President Donald Trump during a Make America Wealthy Again event in the Rose Garden of the White House on April 2, 2025. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Trump also boasted about the benefits of tariffs during his campaign in the election for his first run at president, when he outlined his trade priorities during a June 2016 Pennsylvania speech.
"Our original Constitution did not even have an income tax," Trump said at the event. "Instead, it had tariffs emphasizing taxation of foreign, not domestic, production. Yet today, 240 years after the Revolution, we've turned things completely upside down.
President Donald Trump, left, speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
"For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike," Trump said Wednesday.
Earlier in 2025, the Trump administration imposed up to 25% tariffs on certain goods from Mexico and Canada, as well as a 20% tariff on shipments from China. The White House said that tariffs already imposed on Canada and Mexico will remain in place; however, new tariffs on China will be added on top of existing duties on Beijing.
Tariffs function as a tax that governments collect on foreign goods and services that manufacturers import, and are collected while undergoing customs clearance in foreign ports, according to the International Trade Administration.
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The new tariff plan sets out a baseline duty of 10% on imports to the U.S., while customized tariffs are set for countries, like China, which have higher duties in place on American goods.
"If you want your tariff rate to be zero, then you build your product right here in America," Trump said Wednesday at the White House.
The tariffs are slated to impact a variety of goods, including electronics like iPhones that are predominantly manufactured in China, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. They are also expected to hit goods like wine and other alcohols originating from European Union countries like Italy.
Both parties in Congress have voiced opposition to the new tariffs and have warned that the tariffs will raise prices for American consumers.
For countries considering implementing their own tariffs against U.S. products in retaliation, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a simple message: "Don’t."
"My advice to every country right now: Do not retaliate," Bessent said in a Wednesday interview with Fox News Wednesday. "If you retaliate, there will be escalation."
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/how-we-got-liberation-day-look-trumps-past-comments-tariffs