President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that "we'll have a straight, simple tariff of anywhere between 15% and 50%." Hiking the baseline reciprocal tariff rate to 15 percent means a 50 percent higher tax on American manufacturers and consumers than Trump originally promised.
The president announced his so-called reciprocal tariffs via his "Liberation Day" executive order on April 2. This order set the baseline rate at 10 percent, but Trump's Wednesday remarks suggest that "he would not go below 15% as he sets so-called reciprocal tariff rates ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline," according to Bloomberg.
Though the Trump administration has offered conflicting justifications for the president's tariffs, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has long referred to them as a "negotiating strategy" and said the U.S. was willing "to go down to a 10% baseline tariff for [every country in the world who wants to come and negotiate]." White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said in April that the administration would "run 90 deals in 90 days."
