Tariffs Loom Hours Away: Uncertainty Surrounds Trump's 'Liberation Day'

U.S. stocks swerved through another shaky day of trading Tuesday, with uncertainty still high about just what President Donald Trump will announce about tariffs on Wednesday. Uncertainty surrounds the details of the tariffs, which are expected to take effect immediately.

President Trump is set to make a major tariff announcement on "Liberation Day" Wednesday, though many questions remain about the specifics of the tariffs he has described as reciprocal. The broad decisions had been made, but details were being fine-tuned, according to an administration official.

"They're not going to be wrong. It is going to work. And the president has a brilliant team of advisers who have been studying these issues for decades. And we are focused on restoring the golden age of America and making America manufacturing superpower," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

The tariffs aim to address what the administration views as unfair trade with other nations, boost manufacturing, and raise revenue. Senior officials are in alignment on why Trump wants to pursue tariffs, though decisions were still being made at last check, according to a source familiar with the administration's thinking.

Trump has indicated potential for leniency, saying, "The tariffs will be far more generous than those countries were to us, meaning they will be kinder than those countries were to the United States of America over the decades. They ripped us off like no country has ever been ripped off in history and we're going to be much nicer than they were to us. But it's substantial money for the country nevertheless."

"Essentially all of the countries that we're talking about, yeah. We'd be talking about all countries that — not a cut off. And if you look at the history and you look at what's happened," Trump added.

Other countries have indicated they are preparing for retaliatory responses or reserve the right to respond, including Canada, Mexico, the UK, the EU, China, and Japan.

"These tariffs he's proposing are enormous so we should expect the retaliation to be enormous," said Brendan Duke, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and formerly on the National Economic Council under the Biden Administration.

Some are concerned about the impact on consumers. Duke believes the tariffs will place a larger burden of the share on low- and middle-income families.

"I think fundamentally families are going to face higher costs. Businesses have made clear they plan on raising prices in reaction to these enormous tariffs he's talking about," said Duke.

Despite swings in the stock market and concerns from some economists that the tariffs will amount to a tax on consumers, the White House has maintained that the market is a "snapshot in time." When pressed on concerns on Wall Street and Main Street, the White House said the president takes them seriously.

"And he's addressing them every single day. And tomorrow's announcement is to protect future generations of the senior citizens you mentioned. It's for their kids and their grandkids to ensure that there are jobs here in the United States of America for their children to live the American dream, just like they presumably did," Leavitt said.

The economic impact isn't known until more is known about how broad the tariffs are, according to Tim Brightbill, co-chair of Wiley Rein's International Trade Practice, who underscored the importance of certainty in the announcement.

“So many of our clients and businesses just want to know what's coming. They're trying to prepare, but it's hard to prepare when you don't know the size and scope of the tariffs that are going to be announced,” he said.