Trump to Announce New Tariffs on Auto Imports

The White House said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump will announce new tariffs on auto imports later in the day.

White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said Trump will unveil the new tariffs during a press conference in the Oval Office at 4 p.m. EST.

Trump hinted on Monday that the auto tariffs could be imposed before April 2, the day his sweeping "reciprocal tariff plan" is scheduled to take effect, according to CNBC.

"We'll be announcing that soon, probably in the next few days, and then by April 2, there will be reciprocal tariffs," the US president said at a Cabinet meeting.

US stock indexes fell to their lowest levels on Wall Street on Wednesday after the announcement of the new tariff plans.

Trump has repeatedly mentioned his plans to impose steep tariffs on his foreign trading partners. But his unpredictable and ever-changing policies have sparked turmoil in the stock market and left business leaders uncertain about how to plan for the future. The US President has promoted April 2nd as "Liberation Day" and "The Big Day." His plan, as initially described, includes imposing reciprocal tariffs on all countries that impose tariffs on US goods, in addition to imposing tariffs in response to other undesirable trade policies, such as the use of value-added taxes.

However, Trump and his officials have recently indicated that the tariffs imposed on April 2nd may be more flexible than initially appeared.

The US President said on Friday that "there will be flexibility" regarding those tariffs, and on Tuesday evening, he hinted that the tariffs would be "more lenient than reciprocal."

US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said last week that countries could negotiate in advance with the United States to avoid facing new tariffs on April 2nd.