TMTPOST -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday implied a number of countries may face watered-down reciprocal tariffs while new tariffs on different industries are on the horizon.

Credit：China Central Television

"I may give a lot of countries breaks,” Trump told reporters when talking about reciprocal tariffs at White House ” It’s reciprocal, but we might be even nicer than that. We may take less than what they're charging because they've charged us so much, I don't think they could take it.”

Trump made the remarks at an event announcing South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Group’s massive investment in U.S. Hyundai will invest $5.8 billion to build a new steel plant in Louisiana and believed that’s the result of his tariff agenda. “This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work,” Trump said. “And I hope other things also, but the tariffs are bringing them in at levels that have not been witnessed. Hyundai officials said the investment in Louisiana is part of the company’s plan to spend a total of $21 billion U.S. in the next four years.

Trump on Monday also suggested he will move forward tariffs on a wide range of industries on top of those on steel and aluminum. “We’ll be announcing cars very shortly,” Trump said in a Cabinet meeting, adding that levies on pharmaceuticals would be announced “at some point”. “So we’ll be announcing some of these things in the very near future, not the long future, the very near future,” Trump said.

Trump added the tariffs on lumber and semiconductor industries at an event about Hyundai’s investment later that day. Trump has described April 2 as "Liberation Day" as he touts the new tariffs on a wide range of imported goods that his administration plans to unveil on that day. When pressed on whether the tariffs on more industries will also enter effect on April 2, Trump said “not all tariffs are included that day.”

That increased signs that Trump has softened his Tariff stance recently. Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported at weekend that the Trump administration is not planning to roll out sectoral duties on April 2. Bloomberg reported that the reciprocal tariffs would be more targeted than before. U.S. officials have said they're focused on slapping reciprocal tariffs on 10 to 15 foreign countries - or perhaps 15% of U.S. trading partners. WSJ said the White House is narrowing the scope of tariffs set to come into force on April 2, and duties on specific industries are not likely to be announced the same day.

But Trump on Monday indicated auto tariffs may come earlier than the reciprocal tariffs. “We’ll be announcing that fairly soon over the next few days, probably, and then April 2 comes, that’ll be reciprocal tariffs,” he said.

Earlier Monday, Trump posted on his social media Truth Social the U.S. government would impose a “secondary tariff” on Venezuela that will take effect on April 2. “Any Country that purchases oil and/or gas from Venezuela will be forced to pay a Tariff of 25% to the United States on any Trade they do with our Country,” Trump wrote.