United States President Donald Trump said that the United States will treat value-added tax (VAT) systems the same as tariffs, implying the tax could impact the calculation on reciprocal tariffs for other countries.

In a social network post on Saturday, Trump said that VATs will be considered similar to a tariff under his reciprocal tariff plan, calling VATs "far more punitive than a tariff."

The remarks came after Trump signed a memorandum on Thursday, announcing a plan to impose "reciprocal tariffs" against nations that charge duties on imports of American goods at a higher rate than the United States charges that country's goods.

Trump also said the new tariffs will take into account a range of trade barriers and other nontariff barriers adopted by America's trading partners.

Trump's latest post indicates that the United States will take into account VATs when calculating reciprocal tariffs for each country.

A value-added tax is a type of national percentage tax added to goods and services at each phase of production. It is used in more than 170 countries globally, including South Korea.