If fully implemented, U.S. President Donald Trump's Fair and Reciprocal Plan on trade could upend decades of U.S. trade policy, erect large trade barriers on many of the United States' largest trading partners, and trigger a series of retaliatory tariffs hurting U.S. exporters. On Feb. 13, Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing the Secretary of Commerce and United States Trade Representative to investigate any ''non-reciprocal trade arrangements'' adopted by U.S. trading partners and submit a report detailing proposed tariffs and other remedies. Trump had previewed his planned reciprocal tariffs, now formally dubbed the Fair and Reciprocal Plan, several days in advance of the announcement. However, the scope of the executive order is much broader than initially anticipated. In addition to investigating tariffs imposed by other trading partners, the memorandum explicitly instructs the investigation to include unfair or discriminatory taxes imposed by U.S. trading partners, including value-added taxes (VATs), non-tariff barriers...
