Trump officials publicly acknowledged in recent days the list of target countries may not be universal, and that other existing tariffs, like on steel, may not necessarily be cumulative, which would substantially lower the tariff hit to those sectors. That includes comments from Trump himself, who has increasingly focused his remarks on the reciprocal measures.

“It’s 15% of the countries, but it’s a huge amount of our trading volume,” he said, referring to it as the “dirty 15” and signaling they are the target. “And they have substantial tariffs, and as important as the tariff or some of these non-tariff barriers, where they have domestic content production, where they do testing on our — whether it’s our food, our products, that bear no resemblance to safety or anything that we do to their products,” he said.

RADE
Trump’s nemesis, the US trade deficit, hit record high in 2024
The Commerce Department report also showed the United States ran record bilateral trade deficits with Mexico, Vietnam, India, Taiwan, South Korea and the 27-nation European Union.
Donald Trump speaks to journalists as he sits behind a desk in the Oval Office.
President Donald Trump has vowed to use tariffs to bring down the U.S. goods trade deficit, which hit a record high in 2024. | Pool photo by Jim Watson

By DOUG PALMER
02/05/2025 10:44 AM EST
The U.S. goods trade deficit increased in 2024 to a record $1.2 trillion, putting a target on countries around the world as President Donald Trump considers new tariffs.

The Commerce Department report also showed the United States ran record bilateral trade deficits with Mexico, Vietnam, India, Taiwan, South Korea and the 27-nation European Union.