The White House confirmed that US President Donald Trump will impose new tariffs this week, but did not provide details on the scale and scope of the measures that raised concerns about the escalation of the global trade war.
Trump has speculated who will be targeted and how many will be targeted, but promised to be “very kind” when announcing tariffs on Wednesday. Over the past few weeks, he made several tariff announcements and changed his tucks shortly afterwards.
Global stocks say they are necessary to combat unfair trade imbalances ahead of the so-called “mutual tariffs.”
White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Trump’s tariffs will take effect shortly after they announced them on Wednesday.
Republican leaders, who have been a tariff advocate for decades, said Monday night that he “settles” the plan but refused to reveal details.
Trump just says tariffs are lower than what other countries charge the US, adding that “probably has a global obligation.”
“We’ll be very kind. If we’re relatively speaking, we’ll be very kind,” he said.
Trump is scheduled to hold a press conference called “Make America Wellingy” at the White House on Wednesday at 4pm (20:00 GMT).
On Tuesday, Trump urged fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate to vote against measures to rescind customs policies against Canada.
“Senate Republicans must vote to maintain a national emergency,” Trump wrote in a post on his private social media platform.
Republicans have a majority in the Senate, but Tim Kane, a Democrat who introduced the proposed law, suggested that the bill could be passed.
“There’s still a lot of debate and there’s still a lot of votes,” Kane told reporters. “In many cases, in the Senate, everything is pretty predictable, which is not particularly predictable.”
Kane also opposed Trump’s claim that the drug fentanyl flow from Canada requires an urgent declaration.
According to US government data, only 19.5kg (43lbs) were seized at the Canadian border last year, compared to 9,933kg (21,900lbs).
The coming war
Reported from Washington, D.C., Al Jazeera’s Rossilland Jordan said the entire global economy could clash with what experts are potentially calling a huge trade war.
Jordan said Trump aims to restore US manufacturing, which had plummeted during the era of globalization.
“In the end, much of its offshore manufacturing was sent to China, Southeast Asia and India,” Jordan added.
“We don’t see whether the US is now trying to advance the 25% tariffs it has promised on Europe, including Canada, Mexico and the UK.”
Trump’s strategy risks causing a chain reaction of retaliation by major trading partners such as China, Canada and the European Union.
American neighbours Canada and Mexico are already ready, but they are tackling uncertainty.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday that there would be no “eye-eye” approach as he is writing this week’s new US import tariff country.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has committed tariffs on products that have “the biggest impact on the US,” minimizing the impact on Canadians.
On Tuesday, Kearney’s office said there was a call with Shainbaum to discuss the importance of strong trading and the foundation of investment relationships. [their] “Ryogo.”
If enacted, tariffs will hit both countries heavily economically to both the USMCA, a free trade agreement with the United States, an amended version of the NAFTA negotiated by Trump himself in 2020.
The threat of a trade war caused an increase in political barrage as Canada’s looming general election on April 28 was set to dominate how it would also deal with Trump, who had infuriated his north neighbours and called on the US to annex Canada.
“We have the power to push back.”
Tensions exceed North America. The EU, which accused Trump of trying to “scrib**” the US, said on Tuesday that “all instruments are on the table” in order to retaliate if necessary, although they hoped to negotiate a solution.
“We have the largest single market in the world. We have the power to negotiate and we have the power to push back,” said Ursula von der Reyen of the European Commission on Tuesday.
“And Europeans should know that together we will promote and defend our interests and our values at all times.
On his side, British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer spoke with Trump about “productive negotiations” towards the UK trade deal.
Vietnam said Tuesday it would cut its mandatory for various goods to avoid Trump’s tariffs.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the US president’s advisers had imposed a 20% global tariff, hitting almost all U.S. trading partners, but the White House suggested on Monday it could be “country-specific.”
Trump, who began his second term in office in January, claimed that tariffs would promote the US “revitalization” as a manufacturing giant, and that it would stop it from being “broken.”
Unstable market
Wall Street was mixed on Tuesday, with Dow Jones Industrial Arage dipping 0.03%, while the Benchmark S&P 500 and the High-Tech Heavy Nus Daq Composite rising 0.38% and 0.87%, respectively.
Stock markets in Europe and Asia have risen earlier as investors were nervously waiting for the announcement. Safe Haven Gold touched on fresh records.
US stocks in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Index have earned their worst quarter since 2022. Amidst uncertainty, US manufacturing has shrunk again.
Trump’s threatened tariffs urged other targets to protect themselves. China, South Korea and Japan have formed rare alliances over the weekend, agreeing to strengthen their own free trade.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has already imposed various tariffs on his major economic rivals.
Last week he announced a 25% tariff on all automobile imports, but in mid-March, a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum worldwide came into effect.
China was hit by a 20% tariff on all goods in March, causing a retaliation obligation from Beijing. The EU has announced that it is its own measure to begin in mid-April.
However, Trump has delayed tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico.
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