Donald Trump's trade advisers Wednesday were working on plans for the reciprocal tariffs the US president has vowed to impose on every country that charges duties on US imports, ratcheting up fears of a widening global trade war and threatening to accelerate US inflation further.

The timing of a new round of US duties remained unclear. Progress on the reciprocal tariffs was being made amid talks with other nations that began "really early" on Wednesday morning, Trump's economic adviser Kevin Hassett told reporters at the White House.

Asked if there would be an announcement from Trump today, Hassett added: "Well, you might see an announcement about progress or also guidelines of the things that he's thinking after having some, you know, exchanges of views with foreign people today and yesterday."

Trump said Monday he would announce reciprocal tariffs over the following two days on all countries that impose duties on US goods, and said he was also looking at separate tariffs on cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

The Republican leader stunned markets Monday by announcing tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports beginning on March 12. The news sent industries reliant on steel and aluminum imports scrambling to offset an expected jump in costs.

Manufacturing-heavy cos worried

Last week, Trump imposed an additional 10per cent tariff on Chinese goods, effective February 4, with Chinese countermeasures taking effect this week. Some US workers welcomed Monday's metal tariffs, but many manufacturing-heavy firms expressed deep concern over the next steps, warning the hike would reverberate across supply chains.

Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday showed that inflation in January picked up at a 3per cent annualised rate against 2.9per cent the previous month.

The consumer price index also worsened on a monthly basis, with prices jumping 0.5per cent in January from December, its largest month-over-month gain since August 2023.

The increases were broadbased across items of daily household consumption, covering everything from gasoline, up 1.8per cent, to shelter, up 0.4per cent, to eggs, which rocketed in price by 15.2per cent, the largest increase in nearly a decade.

"It's unclear whether the January CPI will give some in the Trump administration pause about moving forward quickly with some of the proposed tariffs," Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics, wrote after CPI's release.

Trudeau warns US job losses

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said if the US imposes tariffs on imports of Canadian steel and aluminum, some Americans will lose their jobs and US growth will suffer.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels, he also reiterated that Canada would respond with countermeasures if need be.

In 2018, during his first administration, Trump put tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum as the U was in talks on updating a continental trade deal with Mexico and Canada. Trudeau said the measures cost 75,000 US jobs, adding, "We are highlighting the fact that there were job losses, significant ones, in the United States the last time that they brought in tariffs... and that this will actually compromise growth and prosperity in the United States."