He's speaking now in the Rose Garden. Video below.
President Donald Trump is set to announce his decision on the implementation of an array of new tariffs Wednesday as some of the tariffs he has already announced will take effect. Trump has dubbed Wednesday "Liberation Day" and is planning an event at the White House's Rose Garden to unveil his decision on broader tariffs.
Trump announced tariffs on Mexico and Canada earlier in his administration, but agreed to postpone both following negotiations with the leaders of those countries that led to agreements to bolster border security. Each tariff adds 25% on goods from the respective country. While those tariffs were part of border security negotiations, Trump is expected to unveil broader tariffs to achieve his stated goal of rebalancing American global trade.
On Tuesday, he received reports from the Treasury, Commerce Department, and Office of the Trade Representative on possible tariffs and their potential impacts, though he reportedly has already made up his mind on what to implement. "I've settled, yeah," he told the The Wall Street Journal on Monday.
Ahead of the Rose Garden event, moreover, he unveiled a 25% tariff on auto imports that earned praise from union workers, including from United Auto Workers (UAW) leaders who opposed his candidacy. Trump notably feuded with UAW President Shawn Fain during the election, but Fain had high praise for the commander-in-chief after the auto tariffs.
"We applaud the Trump administration for stepping up to end the free trade disaster that has devastated working-class communities for decades," Fain said. "Ending the race to the bottom in the auto industry starts with fixing our broken trade deals, and the Trump administration has made history with today's actions."
Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs are expected to go much broader, though the details remain unclear as of press time and interested parties are expected to push for limited exemptions all the way to the deadline.
The point of conjecture at present is whether Trump will announce an across-the-board 20% tariff on all foreign imports, with few if any exceptions, or whether he will opt for a more targeted, reciprocal tariff policy of matching each nation's respective rates and negotiating on an individual basis.