President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs will take immediate effect after they are announced Wednesday, his top spokeswoman said.
“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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday.
Trump on Apr. 2 plans to roll out tariffs on global trading partners during an event planned for 4 p.m. in the White House Rose Garden, the centrepiece of his effort to bring back manufacturing to the US and reshape a world trade system he has long decried as unfair.
Leavitt provided few clues about the size and scope of the levies, but said Trump would be willing to listen to foreign governments and corporate leaders who ask for lower rates. She said many nations had already contacted the administration about the president’s plans.
“Certainly, the president is always up to take a phone call, always up for a good negotiation, but he is very much focussed on fixing the wrongs of the past and showing that American workers have a fair shake,” she said.
The spokeswoman also downplayed market volatility ahead of the announcement. Investor fears that tariffs could drive up consumer prices have driven a weeks-long US stock selloff.
“Like they were in his first term, Wall Street will be just fine,” Leavitt said.
Asked about the notion that White House advisers could misjudge the effect of the tariffs and ultimately hurt the US economy, Leavitt dismissed the possibility.
“They’re not going to be wrong,” she said. “It is going to work, and the president has a brilliant team of advisers who have been studying these issues for decades, and we are focussed on restoring the golden age of America and making America a manufacturing superpower.”
By Catherine Lucey
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