(The Hill) – President Trump plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on a host of nations Wednesday at a White House event.

Trump has deemed April 2 “Liberation Day” because of the tariffs, and the White House ceremony is also being described as an event to “make America wealthy again.”

But there are many doubts over whether the tariffs will lead to wealth or economic disaster.

And there are tons of questions about what Trump has planned.

Here are five of the biggest ones.

Which countries will Trump hit with tariffs?

Trump is reportedly deciding between imposing a broad tariff on imports and subjecting certain countries — particularly major U.S. trading partners — with specific import taxes.

Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent suggested in March that the administration could go after the 15 percent of countries responsible for the most trade with the U.S., which he called ‘the Dirty 15.”

President Trump speaks to reporters before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on March 31, 2025. (Associated Press pool)

Bessent didn’t specify which countries make up the “Dirty 15,” though an analysis from CNBC determined it would likely include China, the European Union, Mexico, Vietnam, Ireland, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Canada, India, Thailand, Italy, Switzerland, Malaysia, Indonesia, France, Austria and Sweden, based on the size of the U.S.’s trade deficit in goods with those nations.

“There are a reasonably small number of countries that are the world’s major producers of manufactured goods, and it seems likely that all of those will be targeted in some way or another, so I don’t see a lot of difference between tariffs that target the so-called worst defenders and broader tariffs,” Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Tuesday in an interview with The Hill.

How will the tariff rates be calculated?

Whether Trump imposes tariffs broadly or only against certain countries could also affect how steep the new import taxes will be.

Bessent said in March the administration would consider not only tariffs but a wide range of trade policies and economic barriers imposed by each country when deciding its reciprocal tariff rate.

If a country doesn’t change those policies, Bessent said, “then we will put up the tariff wall to protect our economy, protect our workers, and protect our industries.”

Even if Trump decides on a flat, universal tariff, the administration would have to decide whether the new import taxes would be imposed on top of or instead of its previously announced levies.

Trump has already imposed new tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China, and on all foreign steel and aluminum. The president is also set to impose Thursday his previously announced tariffs on foreign autos and auto parts.

Will any industry or country be spared?

Trump has announced, imposed and walked back tariffs frequently throughout each of his terms as a way to gain leverage in negotiations with foreign leaders. Several experts suggested imposing individualized tariff rates could give Trump even more sway over foreign leaders eager to avoid economic blowback.

The heads of major U.S. auto companies have pleaded with Trump to spare their industry from steep tariffs and have urged him to exempt lower-level auto parts from his new levies. 

Trump also rebuffed appeals from U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to exempt his country from the president’s new tariffs.

Alden said how the White House treats India — a country with steep trade barriers against U.S. goods, but with a leader who has endeared himself to Trump — could reveal some of the president’s priorities.

“By any reasonable definition of reciprocity, India is a major offender. It has some of the highest tariffs left in the world of any significant trading country,” Alden said.

“But Trump likes [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi, and India is important strategically, and you don’t want to do anything that throws them into the arms of the Russians or the Chinese.”

The European Union, on the other hand, is likely to face steep tariffs from Trump, given his ongoing feuds with the bloc over defense spending and its historic barriers to U.S. auto sales.

What does Trump want most from his tariffs?

Trump and his economic team have cited a wide range of reasons to justify steep new import taxes, amid deepening concern and skepticism among voters.

For decades before he ran for office, Trump slammed U.S. political leaders for signing free trade deals that accelerated the decline of American manufacturing and hollowed out industrial regions of the country. He has long called for using tariffs to compel companies to bring back U.S. manufacturing jobs, and to force foreign countries to buy more U.S. goods.

“If they want to be absolved of that tariff, then they can come here to the United States of America to do business, bring their jobs here,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.

But the Trump administration is also leaning on tariffs to fund extensions of the president’s 2017 tax cuts — revenue that could evaporate if companies actually heed Trump’s call.

“We believe that the administration plans to use tariffs as a way to restructure the American economy. This is among the reasons that we think it has not reacted to the recent sell-off in the equity markets,” Brian Gardner, chief Washington policy strategist at the investment bank Stifel, wrote in a Tuesday analysis.

How will they affect the economy?

Trump’s new tariffs could amount to a huge cost for businesses and consumers depending on the scope, scale and implementation of the plan.

Importers may be able to stomach the cost of smaller tariffs, but steep tariffs on foreign food, energy and auto parts could lead to significantly higher costs for Americans after years of high inflation.

Economists at Goldman Sachs expect Trump’s tariffs to boost inflation, slow the economy and raise the unemployment rate, according to an analysis released Wednesday.