President Donald Trump on Wednesday is unveiling from the White House Rose Garden a long-promised, sweeping set of tariffs on imports as part of his “America First” agenda.
“My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day,” Trump said as he kicked off his remarks, claiming the action will free the U.S. from dependence on foreign goods.
“April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed and the day that we began to make America wealthy again,” he said.
It’s a moment months in the making for the president, but one that comes with significant political and economic risk.
Some experts warn his moves could cause the economy to slide into a recession and markets seesawed ahead of Wednesday’s announcement, after weeks of turmoil as Trump’s tariff policy shifted and took shape.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., April 2, 2025.
Carlos Barria/Reuters
The White House had been mum on details ahead of Wednesday’s announcement, only confirming that the tariffs will go into effect immediately upon being announced.
Just hours before the announcement, Trump and his top advisers were still trying to find some common ground where they agree. One senior administration official said the situation was “still very fluid” after meetings on Wednesday morning.
Some options debated in recent weeks, ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang reported, were a 20% flat tariff rate on all imports; different tariff levels for each country based on their levies on U.S. products; or tariffs on about 15% of countries with the largest trade imbalances with the U.S.
Wednesday’s tariffs build onto levies already imposed by the administration, including on steel and aluminum as well as certain goods from China, Canada and Mexico.
The actions have strained relations with Canada and Mexico, two key allies and neighbors. Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week the U.S. and Canada’s deep relationship on economic, security and military issues was effectively over.
Canada has vowed retaliatory tariffs and Mexico said it will give its response later this week. The European Union, too, said it has a “strong plan to retaliate.”
But Trump and administration officials are plowing full steam ahead, arguing America’s been unfairly “ripped off” by other nations for years and it’s time for reciprocity.
“For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump said.
Cargo trucks head towards U.S. at the Otay Commercial crossing in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, Mar. 27, 2025.
Guillermo Arias/AFP via Getty Images
The economy was the top issue for voters in the 2024 presidential election, with Americans casting blame on President Joe Biden for high prices and Trump promising to bring families financial relief.
The administration has painted tariffs as a panacea for the economy writ large, arguing any pain experienced in the short term will be offset by what they predict will be major boosts in manufacturing, job growth and government revenue.
But it’s unclear how much leeway the public is willing to give Trump to get past what he has called “a little disturbance.”
Already, little more than two months into Trump’s second term, polls show his handling of the economy is being met with pushback.
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey published on Monday found a majority of Americans (58%) disapprove of how Trump has been handling the economy.
On his protectionist trade negotiations with other nations, specifically, 60% of Americans said they disapproved of his approach so far. It was his weakest issue in the poll among Republicans.
Trump’s GOP allies on Capitol Hill have said they’re placing trust in the president, but acknowledged there will be some uncertainty to start.
“It may be rocky in the beginning but I think this will make sense for Americans and it will help all Americans,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday alongside other members of Republican leadership.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson takes questions on tariffs while meeting with reporters at a news conference, at the Capitol, in Washington, April 1, 2025.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
“You’re going to see prices shift,” Rep. Rich McCormick, a Georgia Republican, told ABC News Correspondent Jay O’Brien. “We’re accountable to the American people. We represent them, if they’re speaking loud enough … I think the president has been very good at reacting to the public.”
Democrats, meanwhile, pledged to fight the tariffs “tooth and nail” and were trying to force a vote aimed at curtailing his authorities to impose levies on Canada.
“Trump’s done a lot of bad things. This is way up there,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier on Wednesday.
Schumer slammed what he said was an “absurd, crazy, chaotic trade war” spurred by the administration’s policies.
