By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-31 19:46:29 | Updated at 2025-04-02 07:24:10
1 day ago
Just ahead of US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” on Wednesday – when he plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on imports from all US trading partners – government reports justifying his global trade war are to be released.
On Tuesday, the Commerce and Treasury departments as well as the office of the US trade representative, among other agencies, are to submit reports Trump mandated by executive order on January 20, his first day back in the White House.
Trump contends that the tariffs against all US trading partners are needed to reduce reliance on foreign goods and strengthen American manufacturing. The Tuesday reports are expected to lay out plans for instituting those measures.
Several reports are expected to influence Trump’s trade strategy and technological competition with China, and are also seen to provide the rationale for the next four years of his global reciprocal tariffs.
One key report on Tuesday is to include commerce and trade officials’ assessment of proposed legislation concerning the possible revocation of China’s permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status – the designation that allows it to trade freely with the US – along with recommendations for potential changes.
Representatives John Moolenaar, the Michigan Republican who chairs the hawkish House Select Committee on China, and Tom Suozzi, a New York Democrat, introduced a bill in January to revoke China’s PNTR status, which it has held since 2000.
