trade policy

Word of the Week: Trump calls tariffs 'the most beautiful word.' Here's its history

5:00am April 09, 2025

President Trump has repeatedly called tariffs "the most beautiful word in the dictionary." NPR's Word of the Week explores how they got their name.

H.R. McMaster, then President Donald Trump's national security adviser, attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 25, 2018. In an NPR interview, McMaster says the United States and its allies need to "compete more effectively" with C

Ex-Trump National Security Adviser Urges 'A Different Approach' To China

10:27am April 23, 2021

by Steve Inskeep

In an NPR interview, H.R. McMaster says the United States and its allies need to compete more effectively with China. He also urges a multinational approach for dealing with Beijing militarily.

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Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren say corporate America has put profits before workers by shifting jobs to other countries.

Trump Has Stolen Democrats' Playbook On Trade

5:58pm September 12, 2019

by Jim Zarroli

When it comes to trade, Trump and the Democrats sound a lot alike. "It's like Donald Trump has co-opted Democratic trade policy," one analyst says. So how do his opponents differentiate themselves?

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Trucks are seen heading into the United States from Mexico along the Bridge of the Americas in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday. U.S. industries say President Trump's threatened tariffs on goods from Mexico raised uncertainty just as they were looking forward t

White House's About-Face On Mexican Trade A 'Gut Punch' To U.S. Businesses

5:13pm June 04, 2019

by Yuki Noguchi

U.S. industries, from grocers to clothing-makers, say President Trump's threatened tariffs on goods from Mexico raise uncertainty. The turmoil comes just as a new trade agreement seemed near.

Ashtabula, Ohio, was a thriving factory town in the 1950s, with a busy port where freighters brought iron ore to be used in the steel mills of Pennsylvania.

For One Ohio Town, Trump's Trade Policies Bring Uncertainty And Hope

4:08pm January 29, 2019

by Jim Zarroli

In Ashtabula, hometown of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, people are hoping the president's agenda brings renewed vigor to manufacturing.

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Mark Berman, the CEO of Rockland Industries, says it would be fair for U.S. tariffs to be imposed on competing Chinese products, but not on Rockland's raw materials from China.

This Company Likes Some Of Trump's Tariffs On China, But Not Others

3:38pm September 07, 2018

by Amara Omeokwe

A textile firm's reliance on China for raw materials has put it in the middle of a growing trade war — and its view on President Trump's tariffs is rather unusual: It both opposes and supports them.

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on hundreds of products. China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union have retaliated. We'd love to hear about how the tariffs are affecting your business, your work, your shopping habits or your life.

How Are Tariffs Affecting You?

4:41pm August 13, 2018

by Alina Selyukh

Are you noticing any effects from the tariffs in your daily life or work? Are you paying less or more for products you buy at the supermarket or for your business? NPR wants to hear from you.

Engineers track progress of construction at a Toyota plant in Kentucky in 1986. It was one of several factories built in the 1980s by Japanese automakers in the U.S. as a result of voluntary limits on Japanese auto exports.

Can A Reagan-Era Policy Offer An Alternative To Tariffs?

5:21pm August 03, 2018

by Dustin Dwyer

In the 1980s, America's automakers were suffering as new competition came in from Japan. The U.S. response could serve as an example for the Trump administration in its ongoing trade battles.

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A handful of experts are pointing to business uncertainty and a few financial and economic indicators as signs of a possible recession on the horizon.

Economy

Is The U.S. Headed For Recession?

10:40pm June 29, 2018

by Chris Arnold

A handful of experts are pointing to business uncertainty and a few financial and economic indicators as signs of a possible recession on the horizon. But jobs and the economy are still growing.

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New cars and cargo containers are shown in a staging area, on April 6, 2018, at the Port of Tacoma in Wash. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump ordered the Commerce secretary to look into whether tariffs are needed on vehicles and auto parts imported to

Politics & Government

Trump Weighs Tariffs On Imported Cars

11:14pm May 23, 2018

by Scott Horsley

President Trump has instructed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to consider new protections for the domestic auto industry. He's relying on the same authority used to justify steel and aluminum tariffs.