"I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families," he said at the US Capitol.
"Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens," Trump added.
Late last year, Trump had said he intends to impose 25-per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, and an additional 10 percent on Chinese goods, if they did not take more steps to stop illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the United States. He had also mulled over much steeper tariff rates on Chinese imports.
He reiterated his plan to set up an ‘External Revenue Service’ to collect tariffs, duties and revenues, and a department of government efficiency to cut federal spending.
“…I will direct all members of my cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices. The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency,” he said.
“America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have—the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on earth—and we are going to use it. We’ll use it,” he added.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)