President Donald Trump has promised to issue a new round of tariffs on April 2, presenting it as a turning point for the economy weeks after a previous set of tasks in markets and fears of recession incited.
Trump has repeatedly referred to April 2 as a “day of liberation”, saying that an extensive list of reciprocal rates would rebalance US trade relations.
However, Trump’s plan for reciprocal rates is expected next week to be closer than promised previously, although the plan remains in discussion, sources told ABC News this week.
The news of a potentially softer approach to the next rates gathered US actions earlier this week, recovering some of the losses suffered in early March.
While the key details remain unknown, the new tasks would increase the global commercial war, raising the prices of a variety of consumer goods and risking an economic deceleration, experts told ABC News.
“This will certainly be an escalation,” News Mary Lovely, a member of the Peterson Institute for the international economy that studies commercial policy, told ABC. “We know the direction of travel, if this will not come from this.”
This is what the last round of tariffs could mean for prices and the economy, according to experts:
Will tariffs on April 2 increase prices?
By establishing tariffs for April 2, the United States will go to countries that have large commercial imbalances with the United States, fountains said.
“It is 15% of the countries, but it is a lot of our commercial volume,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Besent, last week, describing countries as a “dirty 15”. “
Last year, according to data from the Federal Census, the United States had its highest commercial deficits with China, the European Union, Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Canada and India, among other nations.
Reciprocal tariffs could increase the prices of imported goods from those countries, since importers generally transmit a part of the tax burden on consumers.
Tariffs could increase the prices of furniture and electronics of Vietnam consumption, fresh fruits and vegetables from Mexico, and South Korea cars, they told ABC News.
“This will mean that prices will ultimately increase,” News Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University, told ABC.
The price increase scale will probably depend on the rate established by the Trump administration, which is still clear, experts said.
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with US ambassadors in the White House Cabinet room in Washington, on March 25, 2025.
Mandel and/AFP
Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump said reciprocal tariffs may not reach the rate that countries aimed at US assets.
“I can give many countries in countries,” Trump told journalists in the Oval office. “I am ashamed to charge them what they have accused us.”
Kyle Handley, professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego, said he hopes that consumer prices will increase enough for consumers to identify change.
“Depending on the rate rates that they establish, it could be quite massive,” said Handley. “It will be a non -trivial increase in the price of imports. People will realize.”
What do tariffs mean on April 2 for the economy?
The experts told ABC News that the new tariffs would exert a downward pressure on the economic growth of the United States, since the additional fiscal burden to import companies and the uncertainty about additional tariffs could dissuade the investment of the private sector.
“Much of the uncertainty about tariffs is very likely that companies freeze in their place while waiting to evaluate and see what happens,” said Miller.
Imminent tariffs also run the risk of restlessness among buyers, threatening to undermine a key engine of the US economy, some experts said. The attitudes of consumers worsened more than expected in March, falling to their lower levels since 2021, showed a survey of the Conference Board on Tuesday.
The consumer spending, which represents approximately two thirds of the economic activity of the United States, could weaken if the feeling of agrio buyers, Bret Kenwell, an analyst for US investment in Etoro, told ABC News in a statement.
According to some key measures, however, the economy remains solid. A recent job report showed a constant hiring last month and an historically low unemployment rate. Inflation is well below a peak reached in 2022, although price increases are recorded almost a percentage point higher than the 2%Fed objective.
Even so, the fears of recession are increasing on Wall Street as companies and consumers resist the commercial war. Goldman Sachs earlier this month raised his probabilities of a recession from 15% to 20%. Moody’s Analytics linked the possibilities of a recession during the next year to 35%.
“These tariffs will be very harmful to economic performance and business growth,” said Handley. “It may not take a long time to start seeing some of those effects.”
ABC News Selina Wang contributed to this report.
