dOnaldo Trump welcomed a new chapter in US economic history on April 2nd, calling it “Liberation Day” by his administration, and he announced plans for an extraordinary barrage of US tariffs on the world. The chapter lasted for 40 days.
The page is already rotating. But the impact of these six-week, chaotic weeks remains unfolding, from rising prices to slowing growth. The US President is already threatening further adjustments. The story continues.
Trump was dissipated from his offensive instincts regarding trade during his first term and convinced him to return to some tariff threats in his second opening game. However, in early April he decided to plow first.
“April 2, 2025, the day the American industry was reborn, the day the American fate was reclaimed, and the day the Americas began to make America wealthy again will be remembered forever.”
The measures were slow and strict. A blanket 10% tariff on all imported goods, and a higher individual charge of up to 50% (also rivals in economic allies) was deemed to have not dealt with the US in trade.
“cool”
The first question came. How did the Trump administration come up with such a specific obligation to impose on goods from so many countries and territories? And why was there a group of barren, deserted islands near Antarctica?
Then came the panic. The global stock market is the most dipped as Wall Street has been the steepest since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic five years ago, and as the president has repeatedly insisted this time.
Trump officials were sent to hold the line. “Today’s announcement is the most important action on global trade policy that has been made in our lifetime,” said his deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller. “We’re going to just have to wait and see,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent told Bloomberg. One thing is for sure: Howard Rutnick, Secretary of Commerce, told CNN: “The president will not retreat.”
On the fifth day of the new chapter, a 10% baseline tariff was enforced. Day 7 followed by a higher individualized rate. Beijing vowed to retaliate. Business leaders, including those who supported Trump’s run for the White House, urged him to rethink.
The sale of financial obligations, which are usually considered safe shelter during periods of economic volatility, has become entrenched. “Cool! Everything’s going to work,” Trump wrote on True Social, saying in a few minutes, “This is the best time to buy!!! DJT.”
This advice seemed visionary four hours later. Seven days after the new chapter, Trump announced a 90-day suspension as his individual tariffs were imposed for all 13 hours. In fact, the market has increased, reducing the universal obligation for all US imports from almost every country.
Excluding almost all countries, namely China. Beijing’s pledge to take a blow has infuriated the president. The president denounced a “lack of respect” as he announced a new tariff of 125% (effectively 145% after other duties were included) on Chinese goods. It kindly retaliated.
Get yippy
The same officials sent to defend Trump’s original plan were sent again to explain his latest climb.
“You’ve seen the biggest economic mastery strategy from the US president in history,” Miller argued in X.
“Many of the media clearly missed the art of contract,” reporter Caroline Leavitt scolded the reporter, referring to the 1987 bestseller, and the real estate tycoon presented himself as the perfect deal maker.
His aides claimed that more than 75 countries were in touch after the initial tariff announcement, but even the president struggled to present a reversal as part of a carefully organized negotiation strategy. When asked what prompted that, Trump told reporters that people “get a bit of a ippy” about his plan.
However, some of the biggest companies in the US still felt quite Yippy. For example, Apple relies on factories in China to fire iPhones. This is responsible for almost half of the business.
Late on the 10th day, US Customs and Border Protection, away from the noisy press gag and all-cap social media posts, posted a list of products that are exempt from China’s tariffs, including smartphones, computers, and semiconductor chips.
The administration had returned many of Trump’s original plans, but concerns remained. Trump has argued that high tariffs are the path to come, but fears of widespread shortages and dramatic price increases are looming. The vote revealed consumers are increasingly concerned.
On the 28th day, at the end of the Cabinet meeting, the president sought to mitigate the risk of an attack on China. “Well, maybe the kids have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” he said. “And perhaps two dolls would cost a few dollars more than usual.”
Depression game
Earlier that morning, the disastrous economic figures for the first quarter highlighted how, as the final chapter approached the end, the mere threat of Trump’s economic attacks seemed to have dented growth. US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been shrinking for the first time in three years, and imports have skyrocketed by 41%, resulting in a sudden negative after a robust growth spell as businesses rush to preemptive tariffs.
Trump ran to lock his responsibility into his predecessor. “I think the good part is the Trump economy, and the bad part is the Biden economy,” he told NBC’s conference.
Many economists said the decline in growth in the first quarter raised awkward question when the president finally launched it with his “liberation day” event, in preparation for a new chapter in Trump.
Apart from the dolls, the administration began to show that the US was almost entirely importing from the country, and that it might be willing to adjust the tariffs in China, which had been ramming over goods like stroller seats and cribs. Such exemptions were “under consideration,” Bescent told Congress, potentially avoiding a surge in prices for younger families.
But as the weeks began, after pledging his trade strategy, Trump found it difficult to explain why no one had come to explain why it had happened.
On the 34th day, when questions were raised, he complained that the media had been pinned. “You keep writing about trading, trading,” he says, adding that he hoped journalists would stop asking. The president said, “several deals” would be signed, but tariffs were a “much larger” focus.
On the 36th day it was declared that the first transaction had been made. Trump summoned reporters to reveal what he called the “biggest deal we make bigger” with the UK. In fact, there was still more work to do. He and the British Prime Minister Kiel star. The person admitted that certain details have not been finalized yet.
By the next morning, Trump’s focus had returned to China. Bescent is preparing to discuss with officials in Geneva and hopes that the world’s two biggest economies will lower tariffs, which will be a spectacular reduction. “China’s 80% tariffs seem right! Up to Scott B,” the president wrote on social media.
“This will crush us.”
Trump was also watching the liberal MSNBC network. There, business commentator Stephanie Ruhle argued that his strategy on tariffs was not working. “You see more business leaders, whether it’s Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon, Ken Griffin. “And you say to this White House from lawmakers, senators, every state. Our small businesses are dying here.
“I’m not saying Donald Trump has changed what he thinks in his mind. But he’s back to the corner and he has to get off this crazy customs train and he knows that.”
Trump punched. “Leah, few people know Stephanie Roule, but I do, and she doesn’t have what it needs,” he wrote about the society of truth, denounced her for a lie. “We’re going to make property through tariffs. Only smart people understand that. Stephanie wasn’t known as a ‘high IQ’ person. ”
If only the clever people understood that the US stood to make property from tariffs, they might have been surprised what happened next.
Away from the television studio, some of the White House’s seniors, including Chief of Staff Susie Wills, reportedly began warning President Risch, unlike those laid out by Roule. “The important argument was that this was beginning to hurt Trump’s people, who are Trump’s supporters,” one person who explained the internal conversation told the Washington Post. “I gave Susie a key window.”
On the 40th day, after discussions in Geneva, Becent confirmed that it would significantly reduce tariffs that US and Chinese officials had aggressively ratchet-up just a few weeks ago. As tariffs on Chinese goods fell to 30%, Trump welcomed a “complete reset” in Washington-Beijing relations.
The reversal, while far from a complete reset, has limited the latest “liberation date” measure to history.
I still don’t remember the day on April 2, 2025, when the American industry was reborn. Many of the announcements that afternoon was already dead.
The page has been turned. On Friday, Trump claimed that around 150 countries will soon receive a letter that “essentially conveys” the new US obligation rate regarding their exports. Many people learned similar fees last month, but only plans were changed in a few days.
A new chapter is currently underway with no dignity or ceremony. Everyone guesses what this entails, or how long it will last.