Trump imposes historic 10% tariffs against most nations, vows to 'supercharge' economy

President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed sweeping 10% tariffs on all imports, vowing his historic "Liberation Day" strike would rebalance global trade, reduce the national debt and "supercharge" the U.S. economy to the benefit of long-suffering American workers.

"American steel workers, auto workers, farmers and skilled craftsmen," Trump told a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House."We have a lot of them here with us today. They really suffered, gravely. They watched in anguish as foreign leaders have stolen our jobs, foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories, and foreign scavengers have torn apart our once beautiful American dream. 

"Now it's our turn to prosper, and in so doing, use trillions and trillions of dollars to reduce our taxes and pay down our national debt," he added. 

Fulfilling a promise he made during the 2024 election, Trump vowed the reciprocal tariffs — a 10% base and higher for other nation's like China — will tilt global commerce back to America's advantage after decades of trade deficits.

"Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country and you see it happening already. We will supercharge our domestic industrial base, he said.

Trump further showed a chart to the crowd displaying the tariff rates he planned to apply to each nation. China, which tariffs U.S. goods at a rate of 67%, will face tariffs of 34%. Countries in the European Union which tariff U.S. goods at a rate of 39%, will be tariffed 20%. Vietnam will face a 46% tariff, Taiwan at 32%, Japan at 24%, India at 26% and South Korea at 25%. The chart included 20 more nations. 

The White House put out a fact sheet prior to the announcement, highlighting how this administration hoped the tariffs will balance trade relationships and bring manufacturing back to American soil.

The readout quoted a 2024 study that found that his first-term tariffs “strengthened the U.S. economy” and “led to significant restoring in industries like manufacturing and steel production.” Already in his second term, investments into the U.S. economy by entities such as Oracle, SoftBank, Apple, and NVIDIA have reached nearly $5 trillion. 

Wednesday also marked the start of a 25% tariff on automobiles not made in the United States. However, auto manufacturers Honda, Nissan, and Hyundai have committed to shifting production back to the United States. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized the president's tariff plan, telling reporters on Wednesday, “House Republicans, Senate Republicans and Donald Trump haven’t done a single thing to lower the cost of living in this country. Not a single bill. Not a single executive order. Not a single administrative action,” Jeffries told reporters at the Capitol. 

“In fact, Republicans are crashing the American economy in real time and driving us to a recession. This is not liberation day, it’s recession day. That’s what the Trump tariffs are going to do: crash the economy," he added.