Trump aides, in shift, eye tariffs only for critical areas, Washington Post reports

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's aides are exploring tariff plans that would be applied to every country but only cover critical imports, the Washington Post reported on Monday. 

The current discussions center on imposing tariffs only on certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security, the report said, citing three people familiar with the matter. That would represent a marked shift from the promises Trump made during the 2024 presidential campaign.

European stocks and currencies rallied sharply on Monday after the report indicated Trump's team was considering less aggressive tariffs, injecting optimism into regional markets.

Trump, a Republican who takes office on Jan. 20, had vowed to impose tariffs of 10% on global imports into the U.S. along with a 60% tariff on Chinese goods - duties that trade experts say would upend trade flows, raise costs and draw retaliation against U.S. exports.

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the newspaper report.

The aides said the plans are in flux and have not been finalized, according to the newspaper.

It was not clear which sectors the tariffs would target.

Preliminary discussions have largely focused on several key sectors that the Trump team wants to bring back to the United States, the Post reported that the people said. 

"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)," two of the people said, according to the Post.

Reuters last month reported that a Trump transition team document recommended imposing tariffs on all electric battery materials globally in a bid to boost U.S. production and then negotiating individual exemptions with allies.

It called for charging tariffs on “EV supply chain” imports including batteries, critical minerals and charging components. The proposal viewed by Reuters said the administration should use Section 232 tariffs, which target national security threats, to limit imports of such products.

The Defense Department in recent years has highlighted U.S. strategic vulnerabilities because of China’s dominance of the mining and refining of critical minerals, including graphite and lithium needed for batteries, and rare-earth metals used in both EV motors and military aircraft.