Countries dubbed the 'dirty 15' expected to take a hit during Donald Trump’s 'Liberation Day'
We're just a matter of hours away now until US President Donald Trump will announce what he has dubbed his 'Liberation Day' tariffs.
The world is now preparing for the 78-year-old Republican to reveal what his latest round of reciprocal tariffs - taxes placed on goods that are imported into a country - on countries he considers to be giving the US a bad deal on trade will be following several previous threats to unleash a global trade war.
Such countries expected to take a major hit during the so-called 'Liberation Day' today (2 April) have been described by the Trump administration as the 'dirty 15' - but what are they and how exactly will they be affected?
What are Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs?
Now, while no details of today's plans have been made available ahead of the announcement which will take place around 9pm UK time, Trump has time and time again repeated the idea of imposing so-called reciprocal tariffs.
On Sunday (31 March), he said 'all countries' could expect to be hit by tariffs.
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When a reporter asked whether it was true he was planning on targeting between 10 and 15 countries, Trump hit back: "Who told you 10-15 countries? You didn't hear it from me."
And, when pressed on how many countries he was planning to hit, he replied: "You'd start with all countries, let's see what happens."
A few days prior, Trump explained that he was open to striking up deals with countries seeking to avoid US tariffs - however, such agreements would need to be negotiated after 'Liberation Day'.
He had previously said he 'may give a lot of countries breaks, but it's reciprocal', adding: "We might be even nicer than that."
Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, added that Trump was spending Tuesday (1 April) 'perfecting' the trade plan.
"He is with his trade and tariff team right now, perfecting it to make sure this is a perfect deal for the American people and the American worker," she said.
Which 'dirty 15' countries will be affected by Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs?
While he didn't specifically name the countries, Republican treasury secretary Scott Bessent has outlined that the group of nations in questions traded heavily with the States and had high tariffs on American goods.
Bessent, who coined the term 'dirty 15', was referring to 15 percent of countries that account for the large amount of US trading volume - a list of nations economists expect could be hit by Trump’s tariffs.
"What’s going to happen on April 2: Each country will receive a number that we believe that represents their tariffs. For some countries it could be quite low. For some countries it could be quite high," he told Fox News last month.
The treasury secretary added: "There’s what we would call kind of the ‘dirty 15,’ and they have substantial tariffs."
Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, also said last month that 10 to 15 countries that account for America’s 'entire trillion-dollar trade deficit' were being looked at under the tariff initiative, NBC News reports.
Again, while he didn't name this group of nations, the Office of the US Trade Representative has listed 21 countries in which it is 'particularly interested' as part of a review of unfair trade practises.
The countries named were Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.
However, with all that said, it still remains unclear which countries will face tariffs and what this may look ahead of the 'Liberation Day' announcement set to take place later on this evening (9pm UK time).
Topics: US News, World News, Money, News, Donald Trump, Explained, Politics
Rhiannon Ingle