US President Donald Trump has announced a ‘reciprocal tariff’ to any countries which charge tax on US imports.

After getting sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump wasted no time signing a staggering 50 plus executive orders – although, a fair few have been halted in their tracks.

However, yesterday (February 13), the White House shared an article announcing ‘Reciprocal trade and tariffs’.

The article declares itself as a written message for the Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the United States Trade Representative, the Assistant of the President for Economic Policy and the Senior Counselor to the President for Trade and Manufacturing.

It states the US has been ‘treated unfairly by trading partners, both friend and foe,’ for ‘many years’ and its ‘workers and industries’ are bearing ‘the brunt of unfair practices and limited access to foreign markets’.

Branding the situation ‘untenable,’ and threatening the US’ ‘economic and national security,’ Trump’s new policy aims to make ‘trade more reciprocal and balanced’ by introducing the ‘Fair and Reciprocal Plan’ to ‘counter non-reciprocal trading arrangements with trading partners by determining the equivalent of a reciprocal tariff with respect to each foreign trading partner’.

To do this, the plan will examine ‘tariffs imposed on US products’ alongside taxes imposed on US businesses, workers, and consumers.

And Trump doubled down on the plan in a post on Truth Social.

Donald Trump has announced a ‘Reciprocal Tariff’ (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Trump wrote: “On Trade, I have decided, for purposes of Fairness, that I will charge a RECIPROCAL Tariff meaning, whatever Countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them – No more, no less!

“For purposes of this United States Policy, we will consider Countries that use the VAT System, which is far more punitive than a Tariff, to be similar to that of a Tariff. Sending merchandise, product, or anything by any other name through another Country, for purposes of unfairly harming America, will not be accepted.”

If Trump treats VAT as a tariff, chief North America economist at Capital Economics, Paul Ashworth, told Sky News that India could be hit with tariffs as high as 29 percent, Brazil with 28 percent, the EU with 25 percent and the UK a potential 24 percent.

But Trump reckons ‘no other Country can complain’ as he deems the policy ‘fair to all’.

Trump doesn’t think any country ‘can complain’ (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“In some cases, if a Country feels that the United States would be getting too high a Tariff, all they have to do is reduce or terminate their Tariff against us,” he argued. “There are no Tariffs if you manufacture or build your product in the United States.”

He rallied: “America has helped many Countries throughout the years, at great financial cost. It is now time that these Countries remember this, and treat us fairly – A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR AMERICAN WORKERS.”

It comes after Trump previously threatened to put 25 percent import taxes on all goods from Canada and Mexico.

However, he implemented a 30-day pause on these tariffs earlier this month after Mexico and Canada retaliated by issuing their own counter-tariffs.

Canada is imposing 25 percent tariffs on CA $155 billion of US goods, while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum ordered her economic minister to implement measures to protect Mexico’s best interests.

What are tariffs?

Tariffs are taxes imposed on foreign goods, meaning many of these goods will cost more to sell in the US – so ultimately, the consumer will pay.

Advanced countries fell out of favor with tariffs following World War II, because they often lead to ‘reduced trade, higher prices for consumers, and retaliation from abroad’, the Council on Foreign Relations reports.

Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) workforce optimization initiative is reportedly backtracking and scrabbling to un-fire workers who were overseeing the US’ nuclear stockpile.

US President Trump’s implementing of an executive order to ‘reform the federal workforce to better serve Americans’ isn’t quite working to ‘better serve Americans’ as well as he hoped. Indeed, officials fired a number of National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) workers without allegedly realizing they ‘oversee the nuclear stockpile’.

On February 11, a fact sheet posted online by the White House details how Trump’s government plans on ‘reforming the federal workforce to better serve Americans‘.

One of the ways the executive order states it’ll ‘make the federal workforce more efficient and effective’ is by consulting with DOGE to ‘shrink the size of the federal workforce and limit hiring to essential positions’ – ‘significantly reducing the size of the government‘.

Indeed, on February 14, Reuters reported two sources confirmed more than 300 members of staff were fired at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) with termination notices reportedly sent out on February 13.

An Energy Department spokesperson has disputed this number and says the number is significantly lower, telling CNN it was ‘less than 50 people’ who were dismissed and they ‘held primarily administrative and clerical roles’.

Another source told the outlet Congress was ‘freaking out because it appears DOE didn’t really realize NNSA oversees the nuclear stockpile’.

“The nuclear deterrent is the backbone of American security and stability – period. For there to be any even very small holes poked even in the maintenance of that deterrent should be extremely frightening to people,” they added.

Indeed, whatever number was fired, officials are clearly now realizing their mistake getting rid of even some workers who help manage the US nuclear weapons fleet, given they’re desperately trying to un-fire them – an email obtained by NBC news revealing they’re struggling with how to reach the workers.

Whoops (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Addressed to NNSA employees, the email reportedly reads: “The termination letters for some NNSA probationary employees are being rescinded, but we do not have a good way to get in touch with those personnel.

