Associated Press, by Josh Boak
WASHINGTON (AP) — A few weeks after White House hype and public unrest, President Donald Trump is set to announce a barrage of self-description mutual tariffs on friends and enemies on Wednesday.
The new tariffs leading up to what Trump calls “Liberation Day,” a bid to boost US manufacturing and punish other countries for what he said, a long-standing of unfair trade practices. But the ratings of most economists have threatened the economy to plunge into a recession and fall into a decades-old alliance.
The White House is exuding confidence despite political and financial gambling.
“April 2, 2025 will be down as one of the most important days in modern American history,” White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt added at a briefing Tuesday that the new tariffs will take effect soon.
Trump Trump’s reciprocal tariffs to be announced follow similar recent announcements of a 25% tax on automobile imports. Taxation on China, Canada and Mexico. We expanded tariffs on steel and aluminum. Trump is also planning to impose tariffs on countries that import oil from Venezuela and separate import taxes on medicines, wood, copper and computer chips.
Neither warning signs about stock market declines or consumer sentiment have come to publicly speculate on that strategy.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro suggests the new tariffs will raise $600 billion a year. According to the office of R-Okla’s MP Kevin Hern, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers that tariffs could be concluded and negotiated downward by other countries. However, the White House has yet to confirm policy details despite saying he had made the decision Monday.
Importers may pass part of the tax expense to consumers. Yale University’s Budget Institute estimates that a universal tariff of 20% would cost an additional $3,400 to $4,200 on the average household.
The premise of the Republican administration is that manufacturers will rapidly increase domestic production and create jobs for new factories, and the White House has expressed confidence that Trump’s approach is right.
“They wouldn’t be wrong,” Levitt said. “It will work. And the President has an incredible team of advisors who have been studying these issues for decades. And we are focusing on restoring America’s golden age and making America a manufacturing superpower.”
Bold optimism does little to reassure the masses and allies who view import taxes as a threat.
Based on the broad 20% tariff potential that has been raised by some White House aides, most analyses show an economy damaged by higher prices and stagnation. The US economic growth measured by gross domestic product is about a lower percentage, with clothing, oil, automobiles, homes, food and even insurance costing, budget lab analysis found.
Trump would be applying these tariffs on his own, as he has a way of doing so legally without Congressional approval. This makes it easier for democratic lawmakers and policymakers to criticize Republican administrations. When the uncertainty and decline in consumer sentiment expressed by businesses are indeed signs of difficulty.
Heather Boohee, a member of the Biden White House Economic Advisors Council, noted that the non-offensive tariffs Trump imposed during his first term did not stir the manufacturing renaissance he promised to voters.
“We don’t see any indication of the boom the president has promised,” Boosy said. “It’s a failed strategy.”
New York Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said tariffs are fundamentally a way for Trump to raise incomes to pay his planned income tax cut extension, which disproportionately supports billionaires and billionaires.
“Early everything they do, including tariffs, is aimed at me to get those tax cuts for the wealthy people,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Even Republicans who trust Trump’s instincts have acknowledged that tariffs could destroy the economy with an unemployment rate of 4.1%.
“We’ll see how everything develops,” said house speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA. “It might be Rocky at first, but I think this makes sense to Americans and helps all Americans.”
Long-time trading partners have prepared their own measures. Canada has already imposed some in response to the 25% tariffs that Trump has led to fentanyl trafficking. The European Union has placed taxes on US goods worth 26 billion euros, including bourbon, in response to tariffs on steel and aluminum, urging Trump to threaten a 200% tariff on European alcohol.
Many allies feel they are reluctantly drawn into the Trump conflict.
Of course, the flip side is that Americans also have incomes from German manufacturers to choose to buy designer gowns in French fashion houses and cars, but World Bank data shows that the EU earns less per capita than the US.
“Europe has not launched this conflict,” said European Commission Chairman Ursula von der Leyen. “We don’t necessarily want to retaliate, but if that’s what we need, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we use it.”
He provided a deep sense of uncertainty to the world as Trump hyped the tariffs without providing anything concrete. This provided an indication that the slowdown in the economy could extend beyond us to other countries who see people blaming one person.
Ray Parnai, general manager of JE Fixtures & Tools, a Canadian Tools and Die business across the Detroit River, said uncertainty has crushed his company’s ability to plan.
“The tariffs will be in place. We don’t know at this point,” he said Monday. “This is probably one of the last issues. It’s probably the last issue since November. Uncertainty. Essentially it’s delaying everything in our quoting process.
Leavitt is one of three administrative authorities facing lawsuits from the Associated Press in the first and fifth amendments. The AP says the three are punishing news outlets for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP has not followed an executive order to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
Associated Press reporters Lisa Mascaro of Washington and Mike Hamisaro of Old Castle, Ontario contributed to the report.
Original issue: April 2, 2025, 7:46am EDT
