Stocks rally as Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ is looking like yet another tariff retreat

For more than a month, President Donald Trump and his administration have been promoting April 2 as a kind of tariffs Super Bowl, during which all of his many promised import taxes will go into effect. But as he has demonstrated many times before, Trump once again appears to be offering a lot of hype and little action.

For more than a month, President Donald Trump and his administration have been promoting April 2 as a kind of tariffs Super Bowl, during which all of his many promised import taxes will go into effect. But as he has demonstrated many times before, Trump once again appears to be offering a lot of hype and little action. Trump administration officials are trying to tamp down expectations that every pledged tariff action will go into effect April 2, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal reported this weekend. Instead, a significantly reduced batch of tariffs will be announced next week, and more could follow later, although both reports said the situation remains fluid and the ultimate decision could change. The White House did not comment on the reports. US stock futures rallied Monday morning on the reports, as investors were relieved that the most punishing tariffs may not be coming as soon as many on Wall Street had feared. The Dow is set to open 350 points higher, or 0.9% up. The broader S&P 500 is on pace to open up 1.1%, and the Nasdaq is set to open 1.3% higher. Trump has repeatedly proclaimed next Wednesday to be “Liberation Day,” bringing massive reciprocal tariffs that match foreign countries’ import taxes dollar for dollar. He was also set to enact twice-delayed 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico and Canada after briefly allowing them to go into effect earlier this month. And Trump had promised tariffs on a wide variety of goods imported from anywhere, including autos, pharmaceuticals, microchips, copper, lumber and other products. Now, it seems, those product-specific tariffs will not be enacted April 2, according to the Journal and Bloomberg. As for the 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, it’s unclear whether they will take effect or be further postponed. Reciprocal tariffs will go into effect – perhaps as soon as April – but they will be limited to a dozen or so countries, Bloomberg and the Journal reported. The countries that first face the reciprocal tariffs will perhaps be the 15% of nations that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking on Fox Business last week, labeled “the Dirty 15” – countries that he says persistently treat the United States unfairly in their trading practices. Those trading partners could include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia and Vietnam, according to the Journal.