Hailey Whitlock, Staff Writer 

During a joint session of Congress in March, President Trump emphasized his desire to prioritize tariffs in the coming months. He explained that April would be a key time, with many new tariffs implemented with the goal of bringing jobs back to America. Jesting that the media would criticize his efforts if made on April Fool’s Day, the president elected to announce the tariffs on Apr. 2, 2025, a day he deemed “Liberation Day.” During his speech, Trump focused on how he feels America has been taken advantage of, and how the nation must shift manufacturing to be done more domestically. According to CBS News, the president said, “Trade deficits are no longer merely an economic problem. They are a national emergency that threatens our security and our very way of life. It’s a very great threat to our country. For these reasons, starting tomorrow, the United States will implement reciprocal tariffs on other nations.” 

To begin, the president announced a universal 10% tariff on all goods imported into the United States. In addition, higher reciprocal tariffs were declared for certain nations as a means of “penalizing them for their trade barriers,” as reported by NPR. Some key reciprocal tariffs announced throughout the speech are 34% tariffs in China (plus the 20% tariff already in place), 24% tariffs in Japan and 20% tariffs on the European Union.

However, instituting tariffs is not without risk. Consumers often face higher prices as the tariff costs are passed to consumers, the stock market may fare poorly due to uncertainty and reciprocal tariffs may be announced by countries upset with the new policy. For example, China responded to the 34% tariff by announcing a reciprocal tariff on the US of 34%. In response to this, President Trump indicated his willingness to substantially increase the tariffs on China. He threatened an extra 50% tariff which, when combined with the recently declared 34% tariff and already in place 20% tariff, leads to a 104% tariff to be implemented against China beginning on Apr. 9, 2025. As reported by USA Today, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Apr. 8, 2025, “It was a mistake for China to retaliate. When America is punched, (Trump) punches back harder, and that’s why there will be 104% tariffs going into effect on China tonight at midnight.” 

The stock market also responded poorly to the initial tariff announcement with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping by more than 1,600 points on Apr. 3, 2025, according to AP News. As reported by USA Today, the market began turning around on Apr. 8, 2025, only for a sharp reversal of fortunes to occur after the additional 50% tariff on China. Yet, the president remains relatively unconcerned about the present state of the market. When asked about the market’s reaction, according to yahoo!news, President Trump stated, “What’s going to happen with the market, I can’t tell you. But I can tell you, our country has gotten a lot stronger. And eventually it will be a country like no other. It will be the most dominant country, economically in the world. I think your question is so stupid, I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take the medicine to fix something.” 

Many question how the current tariffs could potentially influence the 2026 midterm elections. When speaking at the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner on Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2025, only hours before many import duties are set to take effect, NBC News states that the president believes the Republicans will win the 2026 midterm elections in a “thundering landslide.” He elaborated, “I really think we’re helped a lot by the tariff situation that’s going on, which is a good situation. It’s great. It’s going to be legendary.” 
As to what the president is planning for the future, the answer remains: more tariffs. He plans to begin adding tariffs to pharmaceutical products in the near future. The Wall Street Journal features a quote by President Trump which states, “We’re going to tariff our pharmaceuticals and once we do that, they’re going to come rushing back into our country because we’re the big market. So we’re going to be announcing very shortly a major tariff on pharmaceuticals and when they hear that, they will leave China, they will leave other places because they have to – most of their product is sold here and they’re going to be opening up their plants all over our country.”

Note: this article was written on Apr. 8 and may not contain the most up to date information on tariffs