Trump reportedly considering important alteration to tariff plans

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

The new approach to tariffs would not be as powerful as Trump’s previous ideas, but would still cause major changes to global trade, the document said, citing people familiar with Trump’s thinking.

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

“The story in the Washington Post, citing anonymous so-called sources, which do not exist, incorrectly states that my rate policy will be reduced. This is incorrect,” he wrote.

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

During Trump’s first term, tariffs on a wide range of imports did little to raise prices overall 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 bigger impact.

The Post report said it is unclear which sectors will be affected by the plans, although early discussions have looked at various industrial metals, medical supplies and energy.

The United States is running a $74 billion monthly trade deficit that has exploded during the Covid pandemic.