Ledger · 2024 campaign · № 177

A permanent reciprocal tariff law (the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act)

Broken
“[paraphrase] An eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff — whatever they charge us, we charge them.”
Promised
, Agenda 47 policy platform
Re-promised
10 times with a fresh deadline
Topic
Trade & tariffs
Era
2024 campaign

What happened

Congress never passed the Reciprocal Trade Act. Trump instead imposed 'reciprocal' rates by emergency decree on April 2, 2025, and the Supreme Court voided that authority on Feb. 20, 2026. PolitiFact rated the promise Stalled; as of September 2026 the reciprocal schedule exists only in improvised, litigated form under substitute statutes.

Sources

  1. MAGA-Meter: Institute a reciprocal tariff policy PolitiFact, Jan 20, 2026
  2. The Supreme Court Ends IEEPA Tariffs, Bringing Fresh Uncertainty for Companies Skadden, Feb 24, 2026