President Donald Trump will sign a memorandum directing federal agencies to pursue an “America first” trade policy but will stop short of imposing tariffs on his first day in office.
Trump, 78, was sworn into office at noon Monday in the rotunda of the Capitol Building. He campaigned on beefing up tariffs, but his first action on the trade front will rather direct his administration to study trade policies and examine trade relationships with allies and adversaries alike.
A senior policy adviser for the president told the Wall Street Journal ahead of Trump’s inauguration that the coming memo attempts to roll out Trump’s trade agenda “in a measured way.” Trump campaigned on the idea of universal tariffs and raised the notion of Day One tariffs against Mexico and Canada.
Trump has a mix of ideological views on economic policy among his advisers, with some favoring a much more populist and protectionist trade stance while others seek a lighter touch on trade and tariff policy. Some advisers have raised concerns that dramatically ramping up tariffs right out of the gate could have unintended knock-on effects, including higher inflation.
The memo is a sign that the Trump administration will move more carefully in imposing tariffs.
While Trump’s tariffs during his first term were targeted and largely focused on steel and aluminum, he campaigned to implement 10% to 20% across-the-board tariffs.
Additionally, Trump has announced new tariffs after his election victory. On social media, Trump said that he would put tariffs against Mexico and Canada right after he entered office. He said that the 25% tariffs would be designed to coerce the two countries into stopping the flow of narcotics and illegal immigrants into the United States.
Trump also vowed ahead of his inauguration that he would establish a so-called “External Revenue Service” designed to focus on revenue capture from foreign countries through tariffs. The proposal is a contrast to the Internal Revenue Service, the government’s tax collection agency, which has faced harsh scrutiny from Republicans.
“We are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties, and revenues, it will be massive amounts of money coming into our treasury from foreign sources,” Trump reaffirmed in his inaugural address.
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Trump intends to issue a wide array of executive orders and memoranda on his first day in office.
The president will declare a national emergency at the U.S. border with Mexico, declare a national energy emergency, and issue a presidential memorandum that outlines an all-of-government approach to bringing down inflation for consumers, among several other Day One moves.