By Andrea Shalal, David Lawder and Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday automobile tariffs are coming soon even as he indicated that not all of his threatened levies would be imposed on April 2 while some countries may get breaks, a move Wall Street took as a sign of flexibility on a matter that has roiled markets for weeks.
At the same time, Trump opened another front in a global trade war by aiming 25% secondary tariffs on any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela, a directive that sent oil prices climbing.
At the White House, Trump told reporters not all the new tariffs would be announced on April 2, and said he may give “a lot of countries” breaks on tariffs, but provided no details.
Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the administration was narrowing its approach to the broad batch of levies Trump has been saying for weeks would be imposed on April 2.
U.S. stocks ended Monday broadly higher on optimism that the tariffs set to be detailed next week may not be as extensive as expected. The S&P 500 index gained nearly 1.8% to close at its highest in more than two weeks.
Meanwhile, Trump said the U.S. would impose tariffs on autos, pharmaceuticals and aluminum in “the very near future,” arguing that the U.S. would need all those products in the event of wars or other problems.
The auto tariffs would come in the next few days, Trump said later in the day, adding that tariffs on lumber and semiconductor chips would follow “down the road.”
“We’ve been ripped off by every country,” Trump said after a meeting of his cabinet, predicting that the sectoral tariffs and reciprocal tariffs expected on April 2 would raise “rather astronomical” amounts of money for U.S. coffers, allowing tax rates to remain low or come down.
Trump, who has said countries can still avoid levies if they lower their tariffs or move manufacturing to the U.S., also announced on Monday a $21 billion investment by South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group in the United States.
The investment would include a $5.8 billion new steel plant in Louisiana, he said at the White House alongside Hyundai Chairman Euisun Chung and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry.
‘LIBERATION DAY’
Trump said the April 2 announcement will be a “Liberation Day” for the U.S. economy. The tariffs are aimed at shrinking a $1.2 trillion global goods trade deficit by raising U.S. levies to levels charged by other countries and counteracting their non-tariff trade barriers.
Trump said in February he intended to impose auto tariffs “in the neighborhood of 25%” and similar duties on semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports, but he later agreed to delay some auto tariffs after the three largest U.S. automakers pushed for a waiver.
The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg earlier reported that the sector-specific tariffs are expected to be delayed, but two administration officials told Reuters the situation was still evolving, and the sectoral tariffs could still be imposed.
Trump’s whirlwind tariff offensive since his January inauguration has been marked by threats, reversals and delays, sometimes within hours of imposition deadlines, as his trade team formulates policy on the fly.
So far, he has imposed new 20% duties on Chinese imports, fully restored 25% duties on global steel and aluminum imports and slapped 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico that do not comply with a North American trade agreement over the U.S. fentanyl overdose crisis.
‘DIRTY 15’
Two senior Trump officials – Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and top White House Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett – said last week the administration is expected to focus the much anticipated April 2 reciprocal tariff announcement on a narrower set of countries with the biggest trade surpluses and high tariff and non-tariff barriers.
Bessent referred to these as the “Dirty 15,” a reference to 15% of countries, while Hassett told Fox Business the focus would be on 10-15 countries.
Ryan Majerus, a former senior U.S. Commerce Department official now at law firm King & Spalding, said no matter if sectoral tariffs came on April 2 or later, the administration would remain aggressive with Section 232 investigations, as already seen with lumber and copper.
“Given that the administration has already signaled concern over exemptions and exclusions, it seems clear that at least some countries will likely face new tariffs in early April,” he said. “But countries like the UK and India are certainly trying to avoid the tariffs through visits to the White House.”
In a request for public comments on reciprocal tariffs, USTR said it was particularly interested in submissions for the largest U.S. trade partners, and those with the highest goods trade surpluses.
USTR named Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Britain and Vietnam as being of particular interest, adding that they cover 88% of total goods trade with the U.S.
Trump had announced that any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela will pay a 25% tariff on any trades made with the United States.
This “secondary tariff” will take effect on April 2, Trump said in a Truth Social post. Trump is imposing the move because, he said, Venezuela has sent “tens of thousands” of people to the United States who have a “very violent nature.”
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Timothy Gardner, David Lawder and Steve HollandEditing by Nick Zieminski and Richard Chang)
