As markets experienced whiplash after President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on foreign imports—only to then back off some of them— the White House’s comments on “Liberation Day” have flip-flopped over time, raising questions about how much is actually going to plan or a response to plunging markets.
Trump made his first public comments about imposing sweeping tariffs on foreign imports—after already announcing separate tariffs on goods from China, Canada and Mexico—telling reporters he wanted reciprocal tariffs that match the duties countries levy on American goods, saying he wants to make sure “we’re treated evenly” and that “we don’t want any more, any less.”
Trump signed a memorandum directing his administration to fix its “non-reciprocal trade arrangements” with other countries by “determining the equivalent of a reciprocal tariff with respect to each foreign trading partner,” taking into account what tariffs a country levies on American goods, but also related costs like value-added taxes and nontariff trade barriers like regulations that make it harder for the U.S. to import their goods.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters there would be “no exemptions at this time” to Trump’s impending tariffs on foreign goods.
Trump rolled out his tariff policy at a “Liberation Day” event at the White House, releasing details of the plan that showed nearly all countries (even uninhabited ones) facing tariffs ranging from 10% and 50%—but the Trump administration appeared to calculate by just dividing a country’s trade surplus with the U.S. by its export value, rather than the more sophisticated formula the administration claimed (flip-flop No.1 ).
Contrary to Leavitt’s March 31 comments, the executive order imposing the tariffs exempted “copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber articles, certain critical minerals, and energy and energy products” (flip-flop No. 2).
Trump also backtracked on his previous commitment for the U.S. to charge reciprocal tariffs matching the ones other countries impose on American goods, saying in his speech the administration would instead “charge them approximately half of what … [other countries] have been charging us, so the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal,” adding, “I could have done that, I guess, but it would have been tough for a lot of countries and we didn’t want to do that” (flip-flop No. 3).
Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro denied to CNBC that Trump intended to negotiate his tariffs with other countries—saying, “This is not a negotiation. This is not that. This is a national emergency”—after Lutnick told CNN earlier that day Trump was “not going to back off” his tariffs.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One he was open to negotiating the tariffs—less than an hour after Navarro’s comments—saying the U.S. has “great power to negotiate” because of the tariffs and he was open to making a deal “if somebody said that we’re going to give you something that’s so phenomenal, as long as they’re giving us something that’s good” (flip-flop No. 4).
Trump insisted he wouldn’t back off his tariff policy, writing on Truth Social, “TO THE MANY INVESTORS COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES AND INVESTING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF MONEY, MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE.”
Multiple Trump advisers suggested on Sunday shows Trump will not back off his tariffs for the foreseeable future, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent telling “Meet the Press” the tariffs are “not the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks” and Lutnick telling CBS News “there is no postponing” the tariffs taking effect.
Trump aides also suggested the president was open to negotiations, however, with White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett telling ABC News “more than 50 countries” have reached out about starting talks, while Bessent said negotiations were “gonna be a decision for President Trump, but … he’s created maximum leverage for himself” (flip-flop No. 5).
Lutnick seemingly doubled down on tariffs being imposed on smartphone imports, despite the tariffs causing Apple’s stock price to decline, telling CBS, “The army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little, little screws to make iPhones, that kind of thing is going to come to America.”
Trump threatened additional 50% tariffs on China in response to Beijing retaliating against his tariffs and said “all talks” with the country’s government “will be terminated,” but said his administration would begin tariff negotiations “immediately” with other countries that have reached out—with Bessent then confirming shortly after the president had directed him to begin negotiations with Japan.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he was “not looking at” pausing his tariffs, and, when asked if his tariffs were permanent or if they could be negotiated, said, “Both can be true,” adding, “There can be permanent tariffs, and there can also be negotiations.”
The president also insisted he would move forward with his tariff agenda despite them roiling the stock market, saying, “No other president would be willing to do what I’m doing,” but “I don’t mind going through it because I see a beautiful picture at the end.”
Trump trade representative Jamieson Greer testified to the Senate Finance Committee the White House “will have the president’s plan go into effect” on April 9 as scheduled—denying there would be any delay—but the government was “coupling that with immediate negotiations.”
Leavitt told reporters during a press briefing that Trump has directed his trade team to “have tailor-made trade deals with each and every country that calls up this administration to strike a deal,” and emphasized Trump intended to bring manufacturing of tech products to the U.S., saying the president “absolutely” thinks iPhones and other products could be made in the U.S. and Trump “believes we have the labor, we have the workforce, we have the resources to do it.”
