalances and ensure comprehensive fairness.
The days when America was taken advantage of are gone: this plan will put American workers first, enhance our competitiveness in every industrial sector, reduce our trade deficit, and strengthen our economy and national security.
The United States is one of the most open economies in the world, but our trading partners close their markets to our export products. This lack of reciprocity is unfair and results in a huge and ongoing trade deficit every year.
There are countless examples of our trading partners not granting the United States reciprocal treatment.
The tariff imposed by the United States on ethanol is only 2.5%. In contrast, Brazil imposes an 18% tariff on ethanol exports to the United States. As a result, in 2024, the United States imported over $200 million worth of ethanol from Brazil, while the ethanol exported from the United States to Brazil was only $52 million.
The average most-favored-nation tariff on agricultural products in the United States is 5%, while India’s average most-favored-nation tariff is 39%. India also imposes a 100% tariff on American motorcycles, while we only impose a 2.4% tariff on Indian motorcycles.
The EU can export all the shellfish it wants to the United States. However, the EU prohibits shellfish exports from 48 states in the US, despite the US’s commitment in 2020 to expedite shellfish export approvals. As a result, in 2023, the US imported $274 million worth of shellfish from the EU, while the export amount was only $38 million.
The European Union also imposes a 10% tariff on imported cars, while the United States only imposes a 2.5% tariff.
A report from 2019 found that in 132 countries and across more than 600,000 product lines, U.S. exporters faced higher tariffs more than two-thirds of the time.
This lack of reciprocity is one of the reasons for the huge trade deficit in goods that the United States experiences every year: closed overseas markets reduce U.S. exports, while an open domestic market leads to a large volume of imports, both of which weaken the competitiveness of the United States.
Since 1975, the United States has experienced a trade deficit in goods every year. In 2024, our trade deficit in goods exceeded $1 trillion.
Due to the surge in non-reciprocal barriers in recent years, the United States is currently experiencing a trade deficit in agriculture, which is expected to reach approximately $40 billion by 2024.
Although the United States does not have such a tax, and only the United States should be allowed to tax American companies, trade partners have presented American companies with bills for what is called a digital services tax.
Canada and France collect over $500 million in revenue from U.S. companies each year using these taxes.
Overall, these non-reciprocal taxes cost U.S. businesses over $2 billion each year.
Reciprocal tariffs will restore fairness and prosperity to the distorted international trade system and prevent Americans from being exploited.
President Trump continues to fulfill the mission entrusted to him by the American people, implementing an America First policy in trade.
As President Trump stated on his first day in office in the America First Trade Policy Memorandum, trade policy is a key component of our economic and national security.
During President Trump’s first term, he successfully ended the outdated and unfair North American Free Trade Agreement and replaced it with the historic United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, bringing one of the greatest victories for American workers.
When our national security is threatened by the global surplus of steel and aluminum supplies, President Trump swiftly took action to impose tariffs on the imports of these goods to protect America’s national security.
In response to unreasonable behaviors such as intellectual property theft and forced technology transfer in China, President Trump decisively implemented tariff measures and leveraged this advantage to achieve a historic bilateral economic agreement.
Just last week, President Trump used tariffs to force Canada and Mexico to make changes at our northern and southern borders that should have been made long ago to ensure the safety of American citizens.