“Please work with your supervisors to send this information (once you get it) to people’s personal contact emails.”

Further to this, an NNSA nuclear safety specialist fired on Thursday told NBC News she was still locked out of her emails, but her manager had gotten in touch to inform her the termination notice had been ‘rescinded’.

While she’s said she’ll go back, she notes she’ll be leaving ‘as soon as [she] find[s] another role’.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has admitted it accidentally fired ‘several’ agency employees working on the federal government’s response to the recent bird flu outbreak.

The H5N1 avian flu outbreak has decimated commercial and wild poultry flocks across the US over the last few months.

As a result, egg prices have skyrocketed, with The Economic Times reporting that a dozen is now being sold for as much as $10 in some grocery stores.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have so far confirmed 68 cases of bird flu among humans in the country, including a woman in Wyoming who has since been hospitalised.

The price of chicken eggs has skyrocketed due to the bird flu outbreak (Getty stock images)

Meanwhile, the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) has reported 36 new infected cattle herds in the last 30 states, bringing the outbreak to 972 cattle herds in 17 states.

The USDA is continuing to tackle the outbreak, with several agencies within the Agriculture Department playing a primary role in the response.

This includes the Agricultural Research Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the National Animal Health Laboratory Network.

Some staff at the latter – which Politico states plays a major role in responding to animal disease outbreaks – have reportedly been terminated from their roles by mistake.

Keith Poulsen, who is the director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, said that three employees at USDA’s National Animal Health Laboratory Network had been let go.

He also remarked it was ‘creating a lot of problems’ for the team.

In response to the firings – which are the latest from President Donald Trump’s administration – a USDA spokesperson has said it’s working ‘swiftly’ to rehire those affected by the layoffs.

It’s the latest round of firings by the Trump administration (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“Although several positions supporting [bird flu efforts] were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” they told NBC News.

“USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service frontline positions are considered public safety positions, and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission.”

Last weekend, Reuters reported that the Trump administration had terminated 1,165 employees at the National Institutes of Health and that some cuts had taken place at the Food and Drug Administration as well.

Regarding the layoffs – spearheaded by Elon Musk and the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – Don Bacon, a Republican Representative from Nebraska, has warned that more caution needs to be executed.

“There’s an old saying, ‘Measure twice, cut once,” he said.

“Well, they are measuring once and having to cut twice. Some of this stuff they’re going to have to return back. I just wish they’d make a better decision up front.”

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order seeking to cut ‘all taxpayer-funded benefits’ for undocumented migrants.

Yesterday (February 19), Trump signed another executive order – titled ‘Ending taxpayer subsidization of open borders’ – aimed at targeting ‘benefits for illegal aliens’.

It states: “The plain text of Federal law, including the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193) (PRWORA), generally prohibits illegal aliens from obtaining most taxpayer-funded benefits.

“Title IV of the PRWORA states that it is national policy that ‘aliens within the Nation’s borders not depend on public resources to meet their needs,’ and that ‘[i]t is a compelling government interest to remove the incentive for illegal immigration provided by the availability of public benefits.’ But in the decades since the passage of the PRWORA, numerous administrations have acted to undermine the principles and limitations directed by the Congress through that law.”

The order claims former US President Joe Biden’s Administration ‘repeatedly undercut the goals of that law, resulting in the improper expenditure of significant taxpayer resources’.

Trump’s Administration subsequently pledges to ‘uphold the rule of law, defend against the waste of hard-earned taxpayer resources, and protect benefits for American citizens in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans’.

Donald Trump has signed off on further restrictions against ‘aliens’ (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

What it means

Under ‘current welfare laws’, undocumented migrants are ‘generally barred from welfare programs’. If ‘they’re granted parole, they are classified as “qualified aliens” and become eligible for various welfare programs on a sliding scale, with full eligibility granted within five years’.

Trump’s executive order seeks to ‘identify all federally funded programs administered by the agency that currently permit illegal aliens to obtain any cash or non-cash public benefit, and, consistent with applicable law, take all appropriate actions to align such programs with the purposes of this order and the requirements of applicable Federal law, including the PRWORA’.

The order argues for federal payments not to ‘facilitate the subsidization or promotion of illegal immigration’ or ‘abet so-called “sanctuary” policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation’.

Trump signed the order on February 19 (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

How it will be enacted

It states within 30 days of the order being signed, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Administrator of the United States DOGE Service will work alongside the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy to ‘identify all other sources of Federal funding for illegal aliens’.

The White House’s ‘fact sheet’ for Trump’s decision to end ‘taxpayer subsidization of open borders’ states authorities should then take ‘corrective action’ to ensure ‘Federal funds to states and localities will not be used to support ‘sanctuary’ policies or assist illegal immigration’.

It resolves: “It mandates improvements in eligibility verification to prevent benefits from going to individuals unlawfully present in the United States.

“President Trump is committed to safeguarding Federal public benefits for American citizens who are truly in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans.”