Trump to Announce Tariffs at Rose Garden Event on ‘Liberation Day’

President Donald Trump will announce his reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday, or “Liberation Day,” in his administration’s first Rose Garden event of his second term.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Monday that Trump will make his much-anticipated tariff announcement in the Rose Garden.

“On Wednesday, it will be Liberation Day in America, as President Trump has so proudly dubbed it. The Cabinet will be here for the event. It will be our first Rose Garden event of this administration,” Leavitt told reporters outside the West Wing.

“The President will be announcing a tariff plan that will roll back the unfair trade practices that have been ripping off our country for decades. He’s doing this in the best interests of the American worker,” she said.

When asked how many countries would be hit with reciprocal tariffs, Leavitt said the president would announce the specifics on Wednesday:

I’ll let the President get into the specifics of the announcement, but he has a brilliant team of trade advisors. You have Secretary Bessent, Secretary Lutnick, Jamieson Greer, our U.S. Trade Representative Peter Navarro, of course, and Kevin Hassett here at the White House, Stephen Miller as well, the Vice President has been deeply involved in these conversations.

Leavitt also underscored trade imbalances when asked if countries that are facing reciprocal tariffs could take action to stave them off.

“Unfortunately, these countries have been ripping off our country for far too long, and they’ve made, I think, their disdain for the American worker quite clear,” she said.

Leavitt pointed to a 50 percent tariff on American-produced dairy products imposed by the European Union, a 700 percent tariff on American-produced rice in Japan, a 100 percent tariff on U.S. Agricultural imports in India, and Canada’s 300 percent tariffs on American butter and cheese.

“This makes it virtually impossible for American products to be imported into these markets, and it has put a lot of Americans out of business and out of work over the past several decades, so it’s time for reciprocity,” she said.

Trump’s temporary exemption of 25 percent tariffs on goods under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is also set to expire on Wednesday.