Tariffs: "Most beautiful word in the dictionary"

Ava Cai

April 11, 2025

“To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff.” This was stated by President Donald Trump at a rally in January. In his speech, he pledged to impose more tariffs as he took on his second presidential term. On January 20th, just hours after his inauguration held in the United States Capitol rotunda, President Trump ordered 25 percent tariffs to be placed on the existing import rates from Canada and Mexico, claiming that both countries were not putting effort into controlling the amount of drugs and migrants coming into the United States. For the next few months, the president has increased tariffs on many countries, escalating global concerns about economic stability and resulting in stock markets dropping at alarming rates. 

On April 2, President Trump introduced “Liberation Day,” which enforces reciprocal tariffs on imports from around 90 countries, claiming that these new taxes are necessary to counter a negative balance of trade between the United States and countries such as China and those of the European Union. 

The reciprocal rates took effect on April 9th and have shocked the European Union both economically and politically. Economically, the 20 percent across-the-board tax will affect two trillion dollars worth of trading goods between the United States and the European Union. This number warns of devastation for European manufacturing and an extended industrial recession. Politically, the tariffs only add another factor to the undermining of trust that the continent has towards its oldest ally. “Liberation Day,” once a positive phrase that reminded of a strong relationship between Europe and the U.S., now warns of a coming tension. 

China has been hit the hardest by “Liberation Day,” with an additional tariff of 34 percent. China describes the tariffs as “self-defeating bullying” and, on April 4, responded with their own 34 percent across-the-board tariff on U.S. goods. Before implementing the new regulations, President Donald Trump had warned of doubling the additional tariffs on any retaliating nation. Thus, when China reciprocated the taxes on U.S. goods, President Trump announced a 90-day pause on all reciprocal tariffs except for China. President Trump also plans on increasing the rates from 104 percent to 125 percent, while every other country will see the rates drop back to a universal 10 percent. He concludes after the announcement, “Nothing’s over yet, but we have a tremendous amount of spirit from other countries, including China. China wants to make a deal, they just don’t know how quite to go about it.”