- Trump’s new tariffs will take effect immediately after Wednesday’s announcement.
- The plan remains vague, but Trump says it will target “all countries” with reciprocal trade barriers.
- Additional auto tariffs are set to begin Thursday as part of Trump’s broader trade agenda.
It’s official—President Donald Trump’s new tariffs are set to go live immediately after he announces them on Wednesday, according to the White House.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday that the long-hyped trade move will be rolled out “tomorrow,” and yes, the new levies will be effective right away.
“The president has been teasing this for quite some time,” Leavitt said, pointing to Trump’s repeated references to April 2 as “liberation day.”
He’s previously called the new tariffs “the big one,” hinting they’ll apply broadly—not just to a few countries with high duties on U.S. goods, but possibly everyone.
“Start with all countries,” Trump said last week. Whatever that means exactly, we’re about to find out.
Still… A Lot We Don’t Know
While the timing is clear, the details? not so much. It’s still uncertain how the tariffs will be calculated, how severe they’ll be, or exactly who’s going to get hit hardest.
Leavitt kept things vague, saying only that Trump “made a decision” on the levels Monday night.
“He’s with his trade and tariff team now, perfecting it,” she added. “Making sure it’s the perfect deal for the American people and the American worker.”
We’re expecting the full reveal during Trump’s scheduled appearance at a “Make America Wealthy Again” event in the White House Rose Garden at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
More Tariffs on Deck—Autos Next
This isn’t Trump’s first foray into import duties since returning to office in January. He’s already hit Canada and Mexico with new tariffs, plus industry-specific ones—like metals, and most recently, automobiles.
The auto tariffs, which Trump called “permanent,” are scheduled to take effect on Thursday. So yeah, this week’s shaping up to be a pretty big one on the trade front.
All that’s left now is to see exactly what “reciprocal” looks like in practice.
