Trump repeatedly walked back tariffs in first 100 days as White House announces latest duty tax relief

President Donald Trump has championed tariffs as the economic tool that will bring parity to the nation's chronic agreement deficit with foreign countries while boosting U S jobs and the commercial sector But multiple of Trump's tariff polices have been walked back or paused after going into effect I will promptly begin the overhaul of our agreement system to protect American workers and families Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens Trump declared in his inaugural address Jan teeing up an onslaught of tariff policies that will take effect in the coming weeks and months Tariffs are taxes levied on imported goods and services that historically have contributed to a nation's federal tax revenue Developed countries however have since moved away from relying on tariffs as a main source of federal funding and have shifted to other forms of taxes such as income payroll or sales taxes On Tuesday which marked Trump's th day back in the Oval Office Trump signed an executive action easing tariffs targeting car manufacturers as he headed to Michigan historically the heart of the American auto industry for a rally celebrating his return to the White House PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP'S FIRST DAYS COMPANIES THAT WILL INVEST B OR MORE IN THE USThe upcoming auto plan will keep a tariff on imported cars and a tariff on imported auto parts but will offer offset credits to U S manufacturers for a two-year period in an effort to bolster the U S supply chain of car parts and encourage manufacturing in the U S according to the administration The plan will also not stack both auto and steel and aluminum tariffs on the auto industry Only the higher tariff will be applied to car manufacturers not a combined tariff The announcement is the latest of Trump walking back pausing or easing tariffs as he looks to even the transaction playing field for the U S while encouraging U S manufacturing and job creation Industries that manufacture products on U S soil do not face any tariffs A White House official who spoke to Fox News Digital explained that while the past scarce months of tariff changes might seem chaotic in their entirety each change was born out of a need to be flexible and an effort to bring manufacturing and jobs into the U S while ending the nation's chronic agreement deficit The official noted that as tariffs took effect several nations and industry leaders have made good-faith efforts to negotiate terms favorable to the U S adding to the tariff changes AMAZON DENIES TARIFF PRICING PLAN THAT WHITE HOUSE CALLED 'HOSTILE AND POLITICAL'Trump's tariff policies overwhelmingly focused on China Mexico and Canada at the start of his second administration as he looked to crack down on illegal immigration It also was an attempt to stem the flow of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl which overwhelmingly originates in China from coming across the northern and southern borders Citing the threat of illegal aliens in the U S and the flow of fentanyl Trump declared a national urgency in February under the International Exigency Economic Powers Act and imposed a tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a additional tariff on imports from China The tariffs sparked swift outrage from the three nations and Trump paused the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for days after the nations agreed to concessions such as sending additional safety personnel to their respective borders with the U S China on the other hand imposed tariffs on certain U S imports in response to Trump's tariffs China's Finance Ministry commented Feb shortly after the tariffs started that it would impose a tariff of for coal and liquefied natural gas and for crude oil agricultural equipment and large-engine cars imported from the U S GROCERY GIANT WARNS ITS SUPPLIERS THAT SUPERMARKET WON'T BE ACCEPTING TARIFF-RELATED PRICE HIKESThe administration official who spoke to Fox Digital pointed to the tariff changes for Mexico and Canada as part of negotiations to secure the frontier after Trump declared a national urgency under the International Exigency Economic Powers Act The tariffs on Mexico and Canada went into effect March after the pause while the tariffs on China were increased to A day later after speaking with auto industry representatives from Ford General Motors and Stellantis Trump walked back the tariffs if they affected the auto industry granting a one-month exemption to tariffs on any autos from the two countries that abide by the U S -Mexico-Canada Agreement's rules of origin Those rules were established under the first Trump administration White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced at a news conference at the time On March Trump again walked back the tariffs on a large number of imports from Canada and Mexico while praising Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for helping secure the U S -Mexico edge He postponed the tariffs for days and touted that his highly anticipated reciprocal tariff plan would take effect in the coming weeks DONALD TRUMP SHOULD BE PRAISED FOR SIGNALS HE MIGHT COOL TARIFF FIGHT WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL PRAISES I did this as an accommodation and out of respect for President Sheinbaum Trump declared on Truth Social of the March tariff pause Our relationship has been a very good one and we are working hard together on the Edge While announcing and imposing tariffs on nations such as Mexico and Canada Trump previewed a reciprocal tariff plan that would take effect April On deal I have decided for purposes of fairness that I will charge a reciprocal tariff meaning whatever countries charge the United States of America we will charge them no more no less Trump explained at the White House in February In other words they charge us a tax or tariff and we charge them the exact same tax or tariff Very simple Trump broadcasted his highly anticipated reciprocal tariff plan as part of his Liberation Day announcement April Trump informed customized tariffs on dozens of nations to help bring parity to what he noted were decades of foreign nations installing bargain blockades on U S goods while also imposing a baseline tariff on all countries For nations that treat us badly we will calculate the combined rate of all their tariffs nonmonetary obstacles and other forms of cheating he stated And because we are being very kind we will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us So the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal I could have done that Yes But it would have been tough for a lot of countries TRUMP SAYS INCOME TAX CUTS AND PERHAPS ELIMINATION COMING DUE TO TARIFFSThe EU for example was hit with a tariff in the reciprocal tariff plan compared to its tariffs on the U S while Japan saw tariffs compared to the the country charges the U S China was hit with an additional tariff compared to the it charges the U S The same day the reciprocal tariffs were about to take effect April Trump reported a -day pause on the customized duty taxes he had imposed on dozens of nations which was an abrupt change of curriculum from his previous comments that there would be no pause to those tariffs only negotiations The pause did not include the baseline tariff on all nations You have to have flexibility Trump narrated the media when required about his credibility after pausing the tariffs I could say there's a wall Sometimes you have to go around or under the wall Financial markets change Look how much they changed I think the word would be flexible You have to be flexible White House officers notified Fox News Digital at the time that dozens of countries had reached out to the White House looking to make good-faith deals and that the administration was zeroing in on renegotiating more favorable deals for the U S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated in latest days that agreement negotiations with at least South Korea and India are entering the final stages Other tariffs such as a tax on all steel and aluminum imports or the baseline tariff on foreign nations have remained in effect without change Trump has touted that with increased revenue from tariffs U S citizens could see lower taxes and the practicable elimination of the income tax When Tariffs cut in various people s Income Taxes will be substantially reduced maybe even altogether eliminated Focus will be on people making less than a year Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social April Also massive numbers of jobs are already being created with new plants and factories right now being built or planned It will be a BONANZA FOR AMERICA THE EXTERNAL REVENUE INSTITUTION IS HAPPENING Fox News Digital's Eric Revell contributed to this summary