President Donald Trump was set to officially begin levying higher import taxes on dozens of countries Thursday, just as the economic fallout of his monthslong tariff threats has begun to create visible damage for the US economy.
The White House said that starting just after midnight that goods from more than 60 countries and the European Union would face tariff rates of 10 percent or higher.
Products from the European Union, Japan and South Korea will be taxed at 15 percent, while imports from Taiwan, Vietnam and Bangladesh will be taxed at 20 percent.
For places such as the EU, Japan and South Korea, Trump also expects them to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the US.
“I think the growth is going to be unprecedented,” Trump said Wednesday afternoon.
He added that the US was “taking in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs,” but he couldn’t provide a specific figure for revenues because “we don’t even know what the final number is” regarding tariff rates.
Despite the uncertainty, the Trump White House is confident that the onset of his broad tariffs will provide clarity about the path of the world’s largest economy.
Now that companies understand the direction the US is headed, the administration believes they can ramp up new investments and jump-start hiring in ways that can rebalance the US economy as a manufacturing power.
But so far, there are signs of self-inflicted wounds to America as companies and consumers alike brace for the impact of new taxes.
What the data has shown is a US economy that changed in April with Trump’s initial rollout of tariffs, an event that led to market drama, a negotiating period and Trump’s ultimate decision to start his universal tariffs on Thursday.
After April, economic reports show that hiring began to stall, inflationary pressures crept upward and home values in key markets started to decline, said John Silvia, CEO of Dynamic Economic Strategy.
“A less productive economy requires fewer workers,” Silvia said in an analysis note. “But there is more, the higher tariff prices lower workers’ real wages. The economy has become less productive, and firms cannot pay the same real wages as before. Actions have consequences.”
Even then, the ultimate transformations of the tariffs are unknown and could play out over months, if not years.
Many economists say the risk is that the American economy is steadily eroded rather than collapsing instantly.
“We all want it to be made for television where it’s this explosion — it’s not like that,” said Brad Jensen, a professor at Georgetown University. “It’s going to be fine sand in the gears and slow things down.”
Trump has promoted the tariffs as a way to reduce the persistent trade deficit. But importers sought to avoid the taxes by importing more goods before the taxes went into effect.
As a result, the $582.7 billion trade imbalance for the first half of the year was 38 percent higher than in 2024.