The Jeep vehicle was sold on March 27, 2025 at a dealership in Irvine, California, USA.
Mike Blake | Reuters
President Donald Trump says Wednesday will be “Liberation Day.” This is the moment he plans to unfold a series of tariffs that he promises to free the United States from abroad.
Details of the next round of Trump’s next import tax are still rough. Most economic analyses say that the average US family must absorb the costs of his tariffs in the form of higher prices and lower incomes. But Trump, who has not been denied, says he is inviting his CEO to the White House and investing hundreds of millions of dollars in new projects to avoid import taxes.
It could also be that tariffs are short-lived if Trump feels that transactions can be cut after they have imposed them.
“If we can do something, I’m certainly open to it,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll get something for it.”
At risk is the family budget, America’s excellence as the world’s major financial strength and structure of the world economy.
Here’s what you need to know about impending trade punishments:
What exactly is Trump going to do?
He wants to announce import taxes, including “mutual” duties that match the fees charged by other countries and explain other subsidies. Trump spoke about taxing the European Union, South Korea, Brazil and India, among other countries.
He announced a 25% automobile fare last week, which claimed that America was destroyed because America imports more goods than it exports.
“This is the beginning of America’s liberation day,” Trump said. “We are going to charge a country that has done business in our country, takes jobs, takes wealth, takes a lot of it over the years, and takes so much. They have taken so much from our country, our friends and our enemies.
In an interview with NBC News on Saturday, Trump said It didn’t bother him if tariffs increased the price of the vehicle, as cars with more US content could be more competitively priced.
“If that’s the case, people are going to buy American-made cars,” Trump said. “If prices of foreign cars went up, they would buy American cars, so I couldn’t really care.”
Trump also suggests he is flexible with his tariffs, saying he will treat other countries better than they dealt with the US. However, he still has a lot of other taxes on imports.
The Republican president will tax imported medicines, copper and wood. He announced a 25% tariff on countries importing oil from Venezuela, despite the US doing so too. Imports from China are charged an additional 20% tax due to their role in fentanyl production. Trump is leviing separate tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico on the basis stated to stop drug smuggling and illegal immigration. Trump also expanded its steel and aluminum tariffs in 2018 to 25% on all imports.
Some aides suggest that tariffs are a tool for negotiations on trade and border security. Others say revenues help reduce the federal government’s fiscal deficit. Commerce Chief Secretary Howard Lutnick says he will force other countries to show “respect.”
What can tariffs do to the US economy?
According to most economists, nothing is good. They say tariffs are passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices for cars, groceries, homes and other products. Business profits may be low and growth may slow. Trump claims that more businesses will open factories to avoid taxes, but the process could take more than three years.
Economist Artraffer estimates that if fully implemented, car tariffs could increase costs per vehicle by $4,711, but Trump sees him as a smart and savvy negotiator. Investment bank Goldman Sachs estimates the economy will grow at an annual rate of just 0.6%, up from a 2.4% rate at the end of last year.
Mayor Andrew Ginter of Columbus, Ohio, said Friday that tariffs could increase the median cost of a home by $21,000, making affordable prices a more obstruction due to the cost of building materials.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox News Sunday that car fares would raise $100 billion a year, while other tariffs would bring about $600 million a year, or about $6 trillion in 10 years. That’s the economy’s largest tax increase since World War II, according to Jessica Riedle, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent suggests that tariffs will be a one-off price adjustment, not an inflationary spiral. But Bescent’s conclusions depend on the short or containment of tariffs, rather than leading other countries to retaliate with their own tariffs or penetrate other sectors of the economy.
“Dutries on products can start filtering out the pricing of services,” says Samuel Rines, strategist at WisdomTree. “Auto parts become more expensive, car repairs become more expensive, and auto insurance feels pressure. While products are the focus, tariffs can have a long-term impact on inflation.”
What do other countries think about the new tariffs?
Most foreign leaders consider tariffs to be destructive to the global economy, even if they are prepared to impose their own measures.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Trump’s tariff threats ended his country’s partnership with the US, even as the president spoke in relatively positive terms about his call with Carney on Friday. Canada has already announced retaliatory tariffs.
French President Emmanuel Macron said tariffs would mean “inconsistent” and “breaking valuable chains, creating inflation in the short term and destroying jobs. However, Macron said his country would defend itself with the goal of dismantling tariffs.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum shunned Tat’s response to tariffs, but she believes it is important to protect her country’s work.
The Chinese government said Trump’s tariffs would harm the global trading system and would not resolve the economic challenges identified by Trump.
“There are no winners in trade wars or tariff wars, and the country’s development and prosperity will not be achieved by imposing tariffs,” said Guo Zi-Kung, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Why did Trump call it “liberation day”?
Based on Trump’s official statement, April 2nd is at least the third “liberation day” he has identified.
At a rally in Nevada last year, he said Presidential Election Day, November 5th, will be “America Liberation Day.” He later gave his inauguration the same label, declaring in his speech, “January 20, 2025, is a liberation day for American citizens.”
His repeated designation of terms is a sign of how important Trump will be to tariffs, his obsession since the 1980s. Dozens of other countries are recognising their own days of liberation to recognize events such as the overcoming of Nazi Germany and the end of previous political systems.
While Trump believes his tariffs are offering national redemption, consumer confidence and stock market slump indicate that many of his people believe the US economy will pay for his ambitions.
“We’ve seen a lot of money,” said Philip Brown, a professor of finance at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. “It’s going to hurt the US economy. Other countries are trying to retaliate.”
