President Donald Trump said the tariffs he plans to impose in the coming days will cover "all countries", not just those with the biggest trade imbalance with the US.
Trump has promised a "Day of Deliverance" on April 2, when he will unveil reciprocal levies to address trade practices his government deems unfair, AFP reports.
"I'm going to start with all countries, so let's see what happens," Trump said aboard Air Force 1, dispelling hopes that he might cut some of the threatened tariffs or that they would be targeted at a select group with persistent trade imbalances.
"I haven't heard rumors of 15 countries, 10 or 15," he said when asked which countries would be affected.
"It's basically all the countries we're talking about. We were talking about all countries, not cutting off," he said, without elaborating.
Trump's upcoming tariff salvo was expected to target the 15 percent of partners that have persistent trade imbalances with the U.S. - a group Treasury Secretary Scott Besant has dubbed the "dirty 15."
But despite expanding the target, the president insisted his tariffs would be "more generous" than those imposed on the U.S.
"The tariffs will be much more generous than those countries have been to us, which means they will be more generous than those countries have been to the United States of America over the decades," he said.
"They've robbed us like no country has been robbed in history, and we're going to be much kinder than they've been to us. But it's still significant money for the country," Trump added.
Trump has already imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and additional levies on imports from China.
Tariffs on auto imports are also due to take effect on April 3.
Trump's chief trade adviser Peter Navarro said the tax on auto imports could raise $100 billion a year.
"And on top of that, the other tariffs would raise about $600 billion a year, about $6 trillion over a 10-year period," Navarro told Fox News.
Trump's plans to roll out a wide range of reciprocal tariffs risk triggering a global trade war, with other countries already vowing to retaliate and economists warning that the sweeping steps risk stoking inflation and triggering an economic downturn.
Trump has defended the levies as a way to boost government revenue and revive American industry. | BGNES
