Donald J. Trump: Executive Order 14257 on Tariffs

On April 2, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued Executive Order 14257, entitled “Regulating Imports with a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices That Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficit.” The order put in place a series of tariffs on goods from countries that traded with the United States. The new duties on imported goods were in response to existing tariffs and other trade barriers utilized by other nations. One result of the extensive use of tariffs by America’s trading partners was that the country consistently had a large trade deficit (that is, the United States imported more goods and products than it exported). In some cases, the economic obstacles meant that foreign goods were cheaper than those made in the United States, and American companies could not, therefore, sell their products in those nations, Trump argued that the tariffs would lead to the creation of new businesses in the United States and that they would provide additional revenues for the U.S. government.