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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new tariffs on Wednesday, which the White House dubbed “Liberation Day.”

“This is one of the most important days in my opinion in American history,” Trump said during a press conference at the Rose Garden, outside the White House. “It’s our declaration of economic independence.”

The fresh round of tariffs marked a significant escalation from previous levies slapped on some foreign goods in recent weeks.

The new tariffs feature two key policies: A uniform 10% tariff for all imports and “reciprocal” tariffs imposed on many nations that place duties on U.S. imports.

The universal 10% tariff amounts to a wide-ranging trade barrier that will touch every product that enters the U.S.

Trump said the measure would ensure foreign firms pay a price for benefits derived from the purchasing power of U.S. consumers.

“Foreign nations will finally pay for the privilege of access to our market,” Trump said.

In addition to the universal tariff, Trump said, the U.S. will impose tariffs on many countries that levy U.S. goods. Trump described such duties as “reciprocal tariffs,” though he noted that the U.S. would impose tariffs at half of the level of the trade barriers slapped on U.S. products.

“We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us,” Trump said. “We’re kind people.” He added later in his remarks, “This is not full reciprocal. This is kind reciprocal.”

The move departs from statements made by Trump in recent days vowing to impose reciprocal tariffs that match the trade barriers of other countries.

The reciprocal tariffs will target roughly 60 countries identified by the Trump administration as the “worst offenders,” White House officials said, noting that Canada and Mexico would be excluded from the reciprocal tariffs.

The White House calculated the cumulative cost of trade barriers imposed by each of the target nations, including tariffs as well as non-monetary measures. In each case, the U.S. will impose a reciprocal tariff rate at 50% of the level attributed to a given country.

For instance, Trump said, the U.S. estimated a total trade barrier rate of 67% for China, meaning the U.S. would impose a 34% tariff in response. The U.S. assessed a European Union trade barrier rate of 39%, Trump said, adding that the U.S. reciprocal tariff would register at 20%.

The universal 10% tariff is set to take effect on the morning of April 5, and the reciprocal tariffs will hit products on the morning of April 9, White House officials said.

Economists widely expect tariffs to raise prices for U.S. consumers, since importers typically pass along a share of the tax burden in the form of higher costs.

“For decades, the U.S. slashed our trade barriers on other countries while those nations placed massive tariffs on our products,” Trump said.

“This all happened with no response from the United States of America — none whatsoever,” Trump added. “But those days are over.”

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(WASHINGTON) — 

President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a long-promised, sweeping set of baseline tariffs on all countries and what he described as “kind reciprocal” tariffs on nations he claimed were the worst offenders in trade relations with the U.S.

“My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day,” Trump said from the White House Rose Garden, claiming the action will free the U.S. from dependence on foreign goods.

“April 2, 2025, 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,” he said.

The new measures — which Trump described as “historic” — include a minimum baseline tariff of 10% and further, more targeted levies on certain countries like China, the European Union and Taiwan.

“We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us,” he said, adding, “because we are being very kind.”

“This is not full reciprocal. This is kind reciprocal,” he said.

Trump held up a chart with a list of nations and what the new U.S. tariffs against them will be. At the top was China, which Trump said was set to be hit with a 34% tariff rate as he claimed it charged the United States 67%.

The 10% baseline tariff rate goes into effect on April 5, according to senior White House officials. The “kind reciprocal” tariffs go into effect April 9 at 12:01 a.m., officials said, and will impact roughly 60 countries.

Trump described trade deficits as a “national emergency” and that his actions will usher in what he called “the golden age of America.”

“In short, chronic trade deficits are no longer merely an economic problem. They’re a national emergency that threatens our security and our very way of life. It’s a very great threat to our country,” he said.

Wednesday’s tariff announcement is a moment months in the making for the president, but one that comes with significant political and economic risk.

Some experts warn his moves could cause the economy to slide into a recession and markets seesawed ahead of Wednesday’s announcement, after weeks of turmoil as Trump’s tariff policy shifted and took shape.

The White House had been mum on details ahead of Wednesday’s event. One senior administration official said the situation was “still very fluid” after meetings on Wednesday morning and that Trump and his top advisers were trying to find some common ground where they agreed.

Some options debated in recent weeks, ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang reported, were a 20% flat tariff rate on all imports; different tariff levels for each country based on their levies on U.S. products; or tariffs on about 15% of countries with the largest trade imbalances with the U.S.

