Here’s What To Know About ‘Liberation Day’—From Announcement Time To What Trump May Target

President Donald Trump gestures while speaking in the Oval Office on Monday.

 In just a few hours, President Donald Trump will roll out what seems his biggest trade policy yet, reciprocal tariffs, naming Wednesday as “Liberation Day” for American trade—though he’s sowed confusion on what countries and goods will be included, and how severe the action will be.

Key Facts

“IT’S LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA!,” Trump wrote in a 7:06 a.m. EDT post to his Truth Social site, referring what he previously described as the “BIG ONE,” reciprocal tariffs.

Trump told reporters Monday he’s “settled” on what he’ll announce, apparently coming to a conclusion after a dizzying, weeks long saga in which the president waffled between calling his actions “very kind” and “punitive.”

Trump administration officials have developed a framework to implement a blanket 20% tariff rate on a majority of imports, the Washington Post reported Tuesday morning, citing three anonymous sources.

But the White House has not determined whether a universal rate or a country-by-country approach will be announced this afternoon, according to Bloomberg, citing unnamed people familiar with the policy discussions.

After heavily teasing reciprocal tariffs in February, Trump pushed back the implementation of those levies to at least April 1, the date he ordered the Commerce and Treasury departments to complete studies on what the policies may look like in practice.

Trump said to reporters March 21 he shifted the “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariff date from April 1 to April 2 because he “didn't want [it] to be April Fool's Day because then nobody would believe what I said.”

What Time Does Trump Announce Tariffs?

Trump will unveil his “Liberation Day” master plan at the White House Rose Garden Wednesday at a 4 p.m. event titled “Make America Wealthy Again.” He will announce a “country-based...tariff plan that will roll back the unfair trade practices that have been ripping off our country for decades,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday.

Stocks Slide On Liberation Day Jitters

Futures for all three major U.S. stock indexes slid Wednesday morning, led by the S&P 500 benchmark and the Nasdaq tech-heavy measure’s roughly 1% slides. Stocks have tanked as Trump has reshaped trade policy, and the S&P and the Nasdaq ended Tuesday trading 9% and 13% below their records set earlier this year, respectively.

How Do Tariffs Impact Stocks?

The comprehensive tariffs likely to be announced Wednesday weigh on company valuations as higher import costs eat into corporate profit margins, while the significant uncertainty associated with Trump’s tariff waffling damages consumer confidence, potentially causing Americans to spend less, hurting companies’ revenues.

Europe Says It Can Strike Back

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Union’s European Commission, warned Tuesday the bloc is prepared to respond swiftly to Trump’s to-be-announced tariffs. “We do not necessarily want to retaliate but, if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it,” said von der Leyen. Last year, the U.S. imported $606 billion worth of EU goods and exported $370 billion worth of goods to the bloc, according to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

What Will Trump’s ‘liberation Day’ Plan Include?

Trump muddied the waters in earlier this month when he said there will be “flexibility” on his tariffs, while The Wall Street Journal reported Trump won’t announce April 2 actions on hot-button sectors like semiconductor chips and cars as he’s previously indicated. Trump said in a March 25 interview with Newsmax he’ll “probably be more lenient than reciprocal, because if I was reciprocal, that would be very tough for people,” adding there will be “some exceptions.” April 2 is also the date when exemptions on goods from Trump’s 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, the U.S.’ biggest trade partners, are due to expire.

But Trump Administration Has Teased Less Harsh Tariffs

Though Trump insists he desires to upend the global trade status quo and directly match the equivalent tariff placed on American goods in a given country—“we’ve been ripped off by every country in the world, friend and foe,” Trump said this month—his top economic official, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, indicated last week the biggest development coming April 2 will be the White House will send a “number that we believe that represents their tariffs” to all trade partners. Trump’s waffling on reciprocal tariffs may be a result of his administration seeking strong legal footing for such expansive actions and take a two-phased approach, suggested a report in the Financial Times. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer supports initiating formal probes into trade partners, a process which could last up to six months, before slapping further tariffs, according to the publication. Trump could announce tariffs on car imports April 2, multiple sources told the Financial Times. Further watering down Trump’s Liberation Day plans, a White House official told CNBC that Trump may not factor into non-tariff barriers, indirect levies like value-added taxes which make U.S. goods even more expensive abroad, into his reciprocal tariffs.

News Peg

In a March 24 appearance at the White House, Trump called April 2 a “big day,” but expressed further flexibility in his tariff plans. The president said he “may give a lot of countries breaks” and his plans are “reciprocal, but we may be even nicer than that,” signaling the U.S. may not even match the tariff rates American goods face abroad.

Big Number

2.5 million. That’s how many individual tariff rates would be required in a good-by-good, country-by-country reciprocal tariff plan, UBS economists led by Jonathan Pingle wrote in a note to clients, making it appear unlikely at this point the Trump administration will be able to turn around such a policy by next week.

Crucial Quote

“Presumably something is going to happen,” but “the hard part is trying to figure out what precisely that might be,” shrugged the UBS economists.

Key Background

Tesla is among the U.S.-based multinational firms to caution the Trump administration against the adverse effects of new tariffs in slowing the business of American firms abroad, opposition which was particularly notable considering Musk’s role as perhaps the most powerful person in the White House other than Trump. Though reciprocal tariffs have the potential to be the most impactful import tax, Trump has already enacted several tariffs, including a 25% levy on steel and aluminum and an additional 20% duty on Chinese goods. Perhaps the most significant fallout of the tariffs is inflation, as economists largely agree importers will pass on the levies to consumers via higher prices, at least in the near term.