Donald Trump’s second presidential term could have huge implications for U.S. trade policy, climate change, the war in Ukraine, electric vehicles, Americans’ taxes and illegal immigration.
While some of his campaign proposals would require congressional approval, here is a summary of the policies Trump has said he will pursue after he takes office on Monday.
MORE TARIFFS
Trump has said he will issue executive orders on his first day in office to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico if the two U.S. neighbors do not clamp down on the flow of drugs into the U.S. and people entering the country illegally. The duties could severely impair the highly integrated economies, where auto parts can cross borders multiple times before final assembly. Trump has also called for a global tariff of at least 10% on all goods imported into the U.S., a move he says would eliminate a $1-trillion annual trade deficit. Critics say it would lead to higher prices for American consumers and draw retaliatory duties on American exports.
Trump has said he should have the authority to set higher tariffs on countries that have placed tariffs on U.S. imports, frequently complaining about Europe’s higher duties on autos. At times on the campaign trail, he threatened tariffs of 200% on vehicles made in Mexico, especially if Chinese automakers launch production there. Trump has targeted China in particular in an effort to decouple the world’s two largest economies. He has proposed tariffs of 60% or more on all Chinese imports, far above his first-term tariffs, in part to phase out imports of Chinese electronics and pharmaceuticals. He also has said he wants to prohibit Chinese companies from owning U.S. real estate and infrastructure in the energy and tech sectors.
MASS DEPORTATIONS
Trump has vowed to reinstate his first-term policies targeting illegal border crossings and to forge ahead with sweeping new restrictions.
He has pledged to limit access to asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border and to embark on the biggest deportation effort in American history, which would likely trigger legal challenges and opposition from Democrats in Congress.
He has said he will employ the National Guard, and, if necessary, federal troops, to achieve his objective, and he has not ruled out setting up detention camps to process people for deportation. Trump has said he would seek to end automatic citizenship for children born to immigrants. While such a move would run against the long-running interpretation of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, Trump has said he would consider trying to push through a new amendment that would achieve his aim. He is expected to try to revoke protected legal status for some populations such as Haitians or Venezuelans, but would try to seek a congressional deal to protect “Dreamers” – children of parents who came to the country illegally.
Trump says he will reinstitute a version of his “travel ban” policy that restricted entry into the U.S. of people from Muslim-dominant countries and other nations, and sparked multiple legal battles during his first term. Some of Trump’s earliest appointments reflected an urgency to follow through on his immigration agenda. Trump has named a “border czar,” Tom Homan, and will make Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration plans, a White House deputy chief of staff.
DRILLING AWAY Trump has vowed to increase U.S. production of fossil fuels by easing permitting and expanding drilling on federal land. He has said he would support widespread oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Trump has pledged to create a National Energy Council to coordinate policies to boost U.S. energy production, led by his pick for interior secretary, former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
Whether the oil industry follows through and raises production – which is already running at record highs – remains to be seen.
Trump is likely to again pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate deal, a framework for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, and would support increased nuclear-energy production. He would also roll back Democratic President Joe Biden’s electric-vehicle mandates and other policies aimed at reducing auto emissions.
Trump has argued the U.S. needs to boost energy production to be competitive in developing artificial-intelligence systems, which consume large amounts of power.
TAX RELIEF Along with his trade and energy agendas, Trump has promised to slash federal regulations that he says limit job creation. He has pledged to extend personal income-tax cuts that he signed into law in 2017 but which are due to expire on Dec. 31, and he has proposed a number of individual and corporate tax cuts beyond those enacted in his first term.
