In Donald Trump‘s telling, April 2 will mark “Liberation Day” for America — the day his sweeping tariffs will free the United States from lopsided trade deals that have hurt American workers by sending jobs overseas. But the nickname could just as easily refer to our collective liberation from the interminable waiting game the Trump administration has been playing for months, which has, to quote one financial strategist who spoke with CNBC, “been driving the market insane.”
The president plans to celebrate in a Rose Garden press conference on Wednesday. But “Liberation Day” is, by and large, not being received as a cause for celebration—not even by the people Trump has argued will benefit most from the tariffs. In a note to workers Monday, Ford CEO Jim Farley said that while he supports the president’s vision, “the impacts of the tariffs are likely to be significant across our industry.”
According to Reuters, other auto industry groups, including the Detroit Regional Chamber and MichAuto, have warned that the tariffs could “cause significant disruption throughout the supply chain and, perhaps most importantly, lead to significant price increases to the cost to American consumers for vehicles.”
Over the weekend, Trump implied on Meet the Press that prices would only rise on foreign vehicles. “I couldn’t care less. I hope they raise their prices. Because if they do, people are gonna buy American-made cars. We have plenty,” he said. Of course, that calculus ignores the fact that American-made cars rely heavily on foreign-made parts.
The tariffs announced Wednesday, which could reportedly impact trillions of dollars of imports, will be in addition to the ones the Trump administration has already announced, including a 25% tariff on imported vehicles, a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum, a 20% tariff on goods from China and another 25% tariff on items from Canada and Mexico.
Given the sweeping nature of what the Trump administration has floated and its unavoidable effect on consumers, it’s not surprising that a recent poll showed a whopping 60% of Americans disapprove of the way Trump has handled trade negotiations. The man may be a branding genius, but we’re not sure this one’s going to catch on.
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