Extract from ABC News
US President Donald Trump is set to announce his "liberation day" tariffs. (Reuters: Leah Millis)
In short:
China, Japan and South Korea have reportedly vowed to work together to oppose Donald Trump's "liberation day" tariffs, as the EU warns they would have a "negative impact".
Australia could challenge tariffs directed at our exports to the US through the World Trade Organization.
What's next?
The US president is set to announce his intentions at 4pm Wednesday local time, or 7am AEDT.
Major trading partners of the United States have vowed to respond to Donald Trump's "liberation day" tariffs, amid concerns they will have negative economic impacts around the world.
The US president is expected to announce sweeping import duties on many global economies around 7am Thursday AEDT for immediate effect.
They will follow levies already in place on steel, aluminium and cars for some countries, prompting alarm among world leaders about how far the US could go.
Many countries have already set out how they are likely to react.
Amid frantic election campaigning, both sides of Australian politics have remained united when it comes to responding to Mr Trump.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country was "prepared for all possibilities going forward" and that he believed tariffs to be "an act of economic self-harm by those who have imposed them".
Australia imposes zero tariffs on American imports, but recently had tariffs placed against imports to the US of Australian steel and aluminium.
China, South Korea and Japan have indicated they would jointly respond to US tariffs, according to Chinese state media.
Japan and South Korea are seeking to import semiconductor raw materials from China, and China is also interested in purchasing chip products from Japan and South Korea, the account, Yuyuan Tantian, linked to China Central Television, said in a post on Weibo.
All three sides agreed to strengthen supply chain cooperation and engage in more dialogue on export controls, the post said.
Meanwhile, European leaders have promised to respond if the continent is targeted with tariffs.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned the bloc would "protect our interests, our people and our companies".
"We do not necessarily want to retaliate. But if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it."
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been careful to avoid criticising Mr Trump publicly, but warned tariffs would hit Italian companies hard and be "unfair" on American consumers.
"This is the reason why I remain convinced that we must work to avert a trade war," she said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday said he hoped tariffs implemented against the UK would be quickly reversed by a new economic partnership.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hoping the UK can score an exemption from American tariffs. (Reuters: Kevin Lamarque)
He said talks to strike a deal, reported to include cooperation on AI, were "well-advanced".
He told the House of Commons on Wednesday that he was working closely with industries who could be affected, before adding that no response to the US tariffs would be off the table.
"Our decisions will always be guided by our national interests and that's why we have prepared for all eventualities, and we rule nothing out."
Canada, whose citizens have reacted angrily to Mr Trump's assertion that the country should become America's "51st state", has vowed to respond with tariffs of its own.
"We will not disadvantage Canadian producers and Canadian workers relative to American workers," Prime Minister Mark Carney said in Winnipeg.
Canadian companies have begun seeking more business in European markets. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed Canadian firms at an industrial technology fair in Hanover on Sunday.
Mr Scholz called for stronger ties between the European Union and Canada as the two sides "complement each other" when it comes to making machinery, artificial intelligence, renewable energy and electric vehicles.
On the same day, Mr Trump warned Canada and the EU he would target them with "far larger" tariffs if the two economies worked together "to do economic harm to the USA".
Separately in Germany, the world's third-largest economy, politicians last month removed the country's debt brake, a move which paved the way for a historic spending surge of 1 trillion euros ($1.7 trillion).
The move was aimed at boosting spending on defence amid Russia's aggression in Ukraine, but also on infrastructure, and incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was elected earlier this year, has noted concerns about Mr Trump's "America alone" worldview.
As of Wednesday morning in America, the White House had not published an official notice of either set of tariffs, as it is required to do before they take effect.
The administration also has declined to comment on reports that Trump was considering a 20 per cent universal tariff.
Mr Trump took to his Truth Social profile on Wednesday morning local time to write: "IT'S LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA!"
ABC/Reuters
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