US President Donald Trump on April 2 announced reciprocal tariffs on US trading partners, including 20 percent on goods from the European Union, in a move some experts fear will set off a trade war and cause the world's economy to tank.
Trump called it America's "liberation day," saying it will "forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again."
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Trump said he would impose a 10 percent baseline tariff on all imports to the United States and higher duties on imports from dozens of countries around the world.
After railing about how the United States for decades had been "looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered by nations near and far and by friend and foe alike," Trump held up a chart that listed reciprocal tariffs. They included 20 percent on goods from the European Union, 34 percent on Chinese goods, 46 percent on Japanese products, 32 percent on Taiwanese imports, and 25 percent on South Korean imports.
More than a dozen other countries, including Britain, India, Brazil, and Switzerland, also were listed. In each case, he said the US tariffs could have been much steeper, but he opted for "kind reciprocal" tariffs that are half those charged by US trading partners.
SEE ALSO: Rubio Reiterates US Commitment To NATO At Foreign Ministers Meeting In BrusselsTrump said the tariffs imposed by other countries and "colossal trade barriers" had in many cases closed markets around the world to US-manufactured and US-grown agricultural products and had contributed to big trade deficits and a ballooning national debt.
Trump said countries that want access to the US market will now have to "pay for the privilege," adding that he campaigned on the policy throughout last year's presidential race "and today that promise…was kept."
Outside economists have warned that tariffs could slow the global economy, raise the risk of recession, and increase annual living costs for the average US family by thousands of dollars.
British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves was among the first to respond to Trump's announcement, saying, "Trade wars are no good for anyone," while the European Auto Suppliers Association said the 25 percent tariff on vehicles "is misguided and harmful," including for people in the United States.
"Placing tariffs on imports of autos risks damaging the competitiveness and export readiness of an industry that relies on integrated international supply chains and markets for its success," the association said in a statement.
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The move marks the rejection of "the rules-based global trade order" and a "turning away from the basis for global value creation and corresponding growth and prosperity in many regions of the world," said Hildegard Mueller, president of the German auto industry association VDA.
But Trump said the tariffs will benefit American farmers, skilled laborers, autoworkers, and the improve the overall economy. He said many major corporations have already pledged to bring manufacturing back to US shores.
"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. "We will pry open foreign markets and break down foreign trade barriers and ultimately more production at home will mean stronger competition and lower prices for consumers."
Asian stock markets were lower in early trading on April 3 after Stephen Miran, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, acknowledged there will be "short-term bumps" caused by the tariffs.
SEE ALSO: Head Of Russian Wealth Fund In Washington For Talks With Trump's Middle East Envoy -- Reports"But what the president is focused on is a long-term transformation and improvement in the durability, sustainability, and fairness of the American economy with respect to the rest of the world," Miran told Fox Business.
Trump has already imposed 20 percent duties on all imports from China and 25 percent duties on steel and aluminum and extended them to nearly $150 billion worth of other key products used in manufacturing.
Trump said the tariffs he announced on April 2 would take effect starting on April 3. The White House said a separate set of tariffs on auto imports that Trump announced last week also will take effect starting on April 3.
Tariff concerns have already slowed manufacturing activity across the globe. Financial markets have been volatile in recent days as investors awaited the announcement. US stocks have erased nearly $5 trillion of value since February.