A handful of Republican senators told NBC News tonight that Trump's decision to place tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories could lead to short-term pain for U.S. consumers in the form of higher prices.

“Sometimes in business you have to have short-term pain to have long-term gain, and we don’t think this is even going to be that long of a short term, if it is at all. We trust the president,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said Trump acted "pretty responsibly" in implementing the tariffs but still acknowledged "there could be short-term pain" in response to the import penalties.

"I’m looking forward to seeing how they work. We already have countries that have approached the president to say: 'We want to work with you. We’ll lower our tariffs, if you lower yours,'" Lummis said.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La, said he's confident Trump will reconsider the tariffs if there's a significant impact on U.S. consumers.

Trump’s sweeping tariffs announced today stretched across the globe, including the remote Heard and McDonald Islands, which are populated by zero humans but lots of seals and penguins.

Despite having no apparent exports or imports, the subantarctic islands, which are an external territory of Australia, will be subject to a 10% tariff, according to a document provided by the White House during Trump’s tariff announcement today.

Other tiny nations and territories were also hit with 10% tariffs including Tokelau, a dependent territory of New Zealand, with a population of around 1,600 people, and the Cocos Islands, another territory of Australia, with a population of around 600 people.

JP Morgan chief economist Michael Feroli said in a note that Trump's tariffs would bring in considerable revenue but at the expense of higher prices that could hit consumer purchasing power.

"On a static basis, today’s announcement would raise just under $400 billion in revenue, or about 1.3% of GDP, which would be the largest tax increase since the Revenue Act of 1968," he wrote. "We estimate that today’s announced measures could boost PCE prices by 1-1.5% this year, and we believe the inflationary effects would mostly be realized in the middle quarters of the year."

He continued: "The resulting hit to purchasing power could take real disposable personal income growth in 2Q-3Q into negative territory, and with it the risk that real consumer spending could also contract in those quarters. This impact alone could take the economy perilously close to slipping into recession."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned countries hit by Trump's new tariffs not to retaliate.

"I wouldn’t try to retaliate," Bessent said in an interview this evening with Bloomberg Television. "As long as you don’t retaliate, this is the high end of the number."

He repeated the sentiment on Fox News, saying any retaliation would result in heightened tariffs from the United States.

"Do not retaliate," he said. "If you retaliate, there will be escalation."

Mike Pence is not a fan of Trump’s new tariffs.

The former vice president posted on the social platform X, “The Trump Tariff Tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history.”

“These Tariffs are nearly 10x the size of those imposed during the Trump-Pence Administration and will cost American families over $3,500 per year,” Pence wrote.

Pence was once among Trump’s fiercest loyalists. The pair have feuded since Pence refused to heed Trump’s calls to ignore the Constitution and attempt to help overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

A pivotal group of Senate Republicans delivered a symbolic rebuke to President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canadian products as he escalated his broader trade war Wednesday.

The Senate voted 51-48 to pass a Democratic resolution to block Trump’s Canadian tariffs from taking effect. Four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine; Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky; and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — joined all Democrats in supporting the measure.

The resolution, authored by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is not expected to go anywhere in the House. But it was notable several Republicans broke with Trump the day he announced a new set of sweeping tariffs, which the White House billed as "Liberation Day."

“If these tariffs go into effect, it will be so harmful," Collins said in a speech on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. "And as price hikes always do, they will hurt those the most who can afford them the least.”

Global markets reacted sharply and swiftly after President Donald Trump revealed his much-anticipated tariff plans Wednesday, with investors fleeing U.S. stock indexes and companies that rely on global supply chains seeing their stocks plummet.

S&P 500 futures, which indicate where it will likely open on Thursday, plunged 3.5%. Nasdaq 100 futures sold off by more than 4.3%, and Dow futures slid about 1,000 points or 2.3%.

Those indices just endured their worst quarter in years in large part because of growing concern about the economic impacts of Trump's expected tariff plan.

But initial market indications early Wednesday evening were that many investors had expected Trump's tariffs to be far less expansive. In addition to a flat 10% tariff on all trading partners, Trump announced reciprocal tariffs that would tax many trading partners at levels in excess of 20%.

