The White House has confirmed that US President Donald Trump will impose new tariffs this week, but it provided no details about the size and scope of the measures that have raised concerns over an intensifying global trade war, Al Jazeera reported.
Trump kept rivals and allies alike guessing about who would be targeted and by how much, but promised to be “very kind” when announcing tariffs on Wednesday, which he has dubbed “Liberation Day”. In recent weeks, he has made several tariff announcements, then quickly changed tack on them.
Global stocks remained volatile ahead of the so-called “reciprocal tariffs“, which Trump says are necessary to combat unfair trade imbalances with countries that target the United States.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that Trump’s tariffs will take effect immediately after he unveils them on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera.
The Republican leader, an advocate of tariffs for decades, said on Monday night that he had “settled” on a plan, but refused to reveal its specifics.
Trump only said that the tariffs would be lower than what other countries would be charging the US, adding that “we sort of have a world obligation, perhaps”.
“We’re going to be very nice, relatively speaking, we are going to be very kind,” he said.
Trump's 'Liberation Day' sends stock markets tumbling
On Tuesday, Trump urged his fellow Republicans in the US Senate to vote against a measure to revoke his tariff policy against Canada, which he tied to a fentanyl “emergency”.
“Republicans in the Senate MUST vote to keep the National Emergency in place,” Trump wrote in a post on his private social media platform, said the Doha-based news channel.
Trump is set to hold a press conference, dubbed “Make America Wealthy Again”, at the White House at 4pm local time (20:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
Republicans have a majority in the Senate, but Tim Kaine – the Democrat who introduced the proposed legislation – suggested that the bill has a chance of passing.
“There’s still a lot of discussions under way and a lot of votes that are still in play,” Kaine told reporters. “Often in the Senate, everything is pretty predictable. This is one where it’s not particularly predictable.”
Kaine also pushed back against Trump’s claim that the flow of the drug fentanyl from Canada requires an emergency declaration, according to the Qatari media outlet.
According to US government data, only 19.5kg (43 pounds) of fentanyl was seized at the Canadian border last year, compared to 9,933kg (21,900 pounds) at the border with Mexico.
Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington DC, said the entire global economy could be hit with what experts are calling a potentially huge trade war.
Jordan noted that Trump has said that he is aiming to restore US manufacturing, which plunged in the age of globalisation, with free trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) moving many industries to Mexico and Canada, Al Jazeera reported.
“Eventually, much of that offshore manufacturing went to China, and to Southeast Asia and India,” Jordan added.
“Now whether the US is going to go ahead with the 25 percent tariffs that have been promised against Canada, Mexico, and Europe, including the United Kingdom, remains to be seen.”
Trump’s strategy risks provoking a chain reaction of retaliation by major trading partners like China, Canada and the European Union.
America’s neighbours Canada and Mexico were already gearing up, but grappled with uncertainty, said Al Jazeera in its reports.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that there will be no “eye for an eye” approach as the country braces for new US import tariffs kicking in this week.
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney had promised tariffs against US products that would have “maximum impact in the US” and minimal effects on Canadians.
On Tuesday, Carney’s office said he had a call with Sheinbaum to discuss the “importance of building upon the strong trading and investment relationship between [their] two countries”.
If enacted, the tariffs would deal a hefty economic blow to both nations, which are both in a free trade agreement with the US, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – an amended version of NAFTA negotiated by Trump himself in 2020, said Al Jazeera.
