Federal election 2025 LIVE updates: Trump confirms 10 per cent tariffs on all Australian goods in ‘Liberation Day’ speech as PM labels them ‘unwarranted’

Wall Street futures fell sharply as Donald Trump’s unveiled the tariffs he promised as part of his “Liberation Day,” which could drastically remake the global economy.Trump announced the tariffs after Wall Street’s closing bell, with futures initially rising before he went into detail on exactly on what tariffs would be imposed.

“It’s our declaration of independence,” Trump said at an event in the White House Rose Garden. “We will establish a minimum baseline tariff of 10 per cent.”

Rates for China would be set at 34 per cent for China, while the European Union and Japan would face 20 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively. Australia faces a minimum 10 per cent tariffs on its products.

S&P 500 futures reversed gains and fell to a 1.7 per cent loss, suggesting investors expect deep losses when Wall Street opens on Thursday. Nasdaq futures, reflecting tech companies such as Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft, were down 2.4 per cent after gaining earlier.

“When the press conference first started the President said tariffs would start with a 10 per cent baseline across the board. That was better than expected, which was why we saw futures rallying. But once he got to specifics and started giving examples which were significantly higher than 10 per cent, that’s when futures turned around and went negative because it was worse than expected,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight asset management.

The tariffs set the stage for a volatile day on the Australian sharemarket. The ASX added 0.1 per cent on Wednesday.

Reuters, AP