Trump announces 10% baseline tariffs, with more for “worst offenders”

Several European leaders reacted negatively to President Trump’s tariff announcement. 

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on social media that she felt the tariffs were misguided and would not help either the U.S. or Italy. 

“We will do everything we can to work towards an agreement with the United States, with the aim of avoiding a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favor of other global players. In any case, as always, we will act in the interest of Italy and its economy, also by discussing with other European partners,” she wrote.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on social media wrote, We don’t want growing trade barriers. We don’t want a trade war … We want to find our way back to a path of trade and cooperation together with the US, so that people in our countries can enjoy a better life.”

Manfred Weber, president of The European People’s Party Group, the largest party in the European Union, said on social media: “Today isn’t liberation day—it’s resentment day. Donald Trump’s tariffs don’t defend fair trade they attack it out of fear and hurt both sides of the Atlantic. Europe stands united, ready to defend its interests, and open to fair, firm talks.”

President Trump announced a 10% tariff Wednesday on all countries and additional reciprocal tariffs on the “worst offenders.” The baseline tariffs go into effect on Saturday, April 5, and the reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday, April 9. Mr. Trump declared a national emergency due to the trade deficit, saying it “threatens our security and our very way of life.”

CBS News’ Weijia Jiang, Kelly O’Grady, Jo Ling Kent and Margaret Brennan break down the president’s announcement and its likely impact.

Free trade advocates blasted the Trump administration after it unveiled a 10% tariff on all U.S. imports from foreign countries and reciprocal tariffs on more than 60 countries. 

Trade experts Colin Grabow and Scott Lincicome of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said in a statement that the White House’s barrage of new tariffs will raise prices for U.S. consumers, dent business investment, dampen broader economic growth and expose American manufacturers to retaliatory trade measures from other countries. 

“The tariffs’ only clear beneficiaries, meanwhile, will be corporate cronies, K Street influence peddlers and American adversaries who profit from the United States’ tarnished international reputation,” Grabow and Lincicome said. 

The Cato analysts’ warning aligns with the view of most mainstream economists, who emphasize that tariffs are paid by U.S. importers and that businesses typically pass along many of those costs to consumers. 

After a nearly hourlong speech, Mr. Trump signed two executive orders enacting the reciprocal tariffs and another closing a U.S. loophole that allows duty-free shipments of Chinese goods worth less than $800. 

President Trump on Wednesday announced so-called reciprocal tariffs on roughly 60 countries, along with a baseline 10% universal levy on all U.S. trading partners. 

A reciprocal tariff is a tax on U.S. imports that matches the duties that other countries charge on American exports. 

In this case, the Trump administration said it will impose reciprocal tariffs at roughly half the rate of duties charged by other nations, a move economists said suggest a willingness by Trump officials to thrash out new trade terms.

A key question moving forward is how long the White House intends to leave the reciprocal and new baseline tariff in place. 

“[T]he point to emphasize is that if the purpose of the reciprocal tariffs is to bring countries to the negotiating table, then these tariffs could plausibly have a relatively short lifespan — compared to product-specific or any other blanket tariffs — in cases where trade partners are willing to negotiate,” Simon MacAdam, deputy chief global economist with Capital Economics, said in a recent note to investors.

The president announced a baseline tariff of 10% on all countries. Mr. Trump said the tariffs would help “rebuild our economy and to prevent cheating.” 

The baseline tariffs take effect on April 5. 

Mr. Trump, listing off a long list of what he considers trade imbalances, said he would soon sign an executive order to institute reciprocal tariffs “on countries throughout the world.” 

“Reciprocal. That means they do it to us and we do it to them,” he said. 

The president brought out a large chart labeled “reciprocal tariffs” that appeared to show the tariffs other countries impose on the U.S. and what the U.S. plans to institute on those countries. 

Mr. Trump said China would be hit with a 34% reciprocal tariff, the European Union 20%, Vietnam 46%, Taiwan 32%, Japan 24%, India 26% and South Korea 25%. The chart showed Cambodia facing the highest reciprocal tariff, at 49%, followed by Laos at 48% and Madagascar at 47%. 

The reciprocal tariffs will take effect on April 9. 

“The United States can no longer produce enough antibiotics to treat our sick. We have a tremendous problem. We have to go to foreign countries to treat our sick. If anything ever happened, from a war standpoint, we wouldn’t be able to do it. We import virtually all of our computers, phones, televisions and electronics. We used to dominate the field, and now we import it all from different countries,” Mr. Trump said. 

“Trade deficits are no longer merely an economic problem. They are a national emergency that threatens our security and our very way of life. It’s a very great threat to our country,” he continued. “For these reasons, starting tomorrow, the United States will implement reciprocal tariffs on other nations.” 

Mr. Trump opened his remarks declaring, “This is Liberation Day.” 

He said April 2, 2025, “will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed and the day that we began to make America wealthy again.” 

Mr. Trump exuded confidence about dialing up tariffs despite warnings from economists that they will increase prices on American consumers who have already been hit hard by inflation. 

President Trump has repeatedly referred to the tariffs he is set to announce on April 2 as “Liberation Day.” But liberation from what? First and foremost, Mr. Trump wants to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign goods.

