In his tariff announcement, President Trump claimed that his tariffs would help the U.S. reclaim its destiny.
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NewsTranscript
00:00A good-looking group of people.
00:01Well, we have some very, very good news today,
00:04and a lot of good things are happening for our country.
00:07Please sit down.
00:10My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day.
00:13I've been waiting for a long time.
00:15April 2nd, 2025, will forever be remembered
00:21as the day American industry was reborn,
00:25the day America's destiny was reclaimed,
00:28and the day that we began to make America wealthy again.
00:33We're going to make it wealthy, good and wealthy.
00:36For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged,
00:40raped, and plundered by nations near and far,
00:43both friend and foe alike.
00:46American steelworkers, autoworkers, farmers,
00:49and skilled craftsmen —
00:50we have a lot of them here with us today —
00:53they really suffered gravely.
00:55They watched in anguish as foreign leaders
00:58have stolen our jobs,
01:00foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories,
01:03and foreign scavengers have torn apart
01:06our once-beautiful American dream.
01:08We had an American dream that you don't hear so much about.
01:11You did four years ago, and you are now.
01:14But you don't too often, and for many years and decades even,
01:17you didn't hear too much about.
01:20Our country and its taxpayers have been ripped off
01:22for more than 50 years.
01:24But it is not going to happen anymore.
01:28It's not going to happen.
01:29In a few moments, I will sign a historic executive order
01:37instituting reciprocal tariffs
01:40on countries throughout the world.
01:42Reciprocal — that means they do it to us,
01:45and we do it to them.
01:47Very simple. Can't get any simpler than that.
01:53This is one of the most important days,
01:55in my opinion, in American history.
01:59It's our declaration of economic independence.
02:03For years, hardworking American citizens
02:05were forced to sit on the sidelines
02:07as other nations got rich and powerful,
02:10much of it at our expense.
02:13But now it's our turn to prosper,
02:15and in so doing, use trillions and trillions of dollars
02:19to reduce our taxes and pay down our national debt.
02:22And it will all happen very quickly.
02:25With today's action, we are finally going to be able
02:28to make America great again — greater than ever before.
02:32Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country,
02:41and you see it happening already.
02:43We will supercharge our domestic industrial base.
02:47We will pry open foreign markets
02:49and break down foreign trade barriers.
02:52And ultimately, more production at home
02:54will mean stronger competition and lower prices for consumers.
02:58This will be, indeed, the golden age of America.
03:02It's coming back, and we're going to come back very strongly.
03:05We're pleased to be joined on this momentous occasion
03:13by Vice President J.D. Vance.
03:15J.D., thank you. Thank you.
03:18Thank you very much. Where are you, J.D.?
03:23No, that's — that wasn't too hard to find.
03:26I was looking.
03:28You know, he likes to take a low-key attitude,
03:30so usually we sit right in front.
03:32He's gaining a lot of confidence, Mike, isn't he?
03:35And nearly my entire Cabinet is here,
03:38as well as Speaker Mike Johnson, who's done an amazing job.
03:42And with the great success we had last night in Florida,
03:49we have a majority of seven.
03:52And seven is like a lot when we had it at one, right?
03:55You've done a fantastic job.
03:57And many of the members of the House and Senate are with us.
04:01Senators, congressmen, thank you all for being with us.
04:03We appreciate it.
04:05For decades, the United States slashed our trade barriers
04:08on other countries,
04:09while those nations placed massive tariffs on our products
04:13and created outrageous non-monetary barriers
04:17to decimate our industries.
04:19And in many cases, the non-monetary barriers
04:21were worse than the monetary ones.
04:24They manipulated their currencies,
04:26subsidized their exports, stole our intellectual property,
04:30imposed exorbitant VAT taxes to disadvantage our products,
04:35adopted unfair rules and technical standards,
04:38and created filthy pollution havens.
04:41They were absolutely filthy, but they always came to us
04:45and they said, we're violating, we should pay for it.
04:48It's all detailed in a very big report
04:50by the U.S. Trade Representative on Foreign Trade Barriers.
04:55And I'll just hold it up for you.
04:57It's available, and you don't have to pay too much.
05:00As I understand it, you'll pay nothing.
05:02It's a lot of work.
05:04A lot of work for something, actually,
05:06because it's a special book.
05:09Frankly, it's very upsetting when you read it,
05:12when you see what people have been doing to us for 30 years.
05:16This all happened with no response
05:18from the United States of America, none whatsoever.
05:21But those days are over.
05:23Let me offer just a few examples of the vicious attacks
05:27our workers have faced for so many years.
05:31The United States charges other countries
05:33only a 2.4 tariff on motorcycles.
05:38Meanwhile, Thailand and others are charging much higher prices,
05:43like 60 percent.
05:44India charges 70 percent.
05:46Vietnam charges 75 percent,
05:49and others are even higher than that.
05:51Likewise, until today, the United States has, for decades,
05:55charged a 2.5 tariff.
05:58Think of that, 2.5 percent on foreign-made automobiles.
06:03The European Union charges us more than 10 percent tariffs,
06:07and they have 20 percent VATs.
06:10Much, much higher.
06:11India charges 70 percent.
06:13And perhaps worst of all are the non-monetary restrictions
06:17imposed by South Korea, Japan, and very many other nations.
06:21As a result of these colossal trade barriers,
06:2581 percent of the cars in South Korea are made in South Korea.
06:29Ninety-four percent of the cars in Japan are made in Japan.
06:34Toyota sells 1 million foreign-made automobiles
06:37into the United States,
06:39and General Motors sells almost none.
06:42Ford sells very little.
06:43None of our companies are allowed to go into other countries.
06:48And I say that, friend and foe.
06:50And in many cases, the friend is worse than the foe,
06:53in terms of trade.
06:55But such horrendous imbalances have devastated our industrial base
06:59and put our national security at risk.
07:02I don't blame these other countries at all for this calamity.
07:05I blame former presidents and past leaders
07:08who weren't doing their job.
07:09They let it happen.