Analysis by Energy Workforce President Tim Tarpley
The President announced on Tuesday of this week that he intends to impost auto tariffs “in the neighborhood of 25%” and similar duties on semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports. These new tariffs appear to be in the discussion phase so details such as possible exemption processes either by country or product are still unclear. This announcement comes as indications are that the President’s advisors have been instructed to provide a number of recommendations for potential trade actions by April 2, a date that has been floated in the media by his advisors as when the President would like to announce new actions.
In addition, the 30 day pause on the 25% across the board tariffs on Canada and Mexico will expire at the end of this week. It is still unclear what direction the President intends to go at the expiration of this period. The President has been quoted twice in the media saying that he does not think the Canada and Mexico have been adequately living up to his perception of their side of the bargain to the extent necessary to avoid the imposition of the tariffs however this does not necessarily mean he intends to impose them at the end of the month. It is possible that this could be an additional effort to push them for concessions of some sort.
Also of note, late last week after announcing his intent to launch a reciprocal tariff plan in which all (or most) countries would face tariffs on products identical to those levied on American imports entering those respective countries the President choose to release a Presidential memorandum directing his advisors to prepare a report identifying not only tariff rates but other protectionist actions by foreign governments such as price controls, currency manipulation and other actions. He directed his advisors to include all of these actions in the report. It appears that this may lead to additional tariff actions on particular countries identified in this report potentially by the April 2 deadline.
Tim Tarpley, Energy Workforce President, analyzes federal policy for the Energy Workforce & Technology Council. Click here to subscribe to the Energy Workforce newsletter, which highlights sector-specific issues, best practices, activities and more.
