The White House has confirmed that US President Donald Trump will impose new tariffs this week, but it provided no details about the size and scope of the measures that have raised concerns over an intensifying global trade war.
Trump kept rivals and allies alike guessing about who would be targeted and by how much, but promised to be “very kind” when announcing tariffs on Wednesday, which he has dubbed “Liberation Day”. In recent weeks, he has made several tariff announcements, then quickly changed tack on them.
Global stocks remained volatile ahead of the so-called “reciprocal tariffs“, which Trump says are necessary to combat unfair trade imbalances with countries that target the United States.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that Trump’s tariffs will take effect immediately after he unveils them on Wednesday.
The Republican leader, an advocate of tariffs for decades, said on Monday night that he had “settled” on a plan, but refused to reveal its specifics.
Trump only said that the tariffs would be lower than what other countries would be charging the US, adding that “we sort of have a world obligation, perhaps”.
“We’re going to be very nice, relatively speaking, we are going to be very kind,” he said.
Trump is set to hold a press conference, dubbed “Make America Wealthy Again”, at the White House at 4pm local time (20:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Trump urged his fellow Republicans in the US Senate to vote against a measure to revoke his tariff policy against Canada, which he tied to a fentanyl “emergency”.
“Republicans in the Senate MUST vote to keep the National Emergency in place,” Trump wrote in a post on his private social media platform.
Republicans have a majority in the Senate, but Tim Kaine – the Democrat who introduced the proposed legislation – suggested that the bill has a chance of passing.
“There’s still a lot of discussions under way and a lot of votes that are still in play,” Kaine told reporters. “Often in the Senate, everything is pretty predictable. This is one where it’s not particularly predictable.”
Kaine also pushed back against Trump’s claim that the flow of the drug fentanyl from Canada requires an emergency declaration.
According to US government data, only 19.5kg (43 pounds) of fentanyl was seized at the Canadian border last year, compared to 9,933kg (21,900 pounds) at the border with Mexico.
Trade war looming
Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington DC, said the entire global economy could be hit with what experts are calling a potentially huge trade war.
Jordan noted that Trump has said that he is aiming to restore US manufacturing, which plunged in the age of globalisation, with free trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) moving many industries to Mexico and Canada.
“Eventually, much of that offshore manufacturing went to China, and to Southeast Asia and India,” Jordan added.
“Now whether the US is going to go ahead with the 25 percent tariffs that have been promised against Canada, Mexico, and Europe, including the United Kingdom, remains to be seen.”
Trump’s strategy risks provoking a chain reaction of retaliation by major trading partners like China, Canada and the European Union.
America’s neighbours Canada and Mexico were already gearing up, but grappled with uncertainty.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that there will be no “eye for an eye” approach as the country braces for new US import tariffs kicking in this week.
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney had promised tariffs against US products that would have “maximum impact in the US” and minimal effects on Canadians.
On Tuesday, Carney’s office said he had a call with Sheinbaum to discuss the “importance of building upon the strong trading and investment relationship between [their] two countries”.
If enacted, the tariffs would deal a hefty economic blow to both nations, which are both in a free trade agreement with the US, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – an amended version of NAFTA negotiated by Trump himself in 2020.
The threat of a trade war has caused increasing political ructions, with Canada’s looming general election on April 28 set to be dominated by how to deal with Trump, who has also called for the US to annex Canada, infuriating its northern neighbour.
‘We have the power to push back’
The tensions have gone beyond North America. The EU, which Trump has accused of trying to “scr**” the US, said on Tuesday that it still hoped to negotiate a solution – but that “all instruments are on the table” to retaliate if necessary.
“We have the largest single market in the world, we have the strength to negotiate, we have the power to push back,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.
“And the people of Europe should know that together we will always promote and defend our interests and our values, and together we will always stand up for our Europe.”
For his part, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Trump on “productive negotiations” towards a UK-US trade deal.
Vietnam said on Tuesday that it would slash duties on a range of goods to head off Trump’s tariffs.
The US president’s advisers have pitched imposing a 20 percent global tariff to hit almost all US trading partners, the Wall Street Journal reported, while the White House suggested Monday they might be “country specific”.
Trump, who began his second term in office in January, claimed the tariffs will drive the “rebirth” of the US as a manufacturing giant and stop it from being “ripped off”.
Volatile markets
Wall Street dipped on Tuesday, but European and Asian stock markets rose as investors waited nervously for the announcement. Safe-haven gold touched a fresh record high.
US stocks on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes have now had what is their worst quarter since 2022. US manufacturing shrunk again in March amid the uncertainty.
Trump’s threatened tariffs have prompted other targets to gird themselves. China, South Korea and Japan formed a rare alliance at the weekend, agreeing to strengthen free trade between themselves.
Trump has already imposed a range of tariffs on key economic rivals since returning to the White House.
Last week, he announced a 25 percent tariff on all auto imports, while a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminium from around the world came into effect in mid-March.
China was hit in March by additional 20 percent tariffs on all goods, triggering retaliatory duties from Beijing. The EU has unveiled is own measures to start in mid-April.
Trump has, however, delayed tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico.
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