Donald Trump is to announce his latest installment of tariffs in the White House on Wednesday afternoon, a step that could raise tensions in international trade. He has dubbed the day as "Liberation Day," indicating a dramatic change in US trade policy.
Trump's tariff statements have repeatedly disrupted international stock markets, caused worry among business leaders and economists, and provoked acrimonious arguments with the US's biggest trading partners. During his presidency so far, he has made several tariff declarations only to postpone or rescind them, generating doubt in the world market.
Details of the Wednesday announcement are sketchy, though Trump is planning to address the country at 4 p.m. ET. White House sources say that most dramatic US trade policy makeover takes effect from that moment.
Trump has set a number of goals for his tariff agenda, such as stimulating domestic production, responding to unfair trade tactics, increasing tax collections, and forcing foreign governments to stem migration and drug running. Yet his strategy has been erratic, involving repeated rollbacks, delays, and imprecise promises yet to be delivered in full. The constant threats have strained Washington's relations with major trading partners.
Canada's Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has denounced the tariffs as "unjustified" and threatened to retaliate. The European Union, meanwhile, said it has a "strong plan" to retaliate in kind.
Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, stated that the president was keeping Tuesday busy working on his trade plan. "He is with his trade and tariff team at this time, finessing it to ensure this is an ideal deal for the American people and the American worker," she said.
As tensions mount, Trump has reaffirmed his position on mutual tariffs, insisting that the US must impose identical import tax levels as those other countries impose on American products. South Korea, Brazil, India, and the EU have been cited as possible targets.
“The world has been taking advantage of the United States for the past 40 years or more,” Trump told NBC over the weekend. “All we’re doing is ensuring fairness.”
Still on the table are 25% tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian imports—two of the US's biggest trade partners—Trump wants to employ as leverage to negotiate solutions to migration and drug trafficking issues. Previously in March, he delayed these tariffs for the second time while negotiating with their leaders.
Reports have shown that Trump's advisers are suggesting an across-the-board 20% tariff on all imports, more in line with commitments made in his campaign for the presidency.
Any Wednesday announcements of new tariffs would supplement existing ones, such as a 20% tariff on imports from China, a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum, and a 10% tariff on Canadian energy imports. Trump also added in March a 25% tariff on imported autos and auto parts, which will go into effect Thursday.
The tariff plans have caused sell-offs in the stock market and are still unpopular with the American public, according to recent polls. News of internal White House battles over the size and scope of the tariffs has only fueled uncertainty.
Politico says that some in the administration see Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as the most vocal proponent of blanket tariffs, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and trade advisor Peter Navarro are said to be more reluctant to impose broad action.
While these internal conflicts are nothing new for the Trump administration, Trump and his cabinet spent the last several weeks explaining away the tariffs as being good for the US economy. Wall Street has not been cooperating, with stocks moving downward and consumer and business confidence plunging sharply.
Monday saw the first quarter of 2025 close out with two of the three key stock indexes having their worst quarter in more than two years as financial markets struggled with the instability surrounding Trump's trade policies. Consumer confidence fell to its lowest point in more than four years in March as well.
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and other banks' economists have slashed their recent US economic growth projections and warned of heightened recession risk.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari informed Bloomberg News that the present economic uncertainty constitutes one of the most dramatic changes in sentiment he has ever experienced. "The only time that comes close to mind is when COVID struck," he said. "It's possible that the loss of confidence might have a bigger effect than the tariffs.
The Trump administration has sought to place the decreasing confidence on uncertainty over trade policy and not the direct impact of tariffs. Economists, however, contend that tariffs themselves will instill additional instability, and prices for American consumers may rise as companies transfer the added costs of imports.
"CEOs are talking out loud about their intentions to raise prices," stated Alex Jacquez, CEO of the progressive think tank and advocacy organization Groundwork Collaborative. Talking to the press on Tuesday, Jacquez said, "Big retailers and businesses that would be impacted by tariffs are already planning how to pass these costs on to consumers as much as they can."
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