Trump Unveils Plan to Levy Reciprocal Tariffs on U.S. Allies, Competitors

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest trade gambit, Ukraine’s future at the negotiating table with Russia, and Hamas returning to its original hostage release deal with Israel.

Let’s Get Reciprocal

U.S. President Donald Trump’s early trade moves were merely a prelude to what came Thursday: the unveiling of his broader vision for a new era of global trade relations. The White House announced that it would impose “fair and reciprocal” tariffs on all countries that impose duties on U.S. goods.

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Let’s Get Reciprocal

“On trade, I have decided for purposes of fairness that I will charge a reciprocal tariff, meaning whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them. No more, no less,” Trump said in the Oval Office upon signing a presidential memorandum.

The memo directs U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, both still unconfirmed by the Senate, to provide a country-by-country assessment within 180 days to determine whether reciprocal tariffs are necessary. A White House official told reporters on Thursday that foreign nations would be given the opportunity to negotiate the duties that they could face. Lutnick said the soonest the tariffs could be in place is April 2.

Trump’s move represents a radical challenge to existing trade rules set under the World Trade Organization. And it does not spare Washington’s partners. U.S. allies are often “worse than our enemies” on trade, Trump said, with presidential trade advisor Peter Navarro singling out the European Union as being guilty of “pernicious” trade deficits.

India may be among the countries worst hit. New Delhi levies heavy duties on U.S. imports, with a weighted average tariff of 9.5 percent, and Trump has previously referred to India as the “tariff king.” To try to win Trump’s favor, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly planned to bring what Indian officials described as “gifts” to his meeting with Trump at the White House on Thursday—including promises of increased purchases of U.S. liquefied natural gas, combat vehicles, and jet engines as well as possible tariff cuts on at least a dozen sectors. However, it remains to be seen whether the U.S. president will be appeased.

Countries may be disappointed by Trump’s decision, but they shouldn’t be surprised. Trump has been signaling a universal reset to trade relations since his first term. The keyword all along has been “reciprocity”—treating other countries the same way that they treat the United States.

One of Trump’s main goals is to reduce the U.S. trade deficit, a major grievance of his administration. Washington’s goods trade deficit with New Delhi, for instance, reached $45.6 billion in 2024. But ultimately, Trump made it clear that he hopes these levies force companies to relocate to the United States, saying, “If you build your product in the United States, there are no tariffs.”

Already, Trump has issued a slew of duties on U.S. partners and adversaries. Last Tuesday, a 10 percent levy on all Chinese goods went into effect. On Monday, Trump signed an executive order announcing tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports starting March 12. And beginning next month, the president plans to enact sweeping 25 percent duties on all Canadian and Mexican imports.

Experts, however, say such tariffs will cut against another Trump goal: keeping prices low for Americans. The Congressional Budget Office recently projected that a 10 percent across-the-board tariff would raise inflation by 0.6 percent. For now, Trump plans to set country-specific tariffs, but he is still considering a universal baseline duty.

Either way, tariffs will come with costs. The “effort has huge downsides, including trade wars with allies and higher prices via tariffs and retaliation,” Bob Davis wrote for Foreign Policy. “It also takes the focus off China, because so many other countries are in Trump’s crosshairs that it’s tough to focus on any one country.”

FP’s Lili Pike contributed to this report.

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What We’re Following

Bargaining terms. NATO’s European members demanded on Thursday that Kyiv be included in future peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine after Trump appeared to unilaterally concede some Ukrainian territory and Kyiv’s future membership in NATO during a nearly 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Trump also suggested that the two might meet face-to-face soon.

“Any quick fix is a dirty deal,” EU foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “Why are we giving [Russia] everything that they want even before the negotiations have been started?”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated those concerns. “We, as a sovereign country, simply will not be able to accept any agreements without us,” he said, adding that it “was not very pleasant” that Trump called Putin first before speaking to Zelensky.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended Trump’s actions on Thursday during meetings with NATO defense ministers in Brussels, saying Trump’s conversation with Putin—their first publicized phone call since the U.S. president took office—was “no betrayal” of Kyiv. But Trump appeared to cave to European concerns, saying on Thursday that both Ukraine and Russia would have a seat at the negotiating table.

Brink of war. Hamas announced on Thursday that it would release three Israeli hostages on Saturday as previously planned, resolving a dispute that jeopardized the cease-fire in Gaza. To ensure compliance with the truce deal, Egyptian and Qatari mediators have reportedly said they will work to “remove obstacles and close gaps” regarding deliveries of shelters, medical supplies, fuel, and heavy equipment into Gaza.

The militant group accused Israel on Monday of failing to allow the number of agreed-on tents and shelters to enter Gaza and therefore threatened to indefinitely pause the release of hostages until Israel respected the cease-fire deal. In response, Israel vowed to rekindle “intense fighting” in Gaza if all remaining 76 captives were not freed by noon on Saturday—a deadline initially proposed by Trump.

On Thursday, the Israeli prime minister’s office said it would respect the original hostage release schedule but maintained that it would resume war if the three hostages were not returned on time.

Ramming attack. A car drove into a labor union demonstration in Munich on Thursday, injuring at least 28 people. Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said the driver was an Afghan asylum-seeker who was previously known to authorities in relation to theft and drug offenses. Officials believe the crash was a deliberate attack, though the choice of location appears to be random.

The incident will likely inflame political tensions as foreign leaders travel to the Munich Security Conference on Friday and Germany prepares to hold a general election on Feb. 23. Support for the far-right Alternative for Germany has surged in recent weeks as the party points to past deadly attacks involving immigrants to campaign for harsher migration policies. These include several knife attacks with suspects from Afghanistan or Syria and a car ramming last December whose driver was a Saudi citizen.

Odds and Ends

Beneath cubicles and filing cabinets, archaeologists have discovered a rare piece of Roman history: London’s earliest-recorded basilica. A recent excavation under the basement of an office block revealed sections of a stone wall that formed the base of a public building constructed around 2,000 years ago. “This is so significant. This is the heart of Roman London,” said Sophie Jackson, the research director at the Museum of London Archaeology. The site will eventually open to the public.

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