More broadly, and going back to his first term in the White House, Mr. Trump has long sought to reshape the global trade system. Underlying that goal is his view that other countries’ trade policies, along with treaties such as the 1992 North American Free Trade Agreement and 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada agreement, harm American manufacturers and workers. 

Trump administration officials say that tariffs will spur both foreign and domestic companies to expand in the U.S.; lead to more balanced trade with economic allies; reduce the U.S. trade deficit with other countries; and generate federal revenue that can be used for other priorities.

“I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families,” Mr. Trump said in his Jan. 20 inaugural address. “Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.”

Rank-and-file steelworkers and autoworkers are expected to be in the Rose Garden audience for Mr. Trump’s announcement, as are most of Mr. Trump’s Cabinet, including Vice President JD Vance, two White House officials told CBS News. No CEOs are expected.

Some members of Congress were also invited, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Republican Sens. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Bernie Moreno of Ohio.

— Sara Cook, Jennifer Jacobs

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week that the president’s plan will place reciprocal tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners, and that the reciprocal tariffs will go into effect “immediately.”  

The president hasn’t said what the tariff rates on foreign goods will be, and whether they will be global or affect products from specific countries. Leavitt said Tuesday that Mr. Trump was still finalizing the plan details with his trade team.

The president’s new tariffs will bring back manufacturing jobs, Leavitt said, as well as “improve American competitiveness in every area of industry, reduce our massive trade deficits, and ultimately protect our economic and national security.”

Stocks hovered in positive terrain shortly before the close of trading as investors awaited word from President Trump on Wednesday afternoon about new matching tariffs the U.S. is expected to deploy against its trading partners. 

Financial markets have retreated this year amid mounting concerns that Mr. Trump’s economic policies could jar spending by American consumers and businesses, hurting economic growth.

The S&P 500 rose a modest 14 points, or 0.2%, to 5,6476, in afternoon trading, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively.

For investors, according to Wall Street analysts, key questions regarding the levies the U.S. is expected to unveil on Wednesday — known as “reciprocal” tariffs — include which countries and products will be targeted; what the tariff rates will be; and how long the levies might remain in place.

Mr. Trump announced last week that vehicles and auto parts imported into the U.S. will be subject to a 25% tariff rate.

The auto tariffs are expected to go into effect at midnight, just hours after the latest round of tariff announcements by the president Wednesday afternoon. 

The levies will lead to higher costs for auto manufacturers, and those costs are expected to trickle down to consumers. Some automakers have already announced higher car prices.

—By Megan Cerullo, Sarah Lynch Baldwin

All car manufacturers will be impacted by the new tariffs, according to analysts, but some will be hit much harder than others. 

General Motors is expected to be the most exposed to auto tariffs because it makes just 45% of the vehicles it sells to U.S. customers domestically, whereas Ford is expected to be better positioned to weather the tariffs given 80% of its vehicles are manufactured in the U.S.  

See a breakdown of which cars may be most impacted here.

Most Americans say Mr. Trump has focused too much on tariffs — which they believe will end up raising prices — and not enough on lowering prices, our latest CBS News poll found. 

—By Anthony Salvanto, Jennifer De Pinto, Kabir Khanna, Fred Backus

During the first three months of 2025, the S&P 500 lost 4.6%, marking the worst quarter in two-and-a-half years. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite ended the first three months of the year with a 10.4% decline, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 2.2% over the same period. 

Investors are anxious over a potentially toxic mix of worsening inflation and a slowing U.S. economy because households are afraid to spend due to a deepening trade war escalated by Mr. Trump.

Read more here.

The president of the United Auto Workers Union has praised Mr. Trump’s move to impose tariffs on vehicles and auto parts imported into the U.S., while also noting that “tariffs aren’t the total solution.”

“Tariffs are a tool in the toolbox to get these companies to do the right thing, and the intent behind it is to bring jobs back here, and, you know, invest in the American workers,” Shawn Fain told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett in an interview that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday.

Read more here.

Economists warn that the Trump administration’s fusillade of tariffs on everything from foreign cars and Chinese-made goods to groceries could raise prices for Americans just as inflation is returning to normal. 

Another widely used product that experts say could see higher costs: housing. The National Association of Home Builders recently estimated that U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum and lumber imports could add more than $9,000 to the price of a typical home, while also driving up renovation costs. 

Homebuilders also face headwinds from the White House’s crackdown on immigrants, which could lead to a shortage of labor in the construction sector.

“Trade protectionism will increase prices on key material construction inputs,” Fitch Ratings said in an April 1 report. “Foreign born, non-citizen workers represent an overwhelming share of key specialty construction occupations, and immigration restrictions are likely to raise labor costs.”

President Trump has argued that his tariffs could help the government raise over $1 trillion in the next year or so, helping to reduce the national debt and even potentially offset some income taxes. 

But economists are skeptical that these tariffs can bring in as much as Mr. Trump claims, as consumers will likely reduce their spending on foreign goods when prices go up. 

The president’s trillion-dollar estimates are significantly higher than those provided by think tanks and even some of his own officials.

Read more here.