Trump’s Done With Unfair Tariffs Against America, Wants More Free and Fair Trade

President Donald Trump is redefining the concept of “tariffs,” challenging their historical framing in order to use them to create freer trade that benefits America.

Numerous U.S. trading partners slap much higher tariff rates on U.S. products than we do on theirs, and through the new possible tariff system signed into place by executive order Thursday, Trump aims to fix this imbalance.

It’s important to note Trump’s executive order, which he says outlines “reciprocal tariffs,” doesn’t enact tariffs—instead, it gives other countries time to come to the table and lay down their weapons of economic war. It also orders his advisors, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, to prepare a report by April 1 on the steps needed to rebalance tariff rates across the world with more than 200 trading partners, including countries, territories, and regional trading groups.

“For many years, the U.S. has been treated unfairly by other countries, both friend and foe,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “This system will immediately bring fairness and prosperity back into the previously complex and unfair system of trade. America has helped many countries throughout the years, at great financial cost. It is now time that these countries remember this and treat us fairly—A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR AMERICAN WORKERS.”

The White House on Thursday gave a list of examples illustrating just how much America has lagged behind our trading partners. For example, the U.S. tariff on ethanol imports is 2.5%. Yet Brazil puts a tariff of 18% on U.S. ethanol exports. Thus, in 2024, the U.S. imported over $200 million in ethanol from Brazil while the U.S. exported only $52 million in ethanol to Brazil.

The U.S.’ average applied Most Favored Nation tariff on agricultural goods is 5%. But India’s average applied Most Favored Nation tariff is 39%. India also charges a 100% tariff on U.S. motorcycles while we only charge a 2.4% tariff on Indian motorcycles.

The European Union exports unlimited shellfish to America without tariff. But the EU bans shellfish exports from 48 of our states, despite committing in 2020 to expedite approvals for shellfish exports. As a result, in 2023, the U.S. imported $274 million in shellfish from the EU but exported only $38 million.

The EU also imposes a 10% tariff on imported cars. Yet the U.S. only imposes a 2.5% tariff. A 2019 report found that across 132 countries and more than 600,000 product lines, United States exporters face higher tariffs more than two-thirds of the time.

Trump doesn’t seem to generally see tariffs as an end goal, but rather a means to an end to get more fair trade all around. There’s also the question of national security for some key sectors. The White House pointed to studies showing tariffs can be an effective tool for achieving economic and strategic objectives.

A 2023 report by the U.S. International Trade Commission examining the impact of certain tariffs on more than $300 billion of U.S. imports found that tariffs reduced imports from China, stimulating more U.S. production of the tariffed goods.

Analysis by the Economic Policy Institute reported that tariffs implemented by Trump during his first term “clearly show[ed] no correlation with inflation” with only a temporary effect on overall price levels.

The Atlantic Council stated that a tariff “reduces offshoring incentives by making production in the United States more competitive.”

Even former Biden Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last year that tariffs on Chinese goods would not raise prices: “I don’t believe that American consumers will see any meaningful increase in the prices that they face,” she said.

While Yellen’s been wrong on numerous other issues, it’s strange that critics from the Left claiming Trump’s tariffs will raise prices don’t listen to one of their own.

Asymmetrical trade is not free and fair trade. While the United States has been generous to smaller and developing countries, we cannot afford business as usual while we stagger under more than $36 trillion in debt and interest payments exceed defense spending. It’s time for fresh approaches rather than rigid orthodoxies.

Carrie Sheffield is a senior policy analyst for the Center for Economic Opportunity at Independent Women’s Forum.

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