Trump reportedly considering important alteration to tariff plans

President-elect Donald Trump is considering a plan that still would apply tariffs to all nations but narrow the focus to a select set of goods and services, according to a Washington Post report.

The new approach to tariffs likely wouldn’t be as powerful as Trump’s earlier ideas but still would cause major changes to global commerce, the paper said, citing people familiar with Trump’s thinking.

Trump, however, disputed the report in a post on Truth Social.

“The story in the Washington Post, quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don’t exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back. That is wrong,” he wrote.

The report comes amid concerns that the incoming president’s insistence on imposing universal tariffs of 10% or 20% and specifically targeting China and Mexico would cause another spike in inflation.

During Trump’s first term, duties on a wide range of imports did little to raise prices broadly and in fact were kept in place when Joe Biden took over as president. However, economists worry that conditions are different now and aggressive tariffs would have a greater impact.

The Post report said it’s still not clear which sectors would be affected by the plans, though early discussions are looking at various industrial metals, medical supplies and energy.

The U.S. is running a $74 billion monthly trade deficit that exploded during the Covid pandemic.