Trump announced new tariffs, impacting Pa. and beyond. Here’s what we know.

President Donald Trump announced new tariffs Wednesday — taxes on imported goods — that could spark a global trade war and threaten to increase the prices of everything from food to cars within the United States.

Trump dubbed the event “liberation day” and argued the new taxes would force companies to bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States.“

It’s our declaration of economic independence,” Trump said Wednesday. “For years, hardworking American citizens were forced to sit on the sidelines as other nations got rich and powerful, much of it at our expense. But now it’s our turn to prosper.”

Economists say the new taxes will be passed on to U.S. residents through higher prices, something Republicans have been warning voters about in recent days.

“I’m not guaranteeing it’s going to work out perfectly,” U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, a Republican who represents Luzerne County, told The Inquirer. “But I think the president’s got enough information and [Commerce Secretary] Howard Lutnick, and the others involved here, to do it in a manner, a tariff plan that is far more favorable to the United States than it is to other countries.”

In addition to higher prices, U.S. companies that export goods across the world will almost certainly face reciprocal taxes from other countries as part of a global trade war.

“Europe has not started this confrontation,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech Tuesday. “We do not necessarily want to retaliate but, if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it.”

Here’s everything we know and don’t know about Trump’s new round of tariffs:

» READ MORE: Josh Shapiro says ‘people will suffer’ and Pa. Republicans have mixed views of Trump’s tariff plan

Trump announced Wednesday the tariffs would allow the U.S. to match what other countries are currently taxing imports from the United States. In one example, Trump cited India, which has a 40% tariff on imported motorcycles, while the United States levies just a 2.4% tariff.

“Reciprocal — that means they do it to us and we do it to them," Trump said at the White House Wednesday. “Very simple. Can’t get any simpler than that.”

Trump said a baseline tariff of 10% on all countries would go into effect, but a chart displayed during his announcement showed the differing rates for some countries.

Goods from China will be hit with a 34% tariffs, while the European Union will be hit with a 20% tariff. Vietnam will face a 46% tariff on imported goods, which could impact the cost of products from Nike and other sportswear brands.

The president previously said he would place a 25% tariff on countries that import oil or gas from Venezuela, and a 25% tariff on all automobile imports into the United States is set to go into effect at midnight, which would later expand into auto parts.

Trump’s new tariffs will go into effect immediately after he announces them Wednesday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt previously said.

That remains unclear.

Pennsylvania imports over $14.2 billion worth of good from Canada, the commonwealth’s largest trade partner, all of which could see price increases — everything from crude oil to chocolate to substances used for medical treatment.

In addition, Pennsylvania businesses export billions of dollars worth of goods to Canada and elsewhere across the globe, where countries are expected to put in place their own reciprocal tariffs. That includes milk, cheese, and yogurt, which brought in more than $2 billion in gross income for Pennsylvania’s farm sector in 2023. Most of that is exported to Mexico and Canada, but Chile, Malaysia, and Japan are also top export locations for Pennsylvania farmers.

“Pennsylvania’s economy is reliant on international business, and that looks like trade,” Lauren Swartz, chief executive of the nonprofit World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, told The Inquirer last month. “Doing things that limit our ability to access that 96% of the world that lives outside of the U.S., and 74% of global economic growth that occurs outside of the U.S., is going to be felt here at home.”

» READ MORE: Philly-area car dealers are bracing for higher prices as tariffs take effect this week

The United States is currently imposing a 20% tariff on all imports from China and 25% on all steel and aluminum imports.

Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power to impose “Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises” and regulate foreign commerce. But Congress has ceded some of its power to the president and executive branch over the years, a move some lawmakers have said should be reexamined.

“In the past we passed legislation that gave the president some temporary tariff authorities,” Rep. Don Bacon (R., Neb.) said during an interview on CNN last week. “I think we should look back and maybe restore the power back to Congress and take away the authorizations that we’ve allowed the president.”

The Senate is slated to vote on a proposal Wednesday that would roll back the national emergency declaration allowing Trump to unilaterally impose tariffs on Canada, purportedly because of the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S.

While the proposal is sponsored by Democrats, at least four Republican senators — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Susan Collins of Maine — have signaled their support for the bill. Paul is one of the bill’s nine cosponsors.

“The Maine economy is integrated with Canada, our most important trading partner,” Collins said on the floor of the Senate Wednesday. “The tariffs on Canada would be detrimental to many Maine families and our local economies.”

Even if the bill passes in the Senate, it would be dead on arrival in the Republican-controlled House. Trump has also said he’d veto the proposal in the unlikely event it ends up on his desk.