Wednesday’s tariffs build onto levies already imposed by the administration, including on steel and aluminum as well as certain goods from China, Canada and Mexico.

The actions have strained relations with Canada and Mexico, two key allies and neighbors. Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week the U.S. and Canada’s deep relationship on economic, security and military issues was effectively over.

Canada has vowed retaliatory tariffs and Mexico said it will give its response later this week. The European Union, too, said it has a “strong plan to retaliate.”

But Trump and administration officials are plowing full steam ahead, arguing America’s been unfairly “ripped off” by other nations for years and it’s time for reciprocity.

“For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump said on Wednesday.

The economy was the top issue for voters in the 2024 presidential election, with Americans casting blame on President Joe Biden for high prices and Trump promising to bring families financial relief.

The administration has painted tariffs as a panacea for the economy writ large, arguing any pain experienced in the short term will be offset by what they predict will be major boosts in manufacturing, job growth and government revenue.

“Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country, and you see it happening already. We will supercharge our domestic industrial base,” Trump 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.”

But economists say it will be American consumers who bear the brunt of higher costs to start.

It’s unclear how much leeway the public is willing to give Trump to get past what he in the past called “a little disturbance.”

Already, little more than two months into his second term, polls show his handling of the economy is being met with pushback.

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey published on Monday found a majority of Americans (58%) disapprove of how Trump has been handling the economy.

On his protectionist trade negotiations with other nations, specifically, 60% of Americans said they disapproved of his approach so far. It was his weakest issue in the poll among Republicans.

Trump’s GOP allies on Capitol Hill have said they’re placing trust in the president, but acknowledged there will be some uncertainty to start.

“It may be rocky in the beginning but I think this will make sense for Americans and it will help all Americans,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday alongside other members of Republican leadership.

Democrats, meanwhile, pledged to fight the tariffs “tooth and nail” and were trying to force a vote aimed at curtailing his authorities to impose levies on Canada.

“Trump’s done a lot of bad things. This is way up there,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier on Wednesday.

ABC News’ Mary Bruce, Katherine Faulders and Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Democrats on Wednesday vowed to fight President Donald Trump’s tariffs “tooth and nail” and criticized his policies as having started an “absurd, crazy, chaotic trade war.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer held a news conference just hours before Trump’s big tariff reveal, where he urged Republicans to join Senate Democrats on a measure to block tariffs on Canadian goods.

“They know they’re a tax hike on the American people,” he said. “They know that the stock market is in turmoil, risking people’s retirements. They know that consumer confidence is down and the odds of a recession — something people hate, it’s harder to find a job, keep a job, maintain your weekly budget if a recession occurs — and now our greatest financial prognosticators are saying the chances of recession because of these tariffs, this tariff tax, goes way up.

“So, we’re going to fight these tariffs tooth and nail. Trump’s done a lot of bad things. This is way up there,” Schumer said.

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who introduced the resolution to block Trump’s tariffs on Canada, said he expected a vote to occur between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET.

Unlike most legislation in the Senate, the resolution will only need a simple majority to pass. Just a handful of Republicans would need to side with Democrats to hit that vote threshold.

President Trump, in an early morning post on his social media platform, pressured Republicans to oppose the measure — going so far as to call out some specific members of his party by name.

“Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul, also of Kentucky, will hopefully get on the Republican bandwagon, for a change,” he wrote on his social media platform.

The president added the bill “is just a ploy of the Dems to show and expose the weakness of certain Republicans, namely these four, in that it is not going anywhere because the House will never approve it and I, as your President, will never sign it.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also preemptively slammed Trump’s tariffs, saying they will make goods more costly.

“This is not Liberation Day. It’s Recession Day in the United States of America,” Jeffries said. “That’s what the Trump tariffs are going to do.”

Top House Republicans, meanwhile, expressed confidence in President Trump ahead of this Rose Garden unveiling. Though they admitted their may be some “short-term pain” as a result.

“I trust the president’s instincts,” Speaker Mike Johnson said when asked by ABC News if he’s concerned. “We are fully supportive of his initiatives, and we’ll see how it all shakes out.”

“The president talked in the State of the Union that that may be some short-term pain, ultimately, long term we’re going to get more things made in America, and we’re going to get fair treatment of America by other countries,” said Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.

