In this context, Trump announced a new wave of tariffs, describing his decision as a \u201cdeclaration of our economic independence\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US president said that the revenue from the tariffs would be used to reduce taxes and pay down the national debt. \u201cWe will use this money to reduce our taxes and pay down our national debt\u201d, he stressed. Referring to international trade, he argued that \u201csometimes, a friend is worse than an enemy\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He cited South Korea and Japan as examples, saying that over 80% of cars manufactured in South Korea are sold in the country itself, while in Japan this figure exceeds 90%. At the same time, cars manufactured in the US represent only a small fraction of sales in these markets. \u201cFord sells very little overseas,\u201d Trump said, stressing that the lack of a level playing field had \u201cdecimated\u201d American industries. \u201cThat\u2019s why, starting at midnight, we will be imposing a 25% tariff on all cars made abroad,\u201d he announced\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat they charge us, we\u2019ll charge them\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump then announced that the United States would proceed with the implementation of \u201cretaliatory tariffs\u201d on all countries, imposing tariffs that would correspond to about half of the charges that other countries impose on American exports. To support his words, the American president presented a diagram to the audience, which showed that China imposes tariffs of 67% on American imports. \u201cSince they charge us that much, we will charge them 34%,\u201d he emphasized. The same chart also listed the new tariffs that Washington plans to impose on other jurisdictions:<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-4.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump argued that this policy would ensure a level playing field for American industry and prevent the United States from being exploited by foreign economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want to export our products, but they don\u2019t give us anything in return\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Previously, Donald Trump launched a scathing attack on US trading partners, accusing them of policies that, as he claimed, hurt the American economy and served only their own interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe want to send our cars, export our products everywhere, but they don\u2019t give us anything in return,\u201d he said indignantly, referring to the restrictions facing American exports. Trump pointed out that European countries continue to block American poultry, while Australia stubbornly refuses to buy American beef.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey don\u2019t want a pound of our beef. They\u2019re rejecting it because they don\u2019t want to hurt their own farmers,\u201d he said sarcastically. He then turned his attention to Japan, South Korea and China, accusing them of blocking the import of American rice, thereby strengthening their own markets at the expense of the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reiterating the slogan \u201cAmerica First\u201d, the US president sent a strong message that his country would not remain inactive in the face of such trade practices. \u201cThe United States cannot continue to operate unilaterally to their detriment. It is time to protect our own economy, support our people and secure the future of American workers,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With this stance, Trump once again demonstrated his intention to adopt a more aggressive trade policy, prioritizing the protection of American industries and the reduction of US trade deficits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n EU’s first reaction to Trump tariffs – Von der Leyen: Ready to retaliate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump are a “major blow” to the global economy, said the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, underlining that the EU is preparing its retaliation, which will come into force if negotiations with the US fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We are already finalizing the first package of countermeasures in response to the steel tariffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now we are preparing further countermeasures to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail,” said Von der Leyen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As she argued, the consequences of these tariffs will be very serious for millions of people around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe global economy will suffer massively, uncertainty will increase and it will fuel the rise of further protectionism,\u201d the Commission chief stressed, underlining that at the same time the global trading system is facing serious shortcomings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI agree with President Trump that others are abusing the existing rules and I am ready to support any effort to make the global trading system fit for the realities of the global economy. But I also want to be clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imposing tariffs as a first and last resort will not fix this. “This is why we have always been ready to negotiate with the United States from the beginning to remove the remaining obstacles to transatlantic trade,” Von der Leyen said, stressing that the EU is already preparing further packages of measures to defend its interests, while assuring that the EU will demonstrate a united stance and insisting that the Union is the strength of its member states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China on Trump tariffs: Cancel them immediately\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n China is calling on the US to immediately cancel the tariffs announced a few hours ago by President Trump, which is asking the American side to proceed with an equal dialogue as, as Beijing claims, these measures endanger global economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “China urges the US to immediately cancel its unilateral customs duties and properly resolve its differences with its trading partners through equal dialogue,” the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement, stressing that the measures announced by Donald Trump “endanger global economic growth.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Donald Trump \u201cinaugurated\u201d \u201cLiberation Day\u201d from the White House Rose Garden with sweeping tariffs, declaring that he would soon sign an executive order imposing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[859,5],"tags":[655,47,2070,97,46,70],"class_list":["post-23597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics","category-economic","tag-donald-trump","tag-duties","tag-economic-growth","tag-growth","tag-tariffs","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23600,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23597\/revisions\/23600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}