Yesterday, in the Rose Garden, President Trump sent out a clear message: the era of globalization is over. Trump announced sweeping tariffs on trillions of dollars of imports. The new duties immediately shook Wall Street and sent stocks plummeting. WSJ’s White House economic policy reporter Brian Schwartz explains how President Trump has wanted this day to happen for decades. And we talk to an American business owner who is deeply worried about what these tariffs mean for his company’s survival. Kate Linebaugh hosts. Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Further Listening: - The Trade War With China Is On - Trump’s Tariff Whiplash Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What announcement did President Trump make in the Rose Garden?
It was an overcast, windy day at the White House yesterday, and a crowd gathered in the Rose Garden.
There was a brass band playing behind us, reporters, as the president was about to enter the Rose Garden.
That's our colleague Brian Schwartz. He was there for a big event. So were cabinet members, Republican senators, and union workers in hard hats.
Thank you. Nice crowd. What a good-looking group of people. Well, we have some very, very good news today.
It was pretty surreal. It was very kind of regal with this kind of blue-collar feel. There were American flags draped behind the president while he was speaking.
My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day. Waiting for a long time. April 2nd, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn.
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Chapter 2: How do the new tariffs affect the global economy?
Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on dozens of countries, from allies to adversaries, in a bid to reinvigorate U.S. manufacturing. But these tariffs have sent markets into a tailspin as businesses, governments, and investors digest an escalating global trade war. In one word, what could these tariffs mean for the global economy?
Well, I don't know if it's one word, but one phrase, short-term pain. That is what the administration concedes could happen.
So short-term pain, I translate that into significant losses in the stock market, maybe some companies having some struggles with their earnings, and maybe some companies deciding that there may have to be some cuts, job cuts, because they have to figure out how to navigate these new trade waters post-Trump's announcement.
Chapter 3: Why is Trump's tariff announcement considered historic?
How historic is this moment?
It's a big deal. It is an attempt to reorient the global trade order. I mean, there is no disputing that.
Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Kate Linebaugh. It's Thursday, April 3rd. Coming up on the show, a new era in U.S. trade policy.
I'd like to see the chart, if you have it. Could you bring it up, Howard?
In the Rose Garden, Trump held up this big poster that had a long list of countries on it.
We didn't want to bring—it's very windy out here. We didn't want to bring out the big charts because it had no chance of standing.
Yeah, the poster was a list of different countries. China, I believe, was at the top. The European Union, I remember the first few. The European Union was at the top. This is what Trump was trying to emphasize. And it was all a list of the tariffs they're going to levy on goods coming from those countries and regions of the world.
And at the time, reporters were given this pamphlet of not just that chart, but pages worth of tariffs that the president was moving to initiate on countries around the world. It was stunning because, you know, when I think back at it, I had never seen anything like this before.
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Chapter 4: What are the specifics of Trump's new tariff strategy?
I don't think any of us had seen something like this before, from a president to come out on stage, particularly a Republican president, and say, hey, this is what we're going to do to countries all over the place. It was a really fascinating and historic moment for governance in this country.
Was the scope of the tariffs he announced surprising?
Yes, it was. I mean, the thing is, you know, as we were reporting this out, there were a bunch of different options we were aware of coming into this. We were aware of this idea where the president was considering a 20 percent or thereabouts universal tariff rate where a vast majority of countries would get hit with one tariff rate. Then the another option was to do this reciprocal type tariff.
And so they kind of ended up doing a little bit of both. They had a bunch of countries that got hit with a standard 10 percent tariff. So that's kind of like a universal tariff. But then others, including China and the European Union, were hit with much higher tariffs than that. And that, in my view, is what I would define as a nuclear option.
That would be basically he went full bore with both ideas, combined them into one, and let them loose at the Rose Garden at the White House.
Trump sees reciprocal tariffs as a kind of tit-for-tat tariff.
In other words, they charge us, we charge them, we charge them less, so how can anybody be upset?
The reciprocal tariff on China was set at 34%. For the EU, it's 20%. And on Japan, 24%, just to name a few. The administration says these tariffs were calculated to balance trade deficits. One thing he said is... You know, other countries have been sort of feasting on the U.S. economy while hollowing it out. And he wants to make them pay.
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Chapter 5: What are Trump's long-term goals with the new tariffs?
For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike.
He's not entirely wrong about that. We have been involved with some trade deals that have been a little controversial over the years. The original NAFTA was, you know, from the critics' view, a hit on the middle class because it did start to kind of, in theory, force some companies to start buying making goods overseas.
And so I do think he has a point where countries have been relying on these trade deals that at times have not always benefited the United States and have benefited other countries more. And they have at certain times seen U.S. companies deploy jobs to other nations.
And he's right where, you know, that has kind of been a detriment at certain points to the middle class and to workers across the country.
What are Trump's policy goals with these tariffs?
The president doesn't seem to buy the theory that tariffs will hurt the economy at least long term. He might can see there could be some short term pain and he believes the American people will rally around him for that. But he does not believe that there will be an impact on the price of goods, particularly long term. And what he does believe is
is that these tariffs, this is a vision he's had for the country, will start to help the middle class that it will bring back jobs that went overseas, that we will have more American-made goods here and less of a focus on imports. That is how he's been thinking for years.
For years?
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Chapter 6: How do Trump's trade views date back to the 1980s?
Years.
How far back does this go?
The 80s. He has believed that the country has been ripped off by other countries.
Here's Trump on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1988.
We let Japan come in and dump everything right into our markets and everything. It's not free trade. If you ever go to Japan right now and try to sell something, forget about it, Oprah. Just forget about it. It's almost impossible.
So he is trying to move ahead with this broad vision of reorienting trade that we know here in the United States. And he's had this belief system for the past at least 40 years.
And in the Rose Garden event, he listed off several companies that have pledged to build factories in the U.S., billions and billions of dollars. Does that mean this policy is achieving its aims?
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Chapter 7: Are the tariffs leading to more U.S. manufacturing?
I'm not sure if it's achieving the aims. I think—well, think about this for a minute. You know, this is another way to look at it. There are companies that have said, we're gonna come build a plant in the United States. We're going to invest more money into the United States. What they haven't said is we're gonna close up shop and move a bulk of our production to the United States.
That is a critical difference. The reason I'm saying it like that is because despite the fact that these companies have said they are going to make more things in the United States, the president still moved ahead with the tariffs anyway. It's interesting.
It's like he's saying, I want more things to be made in the United States, but it also seems like whatever has happened so far with these companies isn't enough.
For months, companies have been sort of dealing with the uncertainty of tariffs? And, you know, for better or worse, now we have the answers. Will that help companies make decisions?
Well, I don't think it gives corporate America really much of a leg to stand on. What are they supposed to do? I mean, what is the answer to this? I mean, so many of these executives have gone and bent the knee to the president and have done at least a version of what he has asked them to do. I get it, but... Look at what the White House has been touting.
I mean, they're the ones touting these investments by other countries from the president's pressure campaign. Like, I don't know what else they can do to adapt to this than what they're doing now.
After the break, how the world is reacting to Trump's Liberation Day. When you heard what was announced, what was your immediate reaction?
Dismay, anger, disbelief, sadness, scratch in my head.
Right after Trump's announcement, we called up Steve Greenspawn. Steve owns a company called Honey Can Do that makes household goods. He sells to major retailers like Walmart and Target. We also spoke to him last month. Steve used to manufacture most of his goods in China.
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