"President Trump just finished his tariff speech at the White House and we would characterize this slate of tariffs as 'worse than the worst case scenario' the Street was fearing," wrote Dan Ives, an analyst at the investment firm Wedbush Securities, in a note sent Wednesday.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, seen as close to Trump, said today that tariffs introduced by his administration were “wrong” and would not benefit the United States. 

“We will do everything we can to work towards an agreement with the United States, with the goal of avoiding a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favor of other global players,” she said in a statement on Facebook. 

“In any case, as always, we will act in the interest of Italy and its economy, also engaging with other European partners,” she added.

Retailers and brands have turned to Vietnam to manufacture goods from sneakers to couches while moving some or all production out of China.

For years, China’s southern neighbor became a popular alternative for companies trying to avoid the crossfire of U.S. trade tensions with Beijing. Now, as President Donald Trump expands his tariff targets, they can no longer steer clear.

Trump said he will put a 46% duty on imports from Vietnam as part of a new wave of global levies announced Wednesday. That could soon raise costs for major corporations in the apparel, furniture and toy space, and some of them may pass those increases to consumers in the form of price hikes. The tariffs on Vietnam take effect on April 9.

Read the full CNBC story here

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed to Bloomberg News that goods brought in from China would be now facing an effective tariff rate of 54% — the sum of its newly imposed 34% rate plus the 20% rate Trump has already instituted against it during his new administration.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., said the tariffs are “part of the chaos and dysfunction” being generated across the Trump administration.

The chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee stressed that Trump should not have the sole authority to raise taxes as he intends without getting lawmakers' approval, saying that Republicans so far have been “blindly loyal.”

“The president shouldn’t be able to do that," DelBene said. "This is a massive tax increase on American families, and it’s without a vote in Congress ... President Trump promised on the campaign trail that he would lower costs on day one. Now he says he doesn’t care if prices go up — he’s broken his promise.”

Trump is basing the reciprocal tariff rates on how much other countries tax U.S. exports, “including currency manipulation and trade barriers.”

In its last report published November 2024, the U.S Treasury did not designate any countries as currency manipulators, let alone those published on the list shown by Trump in the Rose Garden. Even during Trump’s first administration, China was designated as a currency manipulator before being de-designated as one due to “enforceable commitments to refrain from competitive devaluation.”

It’s unclear how the White House translated “currency manipulation and trade barriers” into tariff rates, but the White House told reporters those numbers were calculated by the Council of Economic Advisors, headed by Stephen Miran.

Markets plunged in after-hours trading, as Trump held a poster up listing various tariff levels for U.S. trading partners.

The ETF (exchange-traded fund) that tracks the broad-based S&P 500 dropped more than 2.3% and the ETF tracking the Nasdaq 100 plunged more than 3.1% in volatile trading. The Dow ETF also slid more than 420 points.

That will apply to countries that the administration has said has lower monetary and "nonmonetary" barriers than most of America's largest trading partners.

But by including "nonmonetary" tariffs, Trump is charging new tariff rates of as much as 49% on other nations. That rate is being charged to Cambodia.

For China — 34%.

For India — 26%.

For the European Union — 20%

It was not immediately clear whether those tariffs would be applied on all products or targeted at products on which those countries levy tariffs against the U.S.

Trump had foreshadowed those duties last week. Tariffs on foreign-made auto parts are also expected.

Trump's speech is under way and he's started off with some of his most assertive rhetoric.

Trump said it will be the day American industry "will be reborn," touting a new "golden age of America."

Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that he's made a deal with the law firm Milbank, which he said will perform at least $100 million in pro bono services during his administration on initiatives supported by him and the firm.

The post provided a press release that said that some of the initiatives the firm could work on include: "Assisting Veterans and other Public Servants, including members of the Military, Law Enforcement, and First Responders; Ensuring fairness in our Justice System; and Combatting Antisemitism."

"Our pro bono Committee will include Partners at the Firm with diverse political ideologies to ensure that pro bono matters are consistent with the objectives of the Firm, and that our pro bono practices represent the full political spectrum, including Conservative ideals," it said.

The release also said that Milbank will "not engage in illegal DEI discrimination and preferences."

Milbank didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The firm was not among the law firms that Trump has already targeted through executive orders.

Trump has said tariffs on pharmaceutical products imported into the U.S. were coming soon, but it is not clear if they will be announced at the White House event.