Trump told Americans to “BE COOL” after the stock market plunged in response to his tariffs taking effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT, writing on Truth Social, “Everything is going to work out well,” and later urging Americans to buy stock and for companies to move their operations to the U.S.
In a stunning about face, Trump announced on Truth Social he was pausing the worst of his tariffs on most countries for 90 days, though he would continue a baseline 10% tariff rate and raise his tariffs on most Chinese goods by 125%. (flip-flop No. 5).
Trump officials suggested immediately after his announcement the pause was part of the president’s negotiating strategy, with Bessent telling reporters, “This was his strategy all along” and Trump “goaded China into a bad position,” while Leavitt told reporters, “Many of you in the media clearly missed the art of the deal.”
The president almost immediately contradicted those comments, telling reporters later Wednesday he had decided to pause the tariffs because “people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippy,” also saying his plan to pause the tariffs “probably came together early this morning,” after the tariffs had taken effect (flip-flop No. 6).
Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office he still intends to impose additional tariffs on pharmaceuticals as well as semiconductor chips, saying the U.S. will build a chips factory that “will be one of the largest plants in the world” and everything needed in order to approve it will be “done in a matter of months.”
Trump stood by his tariff policy as markets went down again after an initial rally in response to the 90-day pause, saying at a Cabinet meeting, “We think we’re in very good shape. We think we’re doing very well. Again, there’ll be a transition cost and transition problems, but in the end, it’s going to be a beautiful thing.”
Trump told reporters on Air Force One he thinks his 10% baseline tariff rate is likely “the floor,” though there “could be a couple of exceptions,” also saying he’s “very comfortable now” with at least 145% tariffs on Chinese imports while still leaving room for negotiations.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued “Reciprocal Tariff Exclusion” guidance saying smartphones, computers and other electronic devices were now exempt from the tariffs, countering the previous statements from Trump and his officials suggesting they wanted to move such manufacturing to the U.S. (flip-flop No. 7).
The White House said in response to the exemption on tech products the administration still wants to move manufacturing of those products to the U.S., with Leavitt saying in a statement, “President Trump has made it clear America cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops … these companies are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible.”
Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Saturday that he intended to issue more guidance on his approach to semiconductor tariffs on Monday.
Lutnick told ABC’s “This Week” the exemption on semiconductors and other goods is only temporary, claiming Trump is still crafting tariffs on tech goods and pharmaceuticals that will be rolled out “in probably a month or two.”
Trump claimed on Truth Social that contrary to the customs announcment, there was “no Tariff ‘exception’ announced on Friday” and the tariffs on smartphones and other goods are “just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket,’ adding his administration will be “taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations” (flip-flop No. 8).
How much further the Trump administration’s positions could shift. FOX Business reported Sunday there’s “significant division” within the White House over Lutnick’s comments that the tariff exemptions are temporary—though that was prior to Trump’s Truth Social message—and it remains to be seen if further tariffs on critical imports like semiconductors will be imposed in a month or two as the commerce secretary claimed. It also remains to be seen how trade negotiations with dozens of countries will play out over the next few months during the 90-day pause on Trump’s tariffs, and if any countries will have the 10% baseline tariff rate lifted altogether.
Democrats have decried the constant changes in Trump’s tariff policy, which they argue further harm the economy. “The White House has no idea what it’s doing on tariffs and keeps flip flopping. Lutnick now says the tariff exemptions on, for example iPhones, are temporary. Why even do an exemption if you’re going to reverse it soon?” Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., said on X on Sunday. The White House “has no strategy, and is rapidly losing credibility.”
Trump has long touted tariffs as a cornerstone of his policy agenda, making them a centerpiece of his campaign and repeatedly pledging to put them in effect. His flip-flopping on the “Liberation Day” tariffs comes after Trump previously shifted his stance in how he handled tariffs on Mexico and Canada, initially announcing hours after his inauguration that he would impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1, which briefly took effect before he ultimately paused them for 30 days on Feb. 3. The tariffs then took effect again on March 4, though Trump later paused tariffs on automobiles and exempted many products from the tariffs on March 6. Trump has charged forward with his tariff plans despite longstanding warnings from economists that doing so would raise prices for American consumers and harm the economy, which have played out as the tariffs have taken effect, roiling the stock market and leading economic experts to warn of a looming recession.
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