President Donald Trump, during his campaign, promised to institute a system of "reciprocal tariffs," designed to equalize trade barriers between the U.S. and its trading partners.

"If they charge us, we charge them — an eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount," Trump said in a June 2023 policy video.

On Feb. 13, Trump set the process in motion.

Trump's White House released a memo addressed to top administration officials that deemed a "lack of reciprocity" as "one source of our country's large and persistent annual trade deficit in goods — closed markets abroad reduce United States exports and open markets at home result in significant imports." 

The memo said a forthcoming plan would analyze every trading partner to determine what the administration deems unfair trade practices — not only tariffs, but also the partners' value-added taxes, subsidies, regulations and exchange-rate manipulation.

The memo directed six Cabinet or White House officials to present the results of their investigations to the White House within 180 days. 

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the country assessments could be done by April 1, with implementation potentially starting as soon as April 2.

"This plan will put the American worker first, improve our competitiveness in every area of industry, reduce our trade deficit, and bolster our economic and national security," the White House said in an accompanying fact sheet. 

Trump's approach on trade has critics. 

"Trump's understanding of 'reciprocity' runs counter to the use of 'reciprocity' in any sense of the  word, including the sense in which reciprocity has been used in the creation of the international trading system," wrote Petros C. Mavroidis, a Columbia University law professor, in a paper for the European think tank Breugel. "If applied, it would destroy that system."

Mavroidis wrote that "while reciprocity is a fundamental principle of the world trading system, it is never understood in terms of total numerical equivalence" but rather as "a broad give and take involving many product lines and sectors."

Trump hasn't implemented reciprocal tariffs, but based on his orders, a plan is on the way. This promise rates In the Works.