Those potential tariffs would likely drive up U.S. drug prices for patients because even if companies moved to produce those medications domestically, it would take years and cost more than producing medicines abroad, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger said in a note last week. 

Predicting the potential impact of tariffs on pharmaceutical companies is difficult since they have vast and complex manufacturing networks with multiple steps, sometimes in different geographies, TD Cowen analyst Steve Scala said in a note.

But Scala said Eli Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb and AbbVie appear better positioned than others to weather tariffs because they have more major manufacturing plants in the U.S. than internationally.

The Trump administration is imposing 25% tariffs on beer and empty aluminum cans, according to a notice published today by the Commerce Department.

The notice said that the U.S. would begin collecting duties on the tariffs starting at 12:01 a.m. on Friday.

The move is part of a modification made to previously imposed tariffs by the Trump administration on aluminum imports.

President Donald Trump says executive orders targeting law firms are being issued in the name of national security, with the White House asserting that the firms don’t deserve access to sensitive U.S. government information.

But the firms fear the orders are written so broadly as to potentially weaken national security by calling into question the status of security clearances of lawyers who, in addition to their legal practice, serve as military reservists and require their clearances to report to duty.

It’s an example of the sweeping and sometimes unintended consequences of White House efforts to reshape civil society, with those affected in some instances not necessarily being the ones who were top of mind when the Trump administration announced the actions.

A White House spokesman pointed to the provision of the order saying the clearances are to be suspended “pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest.”

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

A senior White House official confirmed to NBC News that Trump told his Cabinet members that Elon Musk would be leaving his government role in the coming months.

Trump discussed Musk transitioning back to the private sector at his March 24 Cabinet meeting behind closed doors, the official told NBC News. Politico first reported the discussion.

At the end of that meeting, cameras were brought in and Trump called Musk a “patriot.”

Read the full story here.

Consumers are hitting the gas on car purchases to head off expected price hikes from the Trump administration’s new tariffs, which threaten to reverse recent momentum in auto sales.

Major automakers, including Detroit-based General Motors and South Korea’s Hyundai, reported robust double-digit U.S. sales growth in the first quarter. Japanese brands Nissan, Toyota and Honda each reported more modest gains, while Jeep-maker Stellantis and Ford saw declines.

President Donald Trump announced last week that he’s slapping all foreign vehicles with a 25% tariff starting at 12:01 a.m. ET on Thursday, with imported auto parts facing the same levies no later than May 3. The president told NBC News last weekend that he “couldn’t care less” if automakers raise prices as a result. And on Wednesday afternoon, he’s set to open a vast new front in his ongoing trade war, with reciprocal tariffs aimed at equalizing trade barriers around the world, potentially on “all countries.”

News of Trump’s dizzying range of import taxes has piled up for months ahead of his auto tariffs rollout, spurring some shoppers to head to dealership lots before sticker prices rise.

Read the full NBC News story here.

The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on a resolution of disapproval on Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports, led by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., which could mark a significant rebuke to the president.

The measure, which would terminate the national emergency Trump used to pursue the tariffs, needs a simple majority of 51 votes to pass. The chamber is split between 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats. If Democrats unify, then they need just four Republicans to pass it.

“Many of my Republican colleagues in Congress have already expressed concerns about these tariffs, so the Senate’s upcoming vote on our legislation provides senators with the perfect opportunity to show Americans that they will stand up for their constituents and reverse the President’s disastrous economic policies,” Kaine said.

With the White House offering only breadcrumbs in the hours leading up to Trump’s tariff announcement, uncertainty is weighing on both consumers and businesses.

The pace of sales over the past week has more than doubled at a Subaru dealership in Skokie, Illinois, as people rush in to buy cars before new tariffs go into effect, according to general manager Jeremy Gleason.

Also getting a head start on the looming tariff deadline: A furniture store in Pomona, New York, is already ordering for Christmas despite not being sure what it’s going to end up costing.

“Doesn’t that sound stupid?” Stuart Leventhal, owner of the Down to Earth Living, told NBC News. “It’s an uneasy time because there seems to be no certainty. No certainty with respect to what the costs of goods are, and no certainty as to where the policies are taking us.” 

