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President Donald Trump said he wants to enact across-the-board tariffs that are “much bigger” than 2,5 percent, the latest in a string of signals on Monday that he’s preparing widespread levies to reshape US supply chains.
“I have it in my mind what it’s going to be but I won’t be setting it yet, but it’ll be enough to protect our country,” Trump told reporters Monday night.
Asked about a report that incoming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent favoured starting with a global rate of 2,5 percent, Trump said he didn’t think Bessent supported that and wouldn’t favour it himself.
He said he wanted a rate “much bigger” than 2,5 percent.
Trump spoke aboard Air Force One while he flew back to Washington, DC, from a Florida speech where he also pledged tariffs on specific sectors, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, steel, copper and aluminium.
He also strongly suggested he could also impose them on automobiles from Canada and Mexico, countries he’s already threatened with 25 percent across-the board tariffs as soon as February 1.
“As tariffs on other countries go up, taxes on American workers and businesses will come down and massive numbers of jobs and factories will come home,” Trump said Monday at a gathering of House Republicans at his Doral resort in Miami, during a speech in which he praised the tariff-heavy US approach at the turn of the 20th century.
“Remember, again, the word ‘tariff.’ We’re going to protect our people and our businesses, and we’re going to protect our country, with tariffs,” Trump added. He’s said to have earlier mused about tariffs of up to 20 percent.
The dollar rose against every major currency on Trump’s latest threats. Copper and aluminium both declined on the threat of sectoral tariffs.
The Monday remarks to lawmakers are the latest sign that Trump sees tariffs as a pillar of the Republican push to also remake the tax system. He repeated a call for Republicans to cut the corporate tax rate to 15 percent, from the current 21 percent, for companies that make their goods in America.
Taken in tandem, Trump wants to add costs on imports through tariffs and lower taxes on domestic production, though the fine print is unclear — US manufacturing relies heavily on imported parts and materials.
Trump’s threat of semiconductor tariffs also comes hours after investor concern about Chinese artificial-intelligence startup DeepSeek rattled markets and erased billions from Nvidia Corp.’s market capitalisation. Trump has argued that tariffs will help keep and build US manufacturing of the advanced chips compared to a subsidy programme championed by former President Joe Biden.
The latest DeepSeek model caused shockwaves when independent tests showed it as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc.’s resource-intensive models.
Trump’s remarks ran in stark contrast to market speculation that his abstention from immediate tariffs last week, when he took office, was a sign that he might soften his stance.
“If you want to stop paying the taxes or the tariffs you have to build your plant right here in America. That’s what’s going to happen at record levels,” he said.
Trump’s speech came after a weekend in which he threatened tariffs of as much as 50 percent on Colombia after the nation’s government initially declined to accept migrants being deported by the US on military planes. Trump agreed to hold off only after the South American government backed down.
The new president reiterated to House Republicans that any countries that refuse his deportees would be subject to the same tariff-and-sanction threat Colombia narrowly avoided.
A top Trump economic aide signalled Monday that Trump’s tariff push is part of a broader push.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett pointed to the Colombia example — a sign that Trump is considering several streams of tariffs that could add up to a higher overall levy in some sectors or countries — and hinted that the president is also still considering across-the-board tariffs. — Bloomberg.
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