‘Dirty 15’ countries targeted for ‘reciprocal’ duties

President Donald Trump is about to announce his biggest batch of tariffs yet. And while major details about them are shrouded in mystery, one thing is clear: Some trade partners are about to feel a lot more pain than others.

Trump is set on Wednesday to unveil “reciprocal tariffs” against other countries that have their own duties on U.S. goods, or other policies that the White House considers unfair trade barriers. He has hyped up the kickoff date as America’s “liberation day” and “the big one.”

The plan has created significant uncertainty, and many of its core components — including the number of countries affected, how each country’s tariff rate is being calculated, and which nations will be hardest hit — remain unclear.

While Trump has touted the new tariffs as the key to resetting America’s economic relationship with the rest of the world, some in his administration have suggested a narrower focus on a handful of prime targets.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a Fox Business interview on March 18, singled out what he called the “Dirty 15.”

He was referring to the 15% of nations that account for the bulk of U.S. trading volume while imposing hefty tariffs and other “non-tariff barriers” on U.S. goods.

Bessent did not name those countries.

Kevin Hassett, director of Trump’s National Economic Council, said in a subsequent interview on the network that the administration is looking at 10 to 15 countries that account for America’s “entire trillion-dollar trade deficit.”

Hassett also did not name those countries. Data from the Commerce Department shows that in 2024, the U.S. had the highest goods trading deficit with China, followed by the European Union, Mexico, Vietnam, Ireland, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Canada, India, Thailand, Italy, Switzerland, Malaysia, Indonesia, France, Austria and Sweden.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in a notice seeking public comment as part of a review of unfair trade practices to be delivered to Trump by Monday, listed 21 countries in which it is “particularly interested.”

Those include many of the countries in the Group of 20, as well as other “economies that have the largest trade deficits in goods with the United States,” according to the notice.

They are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.

The White House did not respond to CNBC’s request for clarification on the forthcoming tariffs or the “Dirty 15.”

Trump muddied the waters further Sunday when he rejected the idea that just 10 or 15 countries would face reciprocal duties on Wednesday.

“You’d start with all countries,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, adding that there is “not a cut off.”

Trump has pointed to America’s trade deficits in arguing that virtually all trading partners are “taking advantage” of the U.S.

Many economists say that the U.S. importing more from many countries than it exports is not inherently a bad thing, but rather reflects strong domestic demand for goods that may be sourced more cheaply elsewhere.

The forthcoming import duties will follow a flurry of others that Trump has already announced, including blanket tariffs on China, steep tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods that do not comply with an existing trilateral trade deal, steel and aluminum tariffs and, most recently, tariffs on foreign cars and imports of key parts.

He has also said that more tariffs on specific industries, including pharmaceuticals, are on the way.