SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — President Trump will reveal his new round of reciprocal tariffs on other countries on Wednesday — which he’s calling “Liberation Day."
While the White House said these latest tariffs will kick in immediately, it’s unclear how large the tariffs will be and which specific countries will be targeted. One option is a 20% tariff on all imports.
In response, U.S. allies are now preparing to react to this escalating trade war.
“We are going to be very deliberate in the measures we take to fight for Canada,” said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. “Fight against these unjustified measures by the U.S. administration.”
Some economists said tariffs can benefit American manufacturers by landing them more business, but Democrats in Washington, D.C., are calling the tariffs a “national sales tax.”
There’s also a concern about the impact they’ll have on prices. Some experts said these tariffs could cost the average U.S. household up to $4,200 more each year.
The keyword here is uncertainty. Since President Trump has taken office, we’ve seen a lot of back-and-forth over tariffs.
Now, we’re waiting to see what the “Liberation Day” announcement will bring.
ABC 10News spoke to UC San Diego economics professor Marc Muendler, and he said this uncertainty will have a big impact because companies are having trouble preparing for what’s to come.
Then, foreign countries will likely retaliate, which could land a one-two punch for American businesses that rely on these imports.
Ultimately, these price hikes will be passed on to consumers.
Muendler said tariffs on things like cars will lead to Americans buying fewer of them. So even if consumers lean more towards American brands, all car manufacturers could take a hit in sales.
And prices could go up for all cars, whether they were made in the U.S. or not.
“Tariff protection will raise car prices for foreign-made cars more strongly than the U.S. car prices will go up,” said Muendler. “You shouldn’t forget when U.S. carmakers face less foreign competition, they have less of a reason to price competitively.”
The tariff announcement is expected on Wednesday afternoon.
