‘Liberation Day:’ What to know about Trump’s grand tariff plan

The article discusses President Donald Trump’s upcoming “Liberation Day,” set for April 2, which is expected to introduce a 25% tariff on foreign automobiles and parts. This policy aims to bolster the U.S. auto industry and combat what the administration sees as unfair trade practices. Stock markets in countries such as Japan and Germany have shown declines in anticipation of these tariffs. While the administration asserts that these tariffs will generate meaningful revenue and promote domestic manufacturing,economists caution that they may lead to higher consumer costs and complexities in determining what constitutes “domestic” products,as many American-made cars rely on foreign parts.

The article addresses key questions surrounding the tariffs, including their potential impact on car prices—estimates suggest increases of $5,000 to $15,000 for foreign vehicles—and the reaction from other nations, with canada and Germany expressing intentions to retaliate against U.S. measures. the situation is complex and evolving, as the economic repercussions of Trump’s tariffs unfold.


What to know about ‘Liberation Day’ as Trump prepares to tariff the world

President Donald Trump‘s long-awaited “Liberation Day” is already shaking up the global economy as the world prepares for his latest round of tariffs on Wednesday.

The administration has not yet finalized the exact details of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, but financial markets are closely following his comments. Stocks in Japan and Germany, among other foreign nations, fell on Monday in anticipation of what could happen this week.

Trump previously announced a 25% tariff on foreign automobiles and car parts to begin on Wednesday, saying it would help the domestic auto industry and U.S. manufacturing.

“This is going to be amazing,” Trump said Monday inside the Oval Office. “In a sense, it’s a rebirth of a country. … It’s the liberation of this country.”

His press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters earlier that there would be a Rose Garden event to mark the occasion and no exceptions would be offered to the policy.

“The president will be announcing a tariff plan that will roll back the unfair trade practices that have been tripping off our country for decades,” she said. “He’s doing this in the best interest of the American worker.”

Yet economists have long warned that tariffs will lead to higher costs for the American consumer.

Trump has told automakers not to raise prices in response to the tariffs, but words alone with not save car purchases from higher car prices. And even if automakers do commit to building more parts and assembling more vehicles inside the U.S., the transition process could lead to pain in the short term.

In anticipation of Trump’s potential to follow through with the new tariffs, here are the top questions to know about Liberation Day.

When do tariffs take effect?

Trump has consistently claimed that Liberation Day is April 2, which comes at the end of a study period the president initiated in February. However, previous tariff threats against Canada and Mexico were repeatedly delayed, and when they finally arrived on March 4, Trump issued exemptions that led to a tamp down of tensions between the three nations.

The two North American neighbors face another deadline Wednesday, when those exemptions are set to expire.

Other tariffs have already been implemented, including a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports and an across-the-board 20% tariff against China.

Why does Trump want tariffs?

The president and administration officials have long claimed that tariffs will help raise revenue that would in turn pay down the nation’s debt, and also say that import duties will help revive manufacturing in the U.S.

Peter Navarro, White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, claimed over the weekend that $6 trillion would be raised from the tariffs over the next decade.

“First of all, we’re gonna raise about $100 billion with the auto tariffs alone. … This is a genius thing that President Trump promised on the campaign trail,” Navarro said on Fox News Sunday. “So, that’s gonna happen. In addition, the other tariffs are gonna raise about $600 billion a year. About $6 trillion over a 10-year period.”

What countries will be impacted?

In theory, any country that uses any tariff or nontariff trade barriers against the U.S. could be affected.

In addition to the aforementioned tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, the Trump administration has debated whether to impose individual tariffs on the nation’s trade partners or implement a flat 20% tariff rate that would impact every nation that does business with the U.S.

When asked on Air Force One how many countries would be affected, Trump told reporters, “You would start with all countries so let’s see what happens.”

He previously described the goal of reciprocal tariffs as such: “Whatever they charge us, we’re charging them.”

What will tariffs do to car prices?

Over the weekend Trump told NBC News’s Kristen Welker that the 25% tariffs on automobile imports will “absolutely” be permanent and that he “couldn’t care less” if foreign-made car prices drastically increase as a result.

The price of buying a foreign car could increase by anywhere between $5,000 to $15,000, Goldman Sachs estimates.

Trump holds that the price of cars won’t be impacted at all if they’re made in the U.S., a policy that will apply even to foreign brands if they have domestic manufacturing facilities. But determining what counts as domestic can get complicated, as some American-made cars use foreign parts and vice versa.

“It’s still very unclear what the president is is going to do,” international trade attorney Tim Brightbill told the Washington Examiner. “We’ve heard so many different suggestions about what will happen, but it’s it’s still very unclear which direction the president is going to take.”

How have other nations responded to Trump’s threats?

Ontario, Canada Premier Doug Ford, who previously feuded with Trump over a 25% levy against steel and aluminum, claimed that Canada’s retaliation against the auto tariffs will cause severe damage to Americans.

The “$65 billion of tariffs that we have on the table that we can launch towards the U.S., we have to run through every tariff and minimize the pain for Canadians, maximize the pain for Americans,” Ford said last week.

Ford claimed that he felt “terrible for the Americans, but it’s one person, it’s President Trump, that’s creating this chaos.”

Germany claimed it “will not give in” to Trump’s tariff threats, with German Economy Minister Robert Habeck pushing the European Union to “respond firmly” to the president.

China, Japan, and South Korea announced they will jointly respond to Trump’s actions on Sunday.

“We especially recognized the need for ongoing trilateral economic and trade cooperation to effectively address emerging challenges and achieve tangible outcomes in key areas,” representatives of the three nations said in a joint statement.

Christian Datoc contributed to this story



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