Trump promises ‘liberation day’ for US, mulls universal tariffs
US President Donald Trump is set to announce “long-awaited” reciprocal tariffs on multiple countries Wednesday, the White House said on Tuesday.
Trump has called the trade policy the ‘Liberation Day for America’, but his promise has unsettled global markets and left investors on edge.
Many details remain unknown about what the US president plans to implement, including the percentage or nature of the taxes.
When asked over the weekend what countries would be affected, Trump replied, “All countries.”
“You’d start with all countries,” he added, implying that there could be room for negotiations further down the line.
On Tuesday, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump would announce the tariffs at 4 pm ET Wednesday, after which they would go into effect “immediately”.
Trump has based his actions on the point that the US has “been taken advantage of” by its trading partners.
“We are going to be very nice by comparison to what they were,” Trump said earlier.
“The numbers will be lower than what they have been charging us, and in some cases, maybe substantially lower.
“Relatively speaking, we’re going to be very kind… it is a rebirth of our country”.
Experts have warned that the US president’s actions could drive the world into an economic tailspin.
So far, Trump has placed tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, and the European Union (EU) all of which are the US’ biggest trading partners.