Trump trade memorandum doesn’t impose tariffs on day one, but he says some could be coming

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order focused on international trade and warned that tariffs could be coming soon to America’s neighbors, but stopped short of issuing new levies on his first day in office.

Trump issued a broad trade memorandum Monday that directs federal agencies to study and assess unfair trade practices and currency policies with other nations, especially China, Canada and Mexico.

Importantly, the memo didn’t slap any new duties on the countries. But Trump said while signing a slew of executive orders Monday night that he was considering a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada beginning in February. Trump said he wasn’t yet ready for universal tariffs.

Trump also established the External Revenue Service, an organization tasked with collecting duties on imports from tariffed countries.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on Trump’s move to hold off on imposing tariffs on his first day in the White House. The report came as doubts swirled around how the new President will execute on tariffs, which were a focal point of his campaign. He previously floated a 20% levy on all imports from all countries with a specifically harsh 60% rate for Chinese goods.

His camp has also been discussing a schedule of graduated tariffs increasing by about 2% to 5% a month on trading partners, Bloomberg News reported last week.

Many economists feared that such protectionist trade policy could make production of goods more expensive and raise consumer prices, just as the world recovers from pandemic-era inflation spikes.

— CNBC’s Megan Cassella contributed reporting.