President-elect Donald Trump may be on the path to breaking his first campaign promise, according to a report in Monday's Washington Post.
During his presidential campaign, Trump claimed he would impose “universal tariffs" of up to 20 percent on all goods imported to the United States. Economists and many congressional Republicans criticized the plan as potentially "disruptive," warning that American consumers would immediately feel the pinch at the grocery store.
However, Trump's aides are now said to be considering imposing the tariffs only on "certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security," according to Washington Post White House economics reporter Jeff Stein.
Stein cited three anonymous sources, and wrote that such a move "would jettison a key aspect of Trump’s campaign pledge, at least for now," adding that, "no decisions have been finalized and that planning remains in flux."
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Stein wrote that it wasn't clear "exactly which imports or industries" would face Trump's tariffs if the new plan were imposed.
"Preliminary discussions have largely focused on several key sectors that the Trump team wants to bring back to the United States," Stein wrote, citing two of the sources. "Those include the defense industrial supply chain (through tariffs on steel, iron, aluminum and copper); critical medical supplies (syringes, needles, vials and pharmaceutical materials); and energy production (batteries, rare earth minerals and even solar panels)."
In addition to the "universal tariffs", Trump has threatened Mexico and Canada with 25 percent tariffs and an additional 10 percent tariff on China if they don't stop the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States.
Trump posted to social media in December that he warned the EU he would impose tariffs if they don't close the trade gap with the United States.
"I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way," Trump wrote.