U.S. President Donald Trump noted that regarding the reciprocal tariffs announced to apply to countries worldwide on the 2nd of next month, "I might give exemptions to a lot of countries."
On the 24th (local time), President Trump met with reporters at the White House and answered a question about whether some countries or institutional sectors could be exempt from the reciprocal tariff imposition or if it would be completely reciprocal, saying, "Basically, it is reciprocal, but in fact, we might be able to be more generous than that."
He continued regarding the level of reciprocal tariff rates, saying, "It is a reciprocal tariff, but we might impose less than them (the counterpart) because they are imposing such high tariffs that they don't think they can handle it if the U.S. imposes reciprocal tariffs exactly as they do."
President Trump also stated, "We will announce additional tariffs in the coming days, and this relates to automobiles, timber, and semiconductors." This could imply that the item-specific tariffs on automobiles, semiconductors, timber, and pharmaceuticals, which have been previously announced, could be disclosed separately from the reciprocal tariffs scheduled for the 2nd.
Earlier, President Trump stated at a cabinet meeting that he would announce tariffs on automobiles as well as pharmaceuticals in the "not-so-distant future." He reconfirmed in February the tariff policies per product sector, suggesting a tariff rate of 25%.