Election 2025: Donald Trump open to tariffs deal, dangles a 50pc discount

Donald Trump would be willing to negotiate over his April 2 tariffs, with one insider suggesting he may grant a 50 per cent discount to some ­nations.

President Donald Trump will unveil his tariffs on Wednesday. Picture: AP

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Donald Trump would be willing to negotiate with foreign leaders over his April 2 “Liberation Day” tariffs, with one insider suggesting the US President may also grant a 50 per cent discount to some ­nations.

In the days leading up to the introduction of his reciprocal tariffs, Mr Trump indicated that he could give some nations “breaks” and that the world would be surprised at how “lenient” the new levies would be.

Speaking on Monday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt made clear the new tariffs would be effective “immediately” upon their announcement. She said the US President was intent on making America a manufacturing superpower again.

Mr Trump is scheduled to announce the slate of new tariffs at 4pm on Wednesday local time (7am Thursday AEDT), the details of which remain largely unknown.

Anthony Albanese has been unable to speak to Mr Trump in the days and weeks leading up to “Liberation Day”, and Australia was also captured by the 25 per cent steel and aluminium tariffs which commenced on March 12.

But Ms Leavitt said that the US President was “always up to take a phone call” and “always up for a good negotiation” – a suggestion that foreign leaders could perhaps negotiate a deal with the US President to remove or limit the impact of the new tariffs.

“He is very much focused on fixing the wrongs of the past and ensuring that American workers have a fair shake,” she said.

While the details of the reciprocal tariffs have not been made clear, The Australian was informed by one insider that some nations could receive up to a 50 per cent discount on the planned reciprocal tariffs.

However, it was unclear what the administration would adopt as a key reference point and whether it would be factoring in non-tariff trade barriers.

This is the primary concern for Australia, with the recent US 2025 National Trade Estimate Report taking aim at Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code, intellectual property protections for pharmaceuticals and the treatment of American agricultural imports including beef, pork, poultry, apples and pears.

Speculation has focused on the form of the planned tariffs and if they would be customised, varying from country to country, or whether they could be tiered based on criteria set by the White House. There were also suggestions the White House was considering a blanket tariff as high as 20 per cent – although this was deemed to be less likely.

Mr Trump met with his trade advisers on Tuesday to finalise ­details. The biggest targets are ­expected to include longtime ­allies such as Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

Ms Leavitt said April 2 would “go down as one of the most important days in modern American history.” “Our country has been one of the most open economies in the world,” she said. “But too many foreign countries have their markets closed to our exports. This is fundamentally unfair. The lack of reciprocity contributes to our large and persistent annual trade deficit that’s gutted our ­industries and hollowed out key workforces.

“But those days of America, beginning tomorrow, being ripped off, are over. American workers and businesses will be put first under President Trump, just as he promised on the campaign trail.”

Ms Leavitt said the actions taken by Mr Trump would ­“improve American competitiveness in every area of industry, reduce our massive trade deficits and ultimately protect our economic and national security. President Trump’s economic vision is rooted in common sense.”

Earlier, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU had a plan to counteract the tariffs. “Europe has not started this confrontation,” she said. “We do not necessarily want to retaliate, but we have a strong plan to retaliate if necessary.”

She also warned that more tariffs would only fuel inflation, which is “exactly the opposite of what we want to achieve”.