President Donald Trump is expected to announce a broad slate of new tariffs on Wednesday — dubbed “Liberation Day” by the White House — in a move that’s already sending shockwaves through global markets and escalating trade tensions with key allies and adversaries alike.
The administration has yet to release full details of the plan, including which sectors or products will be affected, or when the levies will go into effect.
But Trump made clear during an impromptu press gaggle aboard Air Force One that the tariffs will be expansive — targeting “essentially all of the countries that we’re talking about.”
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“You’d start with all countries,” Trump told reporters, asserting that the levies would be “far more generous than those countries were to us. … They ripped us off.”
Markets across Asia fell sharply Monday in response to Trump’s comments:
- Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 4%
- South Korea’s KOSPI slipped 2.5%
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.7%
- Australia’s ASX closed down 1.7%
The sweeping tariff push is part of Trump’s aggressive “America First” economic policy aimed at protecting domestic manufacturing and bringing jobs back to the U.S. But economists and foreign leaders are warning of severe consequences.
The European Union and China have already signaled plans for retaliatory tariffs. Canadian officials issued a stark warning, saying if the U.S. imposes tariffs on auto imports Wednesday as expected, they will impose levies on electricity exports to Michigan, Minnesota, and New York.
“We have our own lumber. We have our own energy; we don’t need energy from Canada,” Trump said Sunday, dismissing the threat. “We don’t need cars from Canada.”
Trump’s comments come amid mounting fears of stagflation — a rare mix of stagnant growth and rising inflation. Yet the president brushed off the concerns.
“I haven’t heard that term in years. No, I don’t know anything about it,” he said. “This country is going to be more successful than it ever was. It’s going to boom.”
Critics argue that the sweeping tariffs risk hurting American consumers through higher prices, especially for cars and imported goods.
Asked about the potential impact on car prices on Sunday, Trump was blunt:
“I couldn’t care less,” he told NBC News, Meet The Press. “Because people are going to start buying American-made cars.”
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With “Liberation Day” approaching, the White House is framing the move as a bold stand for economic independence. But with global markets jittery and trade partners preparing to retaliate, the coming days could mark a turning point in international economic relations — and a defining test of Trump’s economic vision.
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