The News
US President Donald Trump will lay out his plans for dramatically reshaping US trade policy on Wednesday — and he’s facing backlash at home and abroad.
The “Liberation Day” levies, which the White House says will take effect immediately after they are announced today, will strain US relations with its closest allies and largest trading partners. The European Union, for instance, is planning retaliatory measures, for which it has support from the European public.
The tariffs will put Trump on difficult footing with US businesses and with Wall Street, though the White House at least yielded to investors’ pleas that he hold the announcement after markets close. Trump is slated to lay out the tariffs at a White House Rose Garden event at 4 p.m. ET.
The administration, though, maintains they’re having a desired effect: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent privately told House Republicans on Tuesday that officials are already getting a “positive response” from countries which plan to cull their own tariffs, Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., told Semafor. He also told lawmakers that there will be a “cap,” Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) said, though he declined to specify an exact number.
Senate Republicans on the Budget Committee are set to meet with on Wednesday morning ahead of the tariff announcement and Bessent will meet with the Senate GOP Caucus for lunch.
Meanwhile, Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine’s resolution stopping a national emergency for Canadian tariffs is expected to get a vote on Wednesday — and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., expects at least four Republicans to support it.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she’s “inclined” to be one of them. “Our economy in Maine is so integrated with the Canadian economy,” she said.