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(MIDDLESEX, Mass.) — To step inside the Older Adult Re-Entry unit, or OAR, at the Middlesex County, Massachusetts, jail is unlike entering any jail in the United States.

The walls are adorned in a soothing paint color, and there is fitness equipment, specially designed beds in cell units, better lighting so older inmates do not fall and a puzzle-making table to “stimulate the mind cognitively,” according to Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian.

OAR is designed for inmates who are over the age of 55 and need to get ready to reenter the public, but Koutoujian said older inmates have different needs than younger ones who get released into the community.

“We designed this unit from the ground up with the unique needs of this population in mind, from treatment programs focused on specific needs of this population, cognitive behavioral treatment, social enrichment, education and occupational therapy,” he said, adding that the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office worked with researchers from Boston University to have the older inmate population’s best interests in mind.

Older inmates make up about 10% of the jail’s population, and entry into the program is voluntary. OAR serves both those who are awaiting trial and those who are set to be released in the next few months or years. There are 20 inmates currently in the unit, which just launched in March.

He said OAR helps stimulate inmates minds with different classes and activities to prepare for their reentry into society.

“This is much more than just: This is how to get a job, this is how to get your driver’s license back, this is how to do these basic things that we deal with everywhere in our facility,” he explained. “This is about how to live your life so that you can live more happily, more safely and longer. [It] is much different than any other unit in the entire country for those very reasons.”

In working with researchers, Koutoujian found that older men need friendships to live healthy lives.

“We’ve seen much more research recently showing especially men, as they age, become more socially isolated. It impacts them mentally and physically and affects their mortality,” he said.

“I’m trying to make sure that they are more aware of so that it’s not just the fact that we’re giving them this lesson, but what are the activities they can engage in?” he added. “They can build new relationships, new friendships, new support systems, healthier social networks. That is a critical part to this population’s reentry.”

The sheriff said he believes the program, with the research and data OAR is collecting, can be replicated throughout the country.

“What do the incarcerated individuals in the unit get out of it? They get a great deal out of it, and let’s just say, what do the officers that are involved in this unit get out of it? They get a feeling of well-being, of partnership, of doing something good,” he said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Education Secretary Linda McMahon interrupted a press conference by House Democrats outside the Department of Education to give an impromptu statement after they met in a closed-door meeting earlier Wednesday.

With about a minute’s notice, the secretary’s team told some attendees that McMahon would be making a statement.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., was speaking at the podium as the secretary appeared at the press conference.

“We are extraordinarily grateful that the secretary gave us the space to have these conversations, but with all due respect, madam, I think my biggest concern is that the states will not be able to protect the programs and services that you would like to devolve with them,” she said before ceding the microphone, noting that the mood during the meeting was “collegial.”

Then, the secretary stepped to the podium in front of the group of Democratic lawmakers, who had met with her in her office for about an hour.

“I just want to express my gratitude to all of these folks who came today so we can have an open discussion about what I believe is one of the most important things that we can have a discussion on or action on in our country, and that is the education of our young people,” McMahon said upon taking the podium.

“This is not a partisan issue. This is about the children of America and its next generation after that, and if we want to have our leaders and if we want to have that next group of engineers and doctors and lawyers and plumbers and electricians and HV/AC operators, then we need to focus on how they can best have their education,” she added.

“And I believe, and I know the president believes as well, the best education is that that is closest to the child where teachers and parents, local superintendents, working together and local school boards to develop the curriculum for those students is the best way that it can happen,” she said.

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., who spearheaded the effort to meet with McMahon, and several reporters peppered the secretary with questions.

“When are you going to shut down the department?” Takano asked.

“We had our discussion,” McMahon replied.

She declined to answer any further questions before exiting the presser.

Takano and a coalition of lawmakers had requested the meeting after the secretary was sworn into office last month.

“She came down here to upstage the news press availability, trying to give the impression that she’s trying a different approach — that she’s actually meeting with members of Congress,” Takano told ABC News after the event.

Later Wednesday, McMahon posted on X about the meeting.

“This morning, I hosted a meeting with House Democrats to hear their concerns,” she said. “Our collective goal should be to support students, not the broken bureaucracy.”

