With just a few hours left before the widely speculated April 2 Liberation Day tariff announcements by US President Donald Trump, all eyes are on what happens on Wednesday. For weeks now, the US president has been threatening the world of imposing massive reciprocal tariffs on foreign countries in a bid to battle trade imbalance to match the duties that other countries like Canada, India, China and EU nations charge on American products.
It has been reported that President Trump will announce his tariff plan at 4 PM (Eastern Time), April 2 which would be 1:30 AM IST on April 3 for people in India. The event has been named ‘Make America Wealthy Again’ and it would take place at the Rose Garden in the White House. Right ahead of the announcement, Trump posted on X," April 2 will be “Liberation Day.”
The exact details of President Trump's tariff overhaul still remains remain unclear as the White House is yet to disclose any details on the same.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday said that President Trump is currently in discussions with his trade advisors to finalize the specifics of this plan. Leavitt stated, "He is dedicated to securing the best possible outcome for American workers.
Trump's Tariff Spree In 2025
Right after assuming the office for his second tenure as the US president, Trump said that he could put 25 percent trade tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on February. For products from China, Trump announced a levy of 60 percent levy.
In his inaugural address, Trump pledged that tariffs would be imposed and said foreign countries would be paying the trade penalties, even though those taxes are currently paid by domestic importers and often passed along to consumers.
However, a day after pausing planned tariffs for at least a month for Mexico, US President Donald Trump on February 4 agreed to do the same with Canada after a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. However, Trump's tariffs against China are still slated to go into effect on Tuesday.
On February 3, Trump paused the tariffs it imposed on Mexico. In a tweet, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, President of Mexico in her conversation with USA President Donald Trump said that the tariffs have been paused for a month.
Later, he threatened the European Union with a 200 percent retaliatory tariff on European wine, champagne, and spirits if the European Union went forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey. The European tariff was expected to go into effect on April 1.
Trump has also threatened Canada with new tariffs targeting Canadian lumber and dairy products. Citing Canada's roughly 250% tariff on US dairy exports to the country, President Trump said in an Oval Office address, "Canada has been ripping us off for years on lumber and on dairy products," CNN reported.
Moreover, he doubled his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum products imported from Canada to 50 percent. The move came in response to Ontario's decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on its electricity exports to the United States.
More recently, Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on imports from countries purchasing oil or gas from Venezuela. Taking it to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump announced that Venezuela has been “very hostile” to the US and countries purchasing oil from it will be forced to pay the tariff on all their trade to the US starting April 2.
Adding one more item to his growing list of executive orders, US President Donald Trump also announced sweeping plans to impose a permanent 25 percent tariff on all cars imported into the United States. The tariffs are expected to take effect on April 2.
