By Janet Ekstract, NEW YORK – In a press conference from the White House Rose Garden, Trump called it “One of the most important days in American history,” as he announced his new tariff strategy. Trump said he will “sign an executive order on reciprocal tariffs throughout the world.” He made the announcement after the stock market closed on April 2. “This is liberation day for America,” Trump said. The president said the tariffs will “make America wealthy again” and accused foreigners of “stealing our jobs”- saying that “tax payers have been ripped off for 50 years but it’s not going to happen anymore.” President Trump said the U.S. charges other countries “only a 2.4 percentage on motorcycles” but other countries charge exorbitant percentages on vehicles. He cited a plethora of statistics, adding that “none of our companies are allowed to sell in other countries.” Trump said, “At midnight tonight, we will impose a 25% tariff on all foreign made automobiles,” and a UAW spokesperson said “We support Donald Trump’s tariffs 100%.” Trump also said “We will not cut Medicaid and Social Security benefits” and said in his new “one, big beautiful bill” there will be “big tax cuts.”
President Trump lauded: “We are standing up for our farmers,” and said that Canada charges U.S. farmers exorbitant tariffs on milk. He said that’s an example of “why we have the amount of debt” we have. Another example, Trump said is that other countries ban America from selling its poultry and beef to them. The president cited examples, saying that “China charges a tariff rate of 65% on rice farmers,” adding “the Americans are paying,” for these tariffs. “We’re going to take care of our people first, I’m sorry to say that,” Trump said, relaying that message to his allies. “Trade deficits threaten our national security and our way of life,” he added. The president also said “For nations that treat us badly, we will charge them approximately half of what they’re charging us.” Trump ran down the tariff percentage charges giving some examples. He said that China will get a reciprocal tariff of 34% “but they charge us 67%.” “We will charge EU 20% tariffs but the EU charges us a 39% tariff. Trump said, “We will charge South Korea only 25% tariffs while they charge us 50%.” He added that “We will charge Japan 24% tariffs but they charge us 46% tariffs.” “We will charge India 26% they charge us 52%, Trump said. The president said, “I call this kind, reciprocal,” tariffs and added that “If you want your tariff rate to be zero then you build your product in America.” “These tariffs are going to give us growth,” President Trump concluded. He also said that there will be 10% reciprocal tariffs on all countries, on any products they send to the U.S.
The president also announced that companies have committed to build plants in the U.S. and said Apple will spend $500 billion, Oracle and SoftBank as well as Nvidia are investing billions in the U.S. for plants. Taiwan’s major chips maker, TSMC is investing $200 billion in building a plant in the U.S., Trump said. He added that Johnson & Johnson, Eliy Lily, META, Merck, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai are all putting in millions and millions of dollars to build plants in America as well. “So far, it looks like we’re going to have 6 trillion dollars of investment,” in the U.S., adding that “We’re going to be an entirely different country,” Trump said. “It’s an incredible thing to watch,” he added. The president remarked: “Companies are pouring into our country like never before” and added, “With today’s action, we are finally going to be able to make America great again.”
Meanwhile, there were speculations swirling about what tariffs set by U.S. President Donald Trump and his team will mean for consumers and business owners, ABC News reported that Republican Senator Rand Paul is against the tariffs and said they “will threaten our country with a recession.” Paul also said it’s not good “for us politically and it won’t be good for the country.” ABC News also reports that Democrats have prepared measures to counter the tariffs with some Republican senators expected to support the measures. Representative Morgan McGarvey a Democrat from Kentucky said that Trump’s tariffs “affect everybody” and that it’s a “disastrous policy.” McGarvey added that “These broad-based tariffs without any other strategy” cause major problems for business owners, workers and consumers, stating “the chaos is awful.” The president and his top advisors were still hashing out the details until the last minute on April 2. The tariffs are expected to upend the global market, according to investors with financial analysts saying that all this uncertainty is bad for business. ABC News said after speaking to business owners, they said that businesses don’t have the margins to absorb the extra costs from tariffs. Analysts also explained that this is the worst stock quarter for the market since 2022. While some believe the tariffs are a negotiating tactic, others predict consumer products will skyrocket. Analysts also speculate that countries will put on retaliatory tariffs most likely – and reiterated that stocks were down 8% and the NASDAQ index was down 14 percent.