The meeting comes after weeks of confusion in Washington as the Department of Education slashed nearly half its workforce and lawmakers have been demanding answers from the Trump administration.

Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., Don Beyer, D-Va., and Greg Casar, D-Texas, also attended the meeting..

Chaos ensued outside the agency the last time Democrats tried to meet with department officials as Takano and around two dozen lawmakers were rejected access inside the building.

This time they met with McMahon amid the administration’s attempt to dismantle and spearhead the historic overhaul of the department as directed by President Donald Trump.

The members said McMahon took the right step in meeting with them and that she assured them she would work with Congress to move statutory functions to other agencies and follow federal law. However, Wilson said McMahon indicated she is following the president’s directive in moving the student loan portfolio for more than 40 million people to the Small Business Administration.

McMahon also told the Democratic lawmakers in the meeting that there will be additional workforce cuts at the department, Takano said.

Meanwhile, the meeting seemed to leave many with unanswered questions, and after McMahon left the podium, Stanbury said the secretary has no plans that she shared with them.

Casar, the Congressional Progressive Caucus chairman, said he grew frustrated and even more alarmed during the meeting because he suggested McMahon’s mission will gut public schools.

“What she tried to say, in the nicest of terms, is that she wants to get rid of the guardrails and protections for all of our kids and instead say, No, we can have it set up so that states can give money to the private schools that we like and take away money from the public schools that we may not like,” Casar said.

Wilson, a senior member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, passionately defended public education.

“For the Department of Education to be dismantled, it is going to bring a shock to this nation,” said Wilson, a former principal and lifelong educator. “Schools are the bedrock of this nation. When schools are working, our country is, too.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen, who on Tuesday held her newborn son during a speech on the House floor in support of a bipartisan effort to allow proxy voting for new lawmaker parents, said the decision to bring her 9-week-old was “difficult,” but illustrated the need to pass the petition.

“We have the ability in 2025 to make sure that our voices and our constituents’ voices are represented here, even when we have a medical reason for not being able to be here in person,” Pettersen, holding her son Sam, said in an interview on ABC News Live on Wednesday. “You know, this is the way things were done hundreds of years ago, I think that we can accommodate for the new workplace challenges here in Congress to make sure more women and in young families can be represented here now.”

On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers came together over proxy voting for new parents. Nine Republicans joined Democrats to tank a procedural rule that would have blocked a petition to allow new mothers and fathers to vote by proxy.

With her newborn in her arms, the Colorado Democrat on Tuesday spoke in support of a resolution that would allow new parents — both mothers and fathers — the ability to vote by proxy up to 12 weeks after the birth of a child. In her speech — during which Sam cooed, squealed and squeaked — Pettersen pleaded for bipartisan cooperation on a measure that she said addressed life events such as parenthood for lawmakers.

“It was a very difficult decision to fly across the country with Sam, and it’s just a decision that nobody should have to make,” said Pettersen, who added that returning to Washington to work after her son was born prematurely put her in an “impossible” situation where she had to both care for a vulnerable newborn and do her job.

Pettersen is only the 13th member of the House to have given birth while serving in Congress. Fellow new mom, Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna — who had a child in August 2023 — introduced the petition.

The House voted to torpedo the procedural rule that would have blocked Luna’s proxy vote measure — throwing the House into disarray and paralyzing the chamber. The vote also called into question Speaker Mike Johnson’s ability to control Republicans’ razor-thin majority.

House Republican leaders, including Johnson, had said they would take the unprecedented step to block Luna’s petition

After the vote, Johnson said because it failed, “we can’t have any further action on the floor this week.”

Johnson has said proxy voting is unconstitutional and is the start of a slippery slope that could lead to more and more members voting remotely.

Asked by ABC New Live Anchor Diane Macedo about her response to Johnson’s argument, Pettersen said “my message to Speaker Johnson is just let us vote.”

“If we have narrow reasons why people can have their votes represented here if they can’t be here in person, that’s something that we should be able to vote on,” she said on ABC News Live.

Pettersen had stronger words for Johnson after the rule vote, telling ABC News’ Jay O’Brien that her message to the speaker was “don’t f— with moms.”

It’s not the first time Pettersen has brought her son along to a House vote. In February, she brought her son to vote in the House budget blueprint.

ABC News’ Lauren Peller, Jay O’Brien, John Parkinson and Arthur Jones II contributed to this report.

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