President Donald Trump’s plan for reciprocal tariffs on April 2 are expected to be more focused and more than what the president promised in the past, but the plan is still discussing, sources told Abc News.
However, the fresh circle of obligations will still mark a significant escalation for the US and its trading partners. In February, Trump ordered federal agencies to look at almost every trading partner in the United States in assessing what reciprocal tariff rate to put them.
“April 2 is the day of Liberation in America !!!” Trump wrote the truth Social. “For decades, we have been torn apart and abused by every nation in the world, both a friend and an enemy. Now it is finally time for the good OL ‘US to receive some of this money and to respect, back. God bless America !!!”
Trump’s employees have signaled a more rated tone in recent interviews.
“One of the things we see from the markets is that they expect … These really big tariffs for every country,” says Kevin Khasece, director of Trump’s National Economic Council, Fox News. “I think markets have to change their expectations because not everyone cheats us with trade, it’s just a few countries and these countries will see some rates.”
The administration is focused on trading partners who have major trade imbalances with the US, sources say.
“This is 15% of the countries, but this is a huge sum of our trade volume,” said US Secretary of Finance, Scott Bensten last week.
Last year, according to the federal census, the United States had the largest commercial deficit with China, the EU, Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Canada, India, Thailand, Switzerland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and South Africa.
Early Bloomberg reports changed tariff plans. The Trump Administration is likely to abandon the sector -specific car tariffs, pharmaceutical products and semiconductors, which were also scheduled for April 2, The Wall Street Journal reported.
US stocks jumped on the news on Monday for more tariff plans. Dow Jones’s industrial average rises nearly 500 points, or 1.2%while S& P 500 jumped 1.5%. Technologically heavy NASDAQ increased by more than 2%.
President Donald Trump watches during a cabinet meeting in the White House cabinet, March 24, 2025 in Washington.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
In recent weeks, Trump’s tariffs have erupted markets, ramming recession concerns and increased concerns about inflation. In short, Trump has stopped or turned some tariffs, questioning his plans and adding to uncertainty, experts told ABC News earlier.
The Trump administration earlier this month hit 25% rates for goods from Mexico and Canada, although the White House soon required a one-month delay for some of these tariffs. A fresh circle of obligations for Chinese goods doubled the original set of tariffs set on China a month before.
Tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum on March 12 have caused retributed tariffs from Canada and the European Union, adding oppositions that have already been initiated by China.
Economists are widely expected to increase inflation, as exporters usually pass together with consumers in the form of price increases.
Federal Reserve President Jerome Powell said last week said Trump’s tariffs were partly to blame for raising prices, leveling criticism minutes after the central bank announced its decision to maintain stable interest rates.
Even when the Fed left its main political lever unchanged, the central bank predicts less economic growth at the end of the year and higher inflation than during the December forecast.
ABC News Max Zan has contributed to this report.
