Trump plans ‘reciprocal tax’ on trade

President Donald Trump said Monday during an infrastructure meeting that he plans to implement the tax on countries that “take advantage of the United States,” but a senior administration official seemingly downplayed the words later in the day.    President Donald Trump on Monday said he plans to implement a “reciprocal tax” on countries that “take advantage of the United States” with regard to trade, but a senior administration official seemingly downplayed the words later in the day Monday as a mere restatement of his historical views on trade.
   “There is nothing formal in the works right now,” the official told American Shipper in an e-mailed statement. “He was simply reiterating the same sentiments he’s been saying about reciprocal trade for years.”
   But Trump told a group of state and local officials during a Monday infrastructure meeting that his administration would be implementing “very much a reciprocal tax,” adding, “you’ll be hearing about that during the week and the coming months.”
   Trump said countries like China, Japan and South Korea “understand where I’m coming from,” but added that the U.S. has lost “vast amounts of money” from those countries.
   “It’s a little tough for them, because they’ve gotten away with murder for 25 years,” he said. “But we’re going to be changing policy. And, you know, we have an incredible country but we can’t let that happen. And it’s really affecting our workers. It’s affecting everything.”
   Also worth noting is that Trump during the meeting reiterated the possibility of a NAFTA termination, while voicing broad displeasure with Canadian agricultural trade policy.
   “Hopefully the renegotiation will be successful, and if it’s not, we’ll be more successful,” he said.