No Tariffs Yet, But Trump Administration Has Made Significant Trade Policy Moves

President Donald Trump already has issued dozens of executive orders and actions, but has so far held back from imposing new tariffs on U.S. trading partners. That silence does not mean new penalties off the table, however. Indeed, in remarks to the press on Jan. 20, his first day back in office, President Trump said he hopes tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods could be implemented by Feb. 1.

When asked that day about universal tariffs, the commander in chief said, “We’re not ready for that yet.” Later in the week, however, in video remarks made during the World Economic Forum, President Trump renewed his promise for across-the-board tariffs. (The New York Times covered that speech in this story.

Additionally, on Jan. 20, President Trump ordered a federal investigations into persistent trade deficits, unfair trade practices, currency manipulation by other countries, importation of counterfeit products and contraband, and the U.S. export control system. The presidential memo related to these investigations, which is available at this link, also called for:

• The United States Trade Representative to begin its public consultation processes in preparation for the six-year review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and to assess the impacts of U.S. participation in the agreement;
• A review of all existing trade agreements and sectoral trade agreements;
• Exploring the feasibility of creating an External Revenue Service to collect tariffs, duties, and other foreign trade-related revenues, and more; and
• Assessing the “effectiveness of the exclusions, exemptions, and other import adjustment measures on steel and aluminum” under Section 232 and reporting back the results of this study to the White House by April 1, 2025. (Read more about this provision at this link.)

Regarding reopening the USMCA, The Wall Street Journal said President Trump is “particularly focused on using the threat of tariffs to change automotive rules under the continental trade pact, forcing car plants to move from Canada and Mexico back to the United States.”

Read more about President Trump’s trade-related executive orders at this link.