Trump announced a 25% tariff on all auto imports, including cars built in Mexico and Canada. But even if you aren’t in the market to buy a new car, you may still feel the impact. Edmunds’ head of insights Jessica Caldwell shares what you need to know.

President Donald Trump is set to unveil his long-promised reciprocal tariffs on foreign adversaries and allies that are set to go into effect immediately once they are announced on today. It comes as he ramps up cuts to the federal workforce with about 10,000 jobs eliminated across the Department of Health and Human Services.

NBC’s Peter Alexander reports for TODAY.

Tariffs aren't the only big business story for the Trump administration this week. The president will meet with Vice President JD Vance and other aides today to talk about a potential deal for the U.S. operations of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok.

President Joe Biden signed a TikTok ban into law last year, citing national security concerns, but his administration refrained from enforcing it. Then, as Trump took office in January, he signed an order that extended a deal deadline until this weekend. He's also said he could extend the deadline yet again.

But Trump also said that he could tie TikTok negotiations to trade talks with China. A week ago, the president floated a potential "little reduction in tariffs" if China's government agreed to a deal. China has so far been Trump's biggest trade war target, layering 20% tariffs on top of already-active duties on the nation's imports into the U.S.

A number of congressional Republicans are publicly voicing concern over the potential for a prolonged trade war and its effect on American farmers as Trump prepares to announce a new wave of tariffs.

House Agriculture Committee chair Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., told NBC News that he has asked the White House to exempt certain goods that are important to the U.S. agricultural industry, such as fertilizer and peat moss.

“I’ve kind of pointed out the things that I’m hoping will be excluded,” he said. “I talk with anybody who will listen to me. ... They’ve been really good about input.”

Thompson also said he hopes Congress won’t need to bail out farmers with an emergency aid package, as it did during the first Trump administration. But, he said, “we’ll be prepared to do that” again if needed.

As the threat of tariffs looms large in capitals around the world, many trading partners have already retaliated or vowed to respond to Trump’s tariffs. China has imposed retaliatory tariffs as high as 15% on some U.S. agricultural products, such as chicken, wheat, soybeans, pork, fruits and dairy products.

Trump’s tariffs have been applied in an on-again-off-again way. So what tariffs are currently in effect? As of yesterday morning, a 25% tariff on goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal are in effect. A 10% tariff on goods from China, on top of various tariffs already imposed on Chinese goods, plus a 25% tariff on worldwide steel and aluminum imports are in place.

The United States has more than 200 trading partners and 12,500 different tariff categories, so, according to analysts at UBS, there could be up to 2.5 million tariff and country combinations.

President Trump is set to announce new tariffs on potentially hundreds of U.S. trading partners in a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House on Wednesday. The White House press secretary says the new tariffs will go into effect immediately.

NBC News’ Christine Romans reports on how businesses have been dealing with the uncertainty of what is to come.

It’s been four months since Henry Barnes, the mayor of this struggling fishing village in southern Alabama, wrote to Donald Trump for help.  

A flood of cheap imported shrimp is killing the local seafood market, he wrote, thanks to “low and non-existent tariffs.” He invited Trump, for whom he voted, to come visit Bayou La Batre, known as Alabama’s Seafood Capital. 

But thus far he hasn’t heard back. “He’ll eventually get around to us,” said Barnes, a third-generation net-maker. “I mean, we’re just a small town.” 

Like many shrimpers in this town of roughly 2,000, Barnes hopes Wednesday might bring some relief. Trump has dubbed it “Liberation Day,” and the administration is expected to roll out a broader tariff strategy, the details of which remain unclear. A White House official said “it is considering a range of imports that are undermining American producers.” 

Read the full story here.

President Donald Trump is set to announce a sweeping plan Wednesday to place tariffs on potentially trillions of dollars’ worth of goods imported into the United States.

While it’s still unclear how much the tariffs will be and how many countries and products will be affected, Trump has dubbed the move “Liberation Day” and claimed his expansive use of tariffs will revamp the U.S. economy by increasing domestic manufacturing and generating trillions of dollars in revenue for the federal government.

But economists, investors and business executives warn that Trump’s tariff ambitions risk raising U.S. prices, slowing economic growth and tipping the United States into a recession. Stocks have been falling in the run-up to the announcement, with major market indexes having their worst start to a year since 2022.

Read the full NBC News article here.