US President Donald Trump was poised to impose sweeping new reciprocal tariffs on global trading partners on Wednesday, upending decades of rules-based trade, threatening cost increases and likely drawing retaliation from all sides.

Details of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff plans were still being formulated and closely held ahead of a White House Rose Garden announcement ceremony scheduled for 4pm Eastern Time (1am PKT).

The new duties are due to take effect immediately after Trump announces them, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday, while a separate 25 per cent global tariff on auto imports will take effect on April 3.

Trump for weeks has said his reciprocal tariff plans are a move to equalise generally lower US tariff rates with those charged by other countries and counteract their non-tariff barriers that disadvantage US exports. But the format of the duties was unclear amid reports that Trump was considering a 20pc universal tariff.

A former Trump first-term trade official told Reuters that Trump was more likely to impose comprehensive tariff rates on individual countries at somewhat lower levels.

The former official added that the........

© Dawn Business