WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump says he does not intend on creating exemptions on sweeping steel and aluminum tariffs and reaffirmed that additional duties will go into effect early next month.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One late Sunday, Trump said 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported into the U.S., which went into effect last week, are here to stay. He added that reciprocal and sectorial tariffs will kick in on April 2, which he referred to as a “liberating day.”
“They charge us, and we charge them,” he said, referring to the reciprocal tariffs. “Then, in addition to that, on autos, on steel, on aluminum, we’re going to have some additional tariffs.”
Trump raised tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to a flat 25%, without exemptions or exceptions, in a move that was designed to help U.S. industry while contributing to an escalating trade war.
After these tariffs were imposed, Canada and the European Union retaliated with countermeasures on U.S. exports. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said said her government will wait for a possible resolution in coming weeks before deciding on retaliation.
The back-and-forth has sparked uncertainty that has driven U.S. stocks lower and fueled fears of a recession. Adding to those fears were Trump and members of his Cabinet declining to rule out a possible recession.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said there are “no guarantees” the U.S. will evade a recession, adding to unease and uncertainty regarding the economic impact of the escalating trade war.
In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Bessent did not rule out a broad decline in economic activity, saying: “You know that there are no guarantees. Like, who would have predicted COVID, right?”
Bessent, addressing the recent market volatility, said corrections are healthy and added that the U.S. economy will continue to grow over the long term.
“I’m not worried about the markets,” he said. “Over the long term, if we put good tax policy in place, deregulation and energy security, the markets will do great.”
The Trump administration’s latest rounds of layoffs and spending cuts have gutted multiple U.S.-backed news outlets, many of which report in countries under authoritarian rule.
On Friday, Trump signed an executive order placing on leave nearly all employees at the government-funded international news broadcast service Voice of America.
Misha Komadovsky, the White House correspondent for Voice of America, said he and all contractors received emails on Sunday informing them they will terminated effective March 31. Since the executive order was signed, the Voice of America’s broadcasts across the planet have gone silent, and some are replacing the news programming with music.
Meanwhile, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a U.S.-funded media organization providing news coverage in nearly two dozen counties, had its federal grant agreement terminated. The grant funds the organization’s global operations, it said in a statement.
“The cancellation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s grant agreement would be a massive gift to America’s enemies. The Iranian ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years. Handing our adversaries a win would make them stronger and America weaker,” said the organization’s president and CEO Stephen Capus.
“We’ve benefitted from strong bipartisan support throughout RFE/RL’s storied history. Without us, the nearly 50 million people in closed societies who depend on us for accurate news and information each week won’t have access to the truth about America and the world.”
Trump’s tariffs and the ongoing trade war will slow growth in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and drive up inflation, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday.
The global economic policy forum said the impacts of the trade war will be felt in American’s pockets. Higher prices are likely and an economic slowdown will cut into any financial benefit of the duties, OECD said.
The OECD cut its economic growth forecast to 2.2% for this year and 1.6% for 2026. The previous forecast estimated the U.S. economy would grow by 2.4% in 2025 and 2.1% next year.
The forum’s latest outlook takes into account the additional tariffs Trump has vowed to impose on April 2.
A member of the French Parliament has demanded the U.S. return the Statue of Liberty.
Raphaël Glucksmann, head of the center-left political party Place Publique and a fierce critic of Trump, made the comments to his supporters at a conference on Sunday, according to the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Give us back the Statue of Liberty,” he said. “We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty.'”
“We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it,” he added.
A tariff is a form of tax imposed on imports from another country.
Economists generally agree that trade barriers raise consumer prices and negatively impact economic output and income, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax policy nonprofit.
Tariffs create more demand for domestic manufacturers, but those companies are also part of the global supply chain and therefore also impacted by tariffs, experts have previously explained to USA TODAY.
Trump’s motivation for implementing tariffs is to get help from China, Canada and Mexico to curb the flow of migrants and illegal drugs into the U.S. The president has insisted that the countries have not done enough to help address what he sees as core issues for his administration.
– Kinsey Crowley and Jonathan Limehouse
Trump won’t say whether he thinks his sweeping tariff plan could help push the country into a recession. But the threat of tariffs and the-already rising costs of everyday items are raising concerns about where the economy is headed.
A recession could happen if more people are out of work, large companies see lower profits, the stock market slips and home prices tumble, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Generally, a recession is marked by an extended period of many months or more of economic downturn. And even when a recession is acknowledged by experts and officials, not everyone agrees on when it started or when it ends.
− Damon C. Williams, Zachary Schermele
Contributing: Reuters
