President Donald Trump will roll out his biggest trade policy yet, reciprocal tariffs, next Wednesday, with a date marked as “Liberation Day” for American trade. However, the implementation of these levies has been delayed several times, and there is still confusion about what countries and goods will be included.
Trump initially described the tariffs as the “BIG ONE,” but pushed back their implementation to April 1. He later changed the date again to April 2, citing his desire not to coincide with April Fool’s Day. The president has indicated that he wants to upend the global trade status quo and directly match the equivalent tariff placed on American goods in a given country.
However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has stated that the biggest development coming April 2 will be the White House sending a “number” representing tariffs to all trade partners. This suggests that the exact details of the levies are still being finalized.
Some experts believe that Trump’s administration may be taking a two-phased approach to reciprocal tariffs, with formal probes into trade partners potentially leading to further sanctions. A report in the Financial Times suggests that U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer supports initiating these probes before slapping additional tariffs.
The potential impact of the reciprocal tariffs is significant, with some experts estimating that 2.5 million individual tariff rates would be required. However, this number may make it difficult for the Trump administration to implement such a policy by next week.
Despite concerns about the tariffs’ severity, investors are reacting positively to the news, with stocks surging on Monday in anticipation of less severe measures than previously thought. Shares of companies that could be affected by the tariffs, including Tesla and Nvidia, led the rally.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2025/03/25/trump-says-he-may-give-a-lot-of-tariff-breaks-heres-what-to-know-about-liberation-day-as-reciprocal-tariffs-loom