US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs will take effect immediately after their official announcement at 4 pm Eastern Time today, the White House has confirmed.
“My understanding is that the tariff announcement will come tomorrow. They will be effective immediately, and the president has been teasing this for quite some time,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday.
Leavitt stated that Trump had finalised his decision on the tariff levels but declined to disclose specifics. “I don’t want to get ahead of the President. This is obviously a very big day. He is with his trade and tariff team right now, perfecting it to ensure this is a perfect deal for the American people and the American worker. You will all find out in about 24 hours from now.”
However, a few news sources indicated that Trump’s team was still finalising the size and scope of the tariffs.
Leavitt suggested that Trump remains open to negotiations with other nations, saying, “Certainly, the president is always up to take a phone call, always up for a good negotiation, but he is very much focused on fixing the wrongs of the past and ensuring that American workers get a fair shake.”
Her comments echo Trump’s speech last week, in which he described the reciprocal levies as “very lenient,” noting that, in many cases, they would be “less than the tariff that they’ve been charging us for decades.” On Monday, the White House said that the tariffs would be “country-based” with “no exemptions.”
Trump is also expected to announce a 25% tariff on imported vehicles at the same time today. He stated that all cars “not made in the United States” would be subject to this duty. Bloomberg reported on Monday that several major US automakers are lobbying the administration to exclude low-value parts from the planned tariffs.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen responded to the impending tariffs on Tuesday, stating, “If necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and will use it.” However, she also emphasised the EU’s aim to achieve a “negotiated solution” to avoid an all-out trade war.
Global markets rebound ahead of the tariff announcement
European stock markets began April on a positive note after posting their first monthly decline of the year. The market rally was broad-based, with most sectors finishing higher on Tuesday. The Pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 1.07%, the DAX gained 1.67%, and the CAC 40 climbed 1.1%.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed higher, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged lower. US stock markets have been particularly hit by Trump’s tariff plans, with the S&P 500 entering correction territory in March. Investors fear that the tariffs could lead to higher inflation and slower economic growth.
Some analysts believe that once the tariffs are officially announced, global markets may recover from March’s sell-off, which was largely driven by uncertainty. Tom Lee of Fundstrat Global Advisors told CNBC that the odds of a V-shaped stock market rebound is “extremely high” after 2 April.
However, Michael Brown, a senior research strategist at Pepperstone London, expects the bearish trend to persist. “Despite the intraday rally, I remain bearish on risk for the time being, still favouring a rally-selling strategy,” he wrote in a note.
“I view this more as the beginning than the end of the tariff saga, with countries across the globe now likely to retaliate with tariffs of their own… All of this, naturally, will prolong the current elevated level of uncertainty.”
