Report: White House won’t go ‘all the way’ in terms of accounting for non-tariff barriers | Forexlive

A White House official cited by CNBC said the President may not take all of the non-tariff barriers into account when setting tariff rates. He specifically mentioned VAT taxes, which I take as a good sign. He also mentioned currency devaulation and wage suppression.

We saw reports like that on the weekend, though less detailed so I wouldn’t expect a big market reaction to this. At this point, it might just be better to wait.

CNBC’s Eamon Javers said he expects the 25% additional tariff due to Venezuelan oil to hit China, which would push their rate to 45%.

More from him:

“I’m getting some clarity on what Trump meant by ‘more lenient than reciprocal’ in his Newsmax interview yesterday. A White House official tells me the president is signaling he may not take all of the non-tariff barriers into account when he calculates tariffs on given countries. Those non tariff barriers they say include VAT taxes, currency manipulation and suppression of wages. They say they may only calculate the tariffs themselves, not go all the way in calculating the impact of all the non tariff barriers, and that decision will be made on a case by case basis.”