Trump denies report that his team is eyeing pared-back tariffs

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday denied a newspaper report that said his aides were exploring tariff plans that would only cover critical imports.

"The story in the Washington Post, quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don't exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back. That is wrong. The Washington Post knows it's wrong. It's just another example of Fake News," he wrote in a post on Truth Social.

The Washington Post, citing three sources familiar with the matter, reported earlier Monday that Trump aides were exploring tariff plans that would be applied to every country but only cover certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security, in what would represent a marked shift from the promises Trump made during the 2024 presidential campaign.

European stocks and currencies had rallied sharply on Monday after the newspaper report.

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.

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.