Trump said his reciprocal tariff policy will treat other countries’ VAT taxes as tariffs to calculate reciprocal levies.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that he will treat value-added tax (VAT) systems—widely used in Europe and other countries—as equivalent to anti-U.S. tariffs when calculating trade levies. The move is part of his reciprocal tariff policy aimed at countering what he describes as unfair trade practices.
“For purposes of this United States policy, we will consider countries that use the VAT system, which is far more punitive than a tariff, to be similar to that of a tariff,” Trump wrote in a Feb. 15 post on Truth Social.The policy is the Fair and Reciprocal Plan, launched on Feb. 13, that seeks to match tariffs and trade barriers imposed on U.S. exports by other countries.
According to Trump, foreign nations have long taken advantage of the United States through higher tariffs and restrictive trade policies, harming American businesses and workers.
“For many years, the U.S. has been treated unfairly by other countries, both friend and foe,“ Trump said in the Oval Office on Feb. 13. ”This system will immediately bring fairness and prosperity back into the previously complex and unfair system of trade.”
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