President Donald Trump issued an executive Thursday to implement reciprocal tariffs on all U.S. trading partners, admitting that the move could cause price increases amid reports of rising inflation.
Trump’s plan for reciprocal tariffs, which would involve the U.S. imposing the same rate on other countries as they place on the U.S., would come at the risk of more inflation, Trump acknowledged.
“I think what’s going to go up is jobs rices could go up somewhat short term but prices will also go down,” he said. However, “Long-term it’s going to make our country a fortune,” he later added.
Trump’s threat of reciprocal tariffs comes one day after the U.S. economy got some bad news in the ongoing fight against inflation. The annual inflation rate rose to 3% in January, higher than expectations.
Economists are concerned that the added burden of tariffs will be passed along to the inflation-weary American consumer, resulting in higher prices across the board and prolonged stagflation.
Trump previously admitted that Americans could feel “some pain” while his plan is introduced. Trump has already announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, as well as a 25% tariff on U.S. Steel.
