Trump Says Reciprocal Tariff Plan Will Have Flexibility but No Special Exceptions

President Donald Trump said on Friday that there will be “flexibility” in his reciprocal tariff plan, even as he rejected the idea of granting special exceptions for upcoming duties.

“People are coming to me and talking about tariffs, and a lot of people are asking me if they could have exceptions,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “And once you do that for one, you have to do that for all.”

Trump, a strong advocate for tariffs, emphasized that his stance has not changed, despite giving top automakers a one-month exemption on a previous round of import duties in early March. “I don’t change. But the word flexibility is an important word,” he said. “Sometimes it’s flexibility. So there’ll be flexibility, but basically it’s reciprocal.”

The reciprocal tariffs are set to take effect on April 2, which Trump has branded as America’s “liberation day.” The plan will impose tariffs on countries that levy duties on U.S. goods, and could also target nations with other trade policies the administration opposes, such as value-added taxes.

Trump also said he plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as Beijing has already retaliated by imposing tariffs on U.S. agricultural products in response to his broader trade measures against Chinese imports.