Trump unveils sweeping global tariffs, roiling markets
The president announced broad new import taxes on goods from around the world, triggering turmoil in financial markets and fears of a trade war.
President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on imports from around the world on Wednesday, unveiling a plan that imposed a baseline tax on virtually all foreign goods and steeper levies on dozens of countries, in one of the most dramatic shifts in US trade policy in generations.
Speaking at the White House in an event he billed as "Liberation Day", Trump framed the tariffs as a response to what he called decades of unfair treatment of the United States by its trading partners, and as a tool to revive American manufacturing and raise revenue. The measures went far beyond what many economists and businesses had anticipated.
Financial markets reacted with alarm. Stock indices fell sharply in the days that followed as investors worried about higher prices, disrupted supply chains and the risk of retaliation from major trading partners, several of which announced countermeasures. Economists warned that the tariffs amounted to a large tax increase that could stoke inflation and slow growth.
The announcement set off a period of intense uncertainty, with businesses scrambling to assess the impact and governments seeking negotiations. In the weeks that followed, the administration adjusted some of the measures, pausing or modifying certain tariffs even as it pressed ahead with others.
The policy marked a decisive break with the free-trade consensus that had guided US policy for decades, and set the stage for a prolonged reordering of global commerce whose consequences would unfold over the months ahead.