President Donald Trump said on Monday he would push for a 'reciprocal tax' against countries, including U.S. allies, that levy tariffs on American products, although aides asked for details said there was nothing formal being planned.

Trump floated the 'reciprocal tax' in a meeting about infrastructure on a day his budget blueprint was released. But aides did not provide details on how such a tax would be structured or what goods it would apply to.

During his populist 2016 presidential campaign, Republican Trump railed at countries that had trade surpluses 'taking advantage of the United States' and he revisited the theme on Monday.

'We cannot continue to let people come into our country and rob us blind and charge us tremendous tariffs and taxes and we charge them nothing,' Trump told reporters at a White House event to announce a proposed infrastructure plan.

President Donald Trump said on Monday he would push for a 'reciprocal tax' against countries, including U.S. allies, that levy tariffs on American products

'We are going to charge countries outside of our country -- countries that take advantage of the United States,' Trump said.

'Some of them are so-called 'allies,' but they're not allies on trade. They'll send in their product, and we won't charge them anything. And we send them our product -- same product as they're sending us -- and they'll charge us 50 and 75 percent tax, and that's very unfair,' he complained.

Immediately after Trump spoke, a senior administration official told Bloomberg there was no formal plan in the works, and that Trump was restating his own long-held views.

Trump brought up the case of Wisconsin-based Harley Davidson, which faces prohibitive tariffs in India and other countries.

'They're treated very unfairly in various countries. You know the countries I'm talking about,' Trump said. 'So we're going to be doing very much a reciprocal tax. And you'll be hearing about that during the week and during the coming months.'

Trump called for 'reciprocal taxes' on countries he said don't treat the U.S. fairly

Immediately after Trump spoke, a senior administration official told Bloomberg there was no formal plan in the works

Trump spoke after the trade deficit grew to $566 billion on his watch during the last year, the highest level since 2008. The trade deficit rose 8 per cent with China, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, based an array of factors including the growing U.S. economy and tech imports from China.

Trump said the issue was that the nation was being 'taken advantage of.'

'That's why we have these big trade deficits. That's why we have tremendous problems with trade. We're, as you know, renegotiating NAFTA now. I always said, we're either going to renegotiate it or terminate it,' Trump said.

At one point, Trump asked Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross if he agreed with 'what I said about the tax with countries coming in and taking advantage of our country? I assume.'

'Sure,' Ross replied.

President Donald Trump speaks with Harley Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich as he arrives to meet with Harley Davidson executives and union representatives on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 2, 2017

'If you don't -- oh, would he be in trouble,' Trump quipped. 'Could you imagine if he said no?'

'A reciprocal tax, Wilbur. How do you feel about that?' Trump pressed.

'Well, we gave away so much unilaterally that we really have to claw it back. A lot of these trade things are self-inflicted wounds,' Ross responded.

The United States loses 'vast amounts of money with China and Japan and South Korea and so many other countries ... It's a little tough for them because they've gotten away with murder for 25 years. But we're going to be changing policy,' he said.

President Donald Trump speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, during a meeting with state and local officials about infrastructure

Trump said his administration will impose a 'reciprocal tax' to charge other countries - 'some of them are so-called allies but they're not allies on trade.'

Retailers and trade associations have fought a Republican proposal on how imports are taxed because they believe it hurts their businesses and would lead to higher prices for consumers on basic items such as food and clothing.

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, as they began to assemble a tax reform plan last year, proposed imposing a 20 percent border-adjustment tax on imports that was designed to offset the value-added tax refunds that some countries grant to their exporters.

But the idea was dropped after it ran into stiff opposition from retailers and other industries that depend on imported materials. The National Retail Federation called it a 'bad tax' that would 'drive up the prices of countless products Americans use every day.'

Last April on Fox Business Network, Trump suggested that if he said the U.S. would charge a 10 percent or 20 percent border tax 'everyone goes crazy, because they like free trade' and added: 'But when you say 'reciprocal tax,' nobody can get angry ... OK, you say, 'whatever you charge, we're charging.''