Tariffs Will Be ‘Not Full Reciprocal,’ Trump Announces on ‘Liberation Day’

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday afternoon that his promised tariffs will “kind reciprocal.”

At what he called a “Liberation Day” event in the Rose Garden of the White House, Trump said the tariffs that he announced will be “not full reciprocal,” but “approximately half” of what foreign countries levy on American imports.

“This is kind reciprocal, but what we do is we cut it in half. We charge them,” he said. “My answer is very simple. If they complain, if you want your tariff rate to be zero, then you build your product right here in America, because there is no tariff.”

The president displayed a chart showing “kind reciprocal” tariff rates.

Starting Thursday, the United States will implement reciprocal tariffs on other nations, Trump said.

“It’s been a long time since we even thought of that,” he said. “We used to think about it a lot. We didn’t think about it for many decades. And you see what’s happened for nations that treat us badly. We will calculate the combined rate of all their tariffs, nonmonetary barriers, and other forms of cheating.”

“We will charge them approximately half of what they are, and have been, charging us, so the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal,” Trump continued. “I could have done that, yes, but it would have been tough for a lot of countries who didn’t want to do that.”

Trump boasted of the large number of companies who have moved production to, or back to, the United States, such as Stellantis, General Motors, GE Aerospace, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, and more, in only his first two-and-a-half months back in office.

“We’ve seen companies coming in like never seen before, likewise to all of the foreign presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, ambassadors and everyone else who will soon be calling to ask for exemptions from these tariffs,” Trump said. “I say, ‘Terminate your own tariffs, drop your barriers. Don’t manipulate your currencies.’”

Trump’s tariffs will transform the U.S. into an “entirely different country,” he said, adding that that will be “fantastic for the workers” and “fantastic for everyone.”

“There will never have been a transformation of a country like the transformation that’s already happening in the United States of America. It’s an incredible thing to watch,” the president said, “and it’s incredible to meet with the top people, people that you read about, very wealthy people, or people that are great managers and executives and presidents of big public companies, and to watch the enthusiasm they have now that they didn’t have.”

Threats of tariffs have already caused some foreign leaders to lift their tariffs on the U.S. 

Israel canceled all tariffs on American products on Tuesday night, just a day after Canadian trade representatives indicated no retaliatory tariffs would be issued.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum similarly said no “tit for tat” retaliatory tariffs would be imposed, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford offered to negotiate dropping trade barriers on both sides.

Trump predicted complaints from “globalists and the outsourcers and special interests and the fake news” about his “Liberation Day” announcement.

“But never forget, every prediction our opponents made about trade for the last 30 years has been proven totally wrong,” Trump said.

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