Trump Announces Sweeping Tariffs in Bid to Reshape U.S. Economy and World Order

Donald Trump has called tariffs the “most beautiful word” in the dictionary. He’s said they will make Americans “rich” and restructure the economy for the better. Standing in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, with political and business leaders around the world watching closely, Trump bet his faith in tariffs against the hard reality of economics as he launched what is expected to be one of the single largest increases in U.S. trade barriers in a century.

Trump announced he was signing an executive order “instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world. Reciprocal—that means they do it to us and we do it to them.” Those reciprocal tariffs would be on top of various tariffs the U.S. already has in place, and ones Trump had already set in motion targeting imports of cars, steel and aluminum. The reciprocal tariffs would go into effect Thursday, he said.

Trump said that his administration would calculate what a country charges the U.S. imports through tariffs, “non monetary barriers and other forms of cheating” and would charge the country half of that in a flat rate. The new tariffs were not a “full reciprocal,” he said. Reading from a large chart, he said goods coming from China, for example, would be charged a duty of 34%, goods from the European Union carry a 20% tariff, Vietnam would have 46% and Taiwan 32%.

Trump had previously announced a separate 25% tariff on all auto imports that is slated to kick in on April 3. He’s imposed 20% tariffs on all imports coming from China and put in place 25% duties on steel and aluminum. He had previously delayed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada over his accusation that those countries weren’t doing enough to stop fentanyl from coming to the U.S. That delayed tariff kicks in Wednesday and will be stacked on top of the new sweeping tariffs Trump announced.

Trump has called the day of his announcement “Liberation Day” and billed it as a moment he is remaking the American economy.  He promised that income from the new tariffs would reduce taxes and pay down U.S. debt.

American businesses have struggled in recent weeks to plan ahead as Trump’s tariff threats have injected so much uncertainty into their supply chains. Stock indices have dipped. Expectations of inflation have soared. Investors are rattled.