President Donald Trump has been talking about it for weeks.
On Wednesday, he made good on the promise, announcing a bevy of new tariffs on imported autos and what he called “reciprocal” tariffs on goods imported to the U.S. The announcement came in a Rose Garden ceremony attended by members of his cabinet, some 20 autoworkers and other dignitaries.
The new tariffs came on what the White House has been labeling “Liberation Day.” Trump and his allies claim the tariffs will boost U.S. manufacturing and punish other countries for what he called “years of unfair trade practices.”
Among the tariffs Trump announced:
- A 25% tariff on all foreign-made cars.
- A 20% tariff on goods from the European Union.
- What he called a “minimum 10% baseline tariff” on nearly all goods coming into the U.S.
- Reciprocal tariffs amounting to roughly half of the tariffs other countries levy for U.S. goods.
It’s a continuing strategy for Trump, who early in this term hit Canada and Mexico with additional tariffs. Trump ended up pausing those twice, but those delays are set to expire Wednesday.
Other countries have already begun to react to the new tariffs.
In a video released Wednesday, new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has been critical of Trump since taking office, said the U.S. president “wants to break us so that America can own us.”
“That will never happen,” Carney said in the video. “And our response to these latest tariffs is to fight, is to protect and to build.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has taken a cautious approach, seeking to mollify Trump. Unlike Canada, she did not slap tariffs on U.S. imports when Trump briefly imposed tariffs on Mexican goods.
Before Trump’s announcement, Mexican President she was waiting until Thursday to respond. Sheinbaum said Mexico would have “a comprehensive program” to counter the new tariffs but suggested that Mexico would not respond with tariffs of its own, the Los Angeles Times reported. “It’s not a matter of ‘if you impose tariffs on me, I impose tariffs on you,’” she said.
