Donald Trump is planning to ramp up his ill-advised tariffs and place them on “trillions” of dollars in imports.
The Washington Post reports that most U.S. imports will get hit with the new fees on April 2, on a day Trump is calling “Liberation Day.” The news is causing shock waves among congressional Republicans and economists. Even White House officials are concerned, with discussions taking place involving Vice President JD Vance, aide Peter Navarro, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“We don’t know exactly what they’re going to do, but from what they’re saying, it sounds functionally like new tariffs on all U.S. imports,” Joseph Politano, an economic policy analyst, told the Post.
The past few weeks of tariffs have upended the U.S. economy, hurting businesses and sending the stock market plunging. This new round of tariffs “seriously could make all of that look like a tempest in a teapot,” Politano said.
“It’s a liberation day for our country because we’re going to be getting back a lot of the wealth that we so foolishly gave up to other countries, including friend and foe,” Trump said on Monday.
Trump has pressed ahead with his tariffs despite criticism from the right, including his normal cheering section at Fox News. The network’s Maria Bartiromo snapped at Bessent in an interview on Tuesday, pointing out how businesses are upset with Trump’s economic decisions. Even Republican Senator Rand Paul has been trying to rally the rest of his party to come out against the tariffs. But none of that seems to be convincing the president, which means the worst is still yet to come for America’s economy.
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