President Donald Trump’s trade policy announcements continued to create uncertainty this week, as well as affecting consumer prices, the stock market and consumer confidence.
On Wednesday, April 2 — which he called “Liberation Day” — President Trump announced new tariffs from the first Rose Garden ceremony, with a number of Cabinet officials and members of Congress in attendance.
According to the White House fact sheet, President Trump imposed responsive tariffs to “strengthen the international economic position of the United States and protect American workers.”
The President invoked his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) to “address the national emergency posed by the large and persistent trade deficit that is driven by the absence of reciprocity in our trade relationships and other harmful policies like currency manipulation and exorbitant value-added taxes (VAT) perpetuated by other countries.”
https://calchamberalert.com/2025/04/04/trump-orders-new-reciprocal-tariffs
