Trump's 2025 Tariff Offensive Rattles Global Trade and Rewires the U.S. Economy

Since returning to the White House in January 2025, President Donald Trump has wasted no time reasserting his "America First" doctrine.

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In a second-term agenda even more aggressive than his first, Trump has restructured key pillars of U.S. domestic and foreign policy. From tightening immigration enforcement and pushing through sweeping deregulation efforts to rolling back climate initiatives and slashing federal funding to global institutions, his administration has been marked by a forceful pivot toward economic nationalism.

Central to this vision is Trump's trade agenda, culminating in what he calls "Liberation Day" April 2, 2025 - when he declared a national economic emergency and enacted a farreaching series of tariffs aimed at curbing the U.S. trade deficit and "reclaiming American sovereignty." While Trump insists these moves are long overdue, critics argue that the new tariffs risk destabilizing the global economy, inflaming diplomatic tensions, and inflicting long-term damage on American consumers and industries alike.

The "Liberation Day" tariffs consist of a universal 10% duty on all imports, regardless of origin, effective April 5. But that was only the beginning. On April 9, a secondary layer of "reciprocal fairness" tariffs kicked in, imposing country-specific rates based on perceived trade imbalances and unfair practices. China is now subject to a staggering 145% tariff, while the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea all face hikes ranging between 15% to 50%.

President Trump, flanked by economic advisors during the White House announcement, declared, "For decades, our workers were sold out by politicians who cowered to foreign interests. Today, we end the era of economic surrender." However, the international reaction was anything but passive.