Trump says US tariffs to hit 'all countries'

WASHINGTON, APRIL 1: President Donald Trump has lately announced that the tariffs he plans to impose in the coming days will apply to "all countries," not just those with the largest trade imbalances with the United States.

Trump is set to unveil the new tariffs on April 2, calling it a "Liberation Day," during which he will introduce reciprocal levies in response to what his administration deems unfair trade practices.

"You'd start with all countries, so let's see what happens," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, disappointing hopes that the tariffs might be limited to a smaller group of countries with persistent trade imbalances.

When asked which nations would be affected, Trump said, "Essentially all of the countries that we're talking about. We've been talking about all countries, not a cutoff."

The tariffs were expected to target countries with persistent trade imbalances with the United States, a group Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had referred to as the "Dirty 15." However, Trump expanded the target, insisting the tariffs would be more "generous" than those imposed on the U.S. by other countries.

"The tariffs will be far more generous than those countries were to us... They ripped us off like no country has ever been ripped off in history, and we're going to be much nicer than they were to us," he said.

Trump has already imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and additional levies on imports from China, with tariffs on imported autos set to take effect on April 3.

Trump's top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, stated the auto tariffs could generate $100 billion annually, while other tariffs could raise $600 billion annually, totaling about $6 trillion over a 10-year period.

While the tariffs are intended to raise government revenue and boost U.S. industry, they risk sparking a global trade war, with other countries vowing retaliation and economists warning of potential inflation and economic downturn.

AFP