Trump calls it unfair that some countries apply higher tariffs to specific American goods than the U.S. applies back. A new executive order seeks to change that.

The president’s plan for reciprocal tariffs sounds good in theory. But there was a reason the United States abandoned the approach a century ago. The gains would be few and the costs enormous.

President Donald Trump is taking a blowtorch to the rules that have governed world trade for decades. The “reciprocal’’ tariffs that he announced Thursday are likely to create chaos for global businesses and conflict with America’s allies and adversaries alike.

Trump wants to introduce "reciprocal tariffs" - taxes on imports to the US which are set at a similar rate to taxes other countries put on goods they import from the US. The president says other countries often have higher tariffs on imports from the US than the other way round and believes America "has been treated unfairly by trading partners,