President Donald Trump's administration officials are still debating how to equalize tariffs with what other nations are charging, but have ruled out simplifying the task by sorting countries into tariff tiers rather than implementing individual rates for each country.
The Wall Street Journal, quoting sources close to the policy discussions, reported Tuesday that the abandoned plan called for sorting the world's countries into one of three tariff tiers.
They emphasized, though, that the discussions remain fluid as they work toward Trump's deadline of April 2 to announce a plan.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that "many plans have been discussed," and that the American people will hear from Trump "directly" when he is ready to announce the plan.
The three-tier tariff proposal, which would have categorized countries into low, medium, and high rates, was discussed last Thursday by officials including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, chief of staff Susie Wiles, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, and Peter Navarro, Trump's senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, according to The Wall Street Journal's source.
They reportedly discussed several other proposals, but ruled out the tiered plan on Friday, in favor of the individualized approach.
Meanwhile, Mexico and Canada have been attempting to convince the Trump officials their countries belong in the lowest tariff rung.
Mexico says that the difference between its tariffs and those being charged to other nations leaves it as a near destination to export goods to the United States.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said last week that her country is waiting until the April 2 deadline to decide if it will impose retaliatory tariffs.
Canada also said it welcomes a tiered system, but last week when its ambassador to the U.S. and the leader of the province of Ontario traveled to Washington, D.C., they were told tariffs were almost certain to take effect on April 2. Trump has promised reciprocal tariffs and that "what they charge us, we charge them."
But that would mean officials would have to devise custom tariff rates for hundreds of countries.
The matching tariffs would also come in addition to other measures the president has announced, including the threats of 25% on Canadian and Mexican imports and other duties on items such as steel and aluminum.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance has led some of the policy discussions, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Several meetings have been held in recent weeks, including one at the Naval Observatory, the official residence of the vice president.
The sources said the meetings are centering around a comprehensive tariff policy that is flexible but achieves Trump's goals.
Meanwhile, it's expected by the administration that the work on tariffs will include taking on the value-added taxes that some nations charge on goods consumed within their borders.
This includes Mexico's tax, which is equivalent to a 16% federal sales tax that has been deemed as discriminatory by Trump's team.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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