President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled sweeping tariffs on imports from around the world, declaring a “national emergency” over trade deficits and vowing to restore American manufacturing through what he called “economic independence day”.
The measures, announced from the White House Rose Garden, include a baseline 10 per cent tariff on all imports starting April 5, with higher “reciprocal” duties of up to 54 per cent targeting about 60 countries, including China and the European Union from April 9.
Trump’s economic stand
“For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump said in his address. “This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history. It’s our declaration of economic independence.”
The move represents the most significant escalation in US tariffs in nearly a century, since the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930, and has already prompted vows of retaliation from trading partners, including China and the European Union.
China, already facing a 20 per cent tariff imposed earlier this year, will be hit with additional 34 per cent duties, bringing the total to 54 per cent. The European Union will face a 20 per cent tariff, while Japan will be charged 24 percent and India 26 per cent.
“If they complain, if you want your tariff rate to be zero, then you build your product right here in America,” Trump said, referring to trading partners’ potential reactions.
Trump defended the action by claiming that countries have taken advantage of the United States through unfair trade practices and non-tariff barriers. He cited America’s persistent trade deficits, which exceeded $1.2 trillion in goods in 2024.
“We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us, so the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal,” Trump said. “I could have done that, I guess, but it would have been tough for a lot of countries and we didn’t want to do that.”
Global markets reacted swiftly, with stocks in Asia tumbling after the announcement. Japan’s Nikkei share index slumped to an eight-month low, while US and European stock futures also plunged as investors rushed to the safety of bonds and gold.
Tariffs spark backlash
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged other nations not to retaliate. “Sit back, take a deep breath, don’t immediately retaliate,” Bessent told CNN. “Let’s see where this goes, because if you retaliate, that’s how we get escalation.”
But China’s commerce ministry said it “firmly” opposed the new tariffs and would “take resolute countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests,” while European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen described the tariffs as a “major blow to the world economy.”
The tariffs exclude certain goods including copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber and energy products not available in the United States. Canada and Mexico, which already face 25 per cent tariffs on non-compliant goods under previous orders, were spared additional levies.
“Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country, and you see it happening already,” Trump said. “We will supercharge our domestic industrial base.”
Democrats swiftly condemned the move, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries saying, “Republicans are crashing the American economy in real time and driving us to a recession. This is not Liberation Day, it’s Recession Day.”
Trump also confirmed that his previously announced 25 per cent tariff on imported automobiles would take effect at midnight, and announced plans to end tax-free treatment for small packages from China by May, a move that would affect Chinese e-commerce companies like Shein and Temu.
Follow us on
