Why Trump Tariff Push Is Targeting Value-Added Taxes: Explained

President Donald Trump doesn’t like other countries’ value-added taxes.

Trump said Thursday that his administration would look at imposing “reciprocal” tariffs against other nations. They would be aimed at offsetting not only the tariffs those countries charge on US goods, but also other regulatory and tax measures that Trump regards as unfair to the US—including VATs, which many countries impose on the sale of goods and services.

In particular, Trump has criticized the European Union’s minimum VAT of 15%. He and his advisers have argued that VATs amount to unfair trade barriers that give the countries that impose them an ...