Washington, April 1: US President Donald Trump has declared that the United States will impose tariffs on all countries starting on April 2, calling it “Liberation Day.” The announcement, made aboard Air Force One, marks a shift from previous expectations that tariffs would be applied only to nations with significant trade imbalances or those levying high import duties on US goods. Instead, Trump made it clear that no countries would be exempt from the tariffs.
Tariffs on All Nations
While Washington had previously discussed reciprocal tariffs on nations that impose duties on US imports, Trump stated that the tariffs would apply to every country. He told reporters aboard the presidential aircraft:
“We would start with all countries, so let’s see what happens.”
Trump rejected rumors that only 10-15 countries would be affected by the tariffs, stating that “we’ve been talking about all countries—no cutoffs.” This contradicts earlier statements by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who had referred to a group of countries as the “Dirty 15” due to their trade practices.
A ‘Generous’ Approach to Tariffs
In his remarks, Trump also emphasized that the tariffs would be “more generous” and “kinder” than the treatment the US had received from other nations. He remarked:
“They ripped us off for decades, but we will be much nicer to them than they were to us.”
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