VIDEO: Trump says signing order for reciprocal tariffs 'throughout the world'

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs targeting countries around the world, in a move that risks sparking a global trade war.

Speaking in the White House Rose Garden against a backdrop of US flags, Trump said the United States had been "looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike."

The 78-year-old Republican did not immediately give the full details of the levies but said he was signing an order to impose "reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world" based on how they treated the United States.

"This is Liberation Day," Trump said, adding that it would "forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed."

An audience of cabinet members as well as workers in hard hats from industries including steel, oil and gas whooped and cheered as Trump said the tariffs would "make America wealthy again."

Trump has telegraphed the move for weeks, insisting tariffs will keep the United States from being "ripped off" by other countries and spur a new "Golden Age" of American industry.

But many experts warn the tariffs risk triggering a recession at home as costs are passed on to US consumers, and a damaging trade war abroad.

Trade war warnings

The world has been on edge ahead of Trump's announcement as countries waited to see how badly they would be targeted. Markets have been volatile as investors hedged their best.

The tariffs will also reinforce fears that Trump is backing even further away from US allies towards a new order based on a vision of American supremacy.

Trump kept the world guessing until the last minute about the scale and scope, with the White House saying he was still "perfecting" them with just hours to go.

Sweeping auto tariffs of 25 percent that Trump announced last week are also due to take effect at 12:01 am (0401 GMT) Thursday.

US trading partners have vowed swift retribution, while also trying to persuade Trump to reach deals to avoid tariffs in the first place.

Germany warned Wednesday that trade wars hurt "both sides."

The European Union will react to new Trump tariffs "before the end of April," said a French government spokeswoman.

The 27-nation bloc's initial salvo would counter US actions on steel and aluminum, followed by sector-by-sector measures.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has made intense but so far fruitless efforts to win a carve-out from Trump, said a "trade war is in nobody's interests."

"We have prepared for all eventualities -- and we will rule nothing out," he told parliament.

Recession fears

Trump has had a long love affair with tariffs, insisting in the face of experts that they are a cure-all for America's trade imbalances and economic ills.

The billionaire insists the levies will bring a "rebirth" of America's hollowed-out manufacturing capacity, and says companies can avoid tariffs by moving to the United States.

But critics say US businesses and consumers could bear the burden if importers pass on the cost, adding that the policy could increase risks of a recession.

"If this trade war continues through Labor Day (on September 1), the US economy will likely suffer a recession this year," Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, told AFP.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned Wednesday that whatever steps other countries take, "it will be negative anyway the world over."

Trump has previously been persuaded however to halt tariffs on neighbors Canada and Mexico while trade talks continued.

He ordered levies on both on the grounds that they had failed to stop the flow of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the United States.

"I understand that it's a game of tug-of-war," truck driver Alejandro Espinoza told AFP as he waited in a queue to cross the Mexican-US border.

"But unfortunately, we're the ones who pay in the end."