“For weeks, the White House has been using the word reciprocal to describe these new tariffs. “They charge us, we charge them,” is how Trump described the tariffs on Wednesday.
If that’s true, then the U.S. should be lowering its trade barriers with Singapore, which charges zero tariffs on most U.S. imports. (Indeed, Singapore’s very existence is proof of the power of free trade. It has become one of the world’s wealthiest nations not because it built a ton of factories or engaged in a lot of protectionist policies but by embracing low tariffs and free trade.)
Instead, Trump is slapping a 10 percent tariff on imports from Singapore. So much for “reciprocity.”
You could say the same thing about Israel, which earlier this week decided to eliminate all tariffs on American imports in advance of Trump’s tariff announcement. Did Trump respond to that move by lowering all American tariffs on imports from Israel? He did not: Israeli goods are now subject to a 17 percent tariff, per the list published Wednesday by the White House.”
https://reason.com/2025/04/03/trumps-new-tariffs-on-these-3-countries-look-particularly-foolish