President Trump declares a national emergency due to large, persistent U.S. trade deficits caused by non-reciprocal trade practices from key trading partners. The order aims to address these imbalances by imposing reciprocal tariffs.
- The order cites tariff and non-tariff barriers, wage suppression policies, and undervalued currencies from other nations as causes of unfair trade.
- It highlights structural imbalances in the global trading system, which have hollowed out U.S. manufacturing and weakened national security.
- The U.S. currently has one of the lowest average MFN (most-favored-nation) tariff rates (3.3%), while others like India (17%) and Brazil (11.2%) impose much higher tariffs.
- Examples are given across industries (e.g., autos, rice, ethanol, tech products) where U.S. tariffs are much lower than foreign counterparts.
