President Trump pumped the brakes on his plan to deliver wide-ranging tariffs as soon as he took office, slow-tracking and toning down changes to the U.S. trade system that figured as a centerpiece of his campaign.

Trump kicked off his second term with a memo that directs federal agencies to study U.S. trade relationships with China, Canada and Mexico, but he did not impose any new tariffs, which are taxes levied on U.S. individuals and companies that import goods from abroad.

The memo, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, also seeks to make progress on Trump's 2020 U.S.-China trade pact and looks ahead to a 2026 review of the updated NAFTA deal with Canada and Mexico. But the order stops short of ordering any new import taxes.

A summary of the memo says agencies will assess the updated NAFTA deal and “make recommendations” about U.S. participation in it, the Journal reported.

That’s a far cry from the rhetoric on trade that Trump used while on the campaign trail.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first executive orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25-percent tariff on all products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous open borders,” Trump wrote on social media in November after winning the election.

Trump frequently blasted establishment thinking on trade deals, suggesting an overhaul of U.S. trade doctrine was underway with the imposition of a general tariff, something that hasn’t been widely tried........

© The Hill