Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / "They Charge us, We Charge them" Trump's Liberation Day is Official
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Foreign scavengers have torn apart our once beautiful American dream.
- 0:06Speaker 1: We had an American dream that you don't hear so
- 0:08Speaker 1: much about. Our country and its taxpayers have been ripped
- 0:11Speaker 1: off for more than fifty years.
- 0:13Speaker 2: But it is not going to happen anymore. It's not
- 0:16Speaker 2: going to happen.
- 0:17Speaker 3: This is a forty seven Morning Update special edition with
- 0:22Speaker 3: Ben Ferguson.
- 0:23Speaker 4: Good Thursday morning. Ben Ferguson with you. It's signs to
- 0:26Speaker 4: have you on the forty seven Morning Update, and this
- 0:28Speaker 4: morning will be a special edition dealing with all things
- 0:32Speaker 4: tariffs and the President calling it Liberation Day. The moral
- 0:36Speaker 4: of the story with Donald Trump was this, they charged us,
- 0:39Speaker 4: so we're going to charge them. I'll explain exactly how
- 0:42Speaker 4: the tariffs work, what it means for you, and how
- 0:45Speaker 4: long this could last. It's the forty seven Morning Update
- 0:48Speaker 4: and it starts right now.
- 0:50Speaker 3: Story number one.
- 0:51Speaker 4: President Donald Trump on Wednesday revealed they charted detailing the
- 0:56Speaker 4: reciprocal tariffs that he will impose on other countries, wanting
- 1:00Speaker 4: to make it very clear to the American people that
- 1:02Speaker 4: these countries are charging us first, so now we are
- 1:06Speaker 4: going to charge them back. China sixty seven percent tariffs
- 1:11Speaker 4: charged to the US, including currency manipulation and trade barriers.
- 1:16Speaker 4: Was a perfect example of what Donald Trump was talking about,
- 1:19Speaker 4: and that's exactly why he announced his trade policies on
- 1:22Speaker 4: what he has deemed Liberation Day. Here's the President in
- 1:26Speaker 4: his own words at the White House.
- 1:28Speaker 1: We have some very very good news today, and a
- 1:32Speaker 1: lot of good things are happening for our country. Please
- 1:34Speaker 1: sit down, my fellow Americans. This is liberation Day waiting
- 1:40Speaker 1: for a long time. April second, twenty twenty five will
- 1:46Speaker 1: forever be remembered as today American industry was reborn, the
- 1:51Speaker 1: day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began.
- 1:56Speaker 2: To make America wealthy again, going to make it wealthy, good,
- 2:01Speaker 2: and wealthy.
- 2:03Speaker 1: For decades, our country has been looted, pillage, raped, and
- 2:07Speaker 1: plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike.
- 2:11Speaker 1: American steel workers, auto workers, farmers, and skilled craftsmen. We
- 2:16Speaker 1: have a lot of them here with us today. They
- 2:18Speaker 1: really suffered gravely. They watched in anguish as foreign leaders
- 2:22Speaker 1: have stolen our jobs. Foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories,
- 2:27Speaker 1: and foreign scavengers have torn apart our once beautiful American dream.
- 2:32Speaker 1: We had an American dream that you don't hear so
- 2:35Speaker 1: much about. You did four years ago and you are now,
- 2:38Speaker 1: But you know too often, and for many years and
- 2:40Speaker 1: decades even you didn't hear too much about. Our country
- 2:44Speaker 1: and its taxpayers have been ripped off for more than
- 2:46Speaker 1: fifty years.
- 2:48Speaker 2: But it is not going to happen anymore. It's not
- 2:51Speaker 2: going to happen.
- 2:54Speaker 4: The President also making it clear he knows how the
- 2:56Speaker 4: media is going to play this doom and gloom. But
- 2:59Speaker 4: the reality is there's quite a few important groups in
- 3:02Speaker 4: this country that are backing the President's plan, and that
- 3:05Speaker 4: is exactly why the President made it clear to the
- 3:07Speaker 4: world that the day of economic surrender are over. Who
- 3:11Speaker 4: is behind the President well, The Coalition for a Prosperous
- 3:14Speaker 4: America chairman put out a statement saying, this a permanent,
- 3:18Speaker 4: universal baseline tariff, resets the global trade environment and finally
- 3:23Speaker 4: addresses the destructive legacy of decades of misguided free trade policies.
- 3:29Speaker 4: President Trump's decision to implement a baseline tariff is a
- 3:33Speaker 4: game changing shift that prioritizes American manufacturing, protects working class jobs,
- 3:40Speaker 4: and safeguards our economic security from adversaries like China. This
- 3:45Speaker 4: is exactly the type of bold action America needs to
- 3:48Speaker 4: restore its industrial leadership. Today's actions will deliver lasting benefits
- 3:53Speaker 4: the US economy and working class Americans, submitting President Trump's
- 3:57Speaker 4: legacy as the one that ushered in a new golden
- 4:00Speaker 4: age of American industrialization and prosperity. The National Cattleman's Beef
- 4:05Speaker 4: Association put out a statement as well, saying quote, for
- 4:09Speaker 4: too long, America's family farmers and ranchers have been mistreated
- 4:14Speaker 4: by certain trading partners around the world. President Trump is
- 4:18Speaker 4: taking action to address numerous trade barriers that prevent consumers
- 4:23Speaker 4: overseas from enjoying high quality, wholesome American beef. The NCBA
- 4:28Speaker 4: will continue engaging with the White House to ensure fair
- 4:31Speaker 4: treatment for America's cattle producers around the world and optimize
- 4:36Speaker 4: opportunities for exports abroad. The Steel Manufacturers Association also praising Trump,
- 4:43Speaker 4: and again, you will not be hearing these statements from
- 4:46Speaker 4: the media, and that's why I'm giving them to you
- 4:49Speaker 4: right now. The Steel Manufacturers said this, President Trump is
- 4:53Speaker 4: a champion of the domestic steel industry, and his America
- 4:56Speaker 4: First trade policy is designed to fight the unfair trade
- 5:00Speaker 4: that has harmed American workers and weakened manufacturing in the
- 5:04Speaker 4: United States. The recently reinvigorated two three two steel tariffs
- 5:09Speaker 4: have already started creating American jobs and bolstering the domestic
- 5:13Speaker 4: steel industry. President Trump is working to turn America into
- 5:17Speaker 4: a manufacturing powerhouse, and the steel tariffs are driving that movement.
- 5:23Speaker 4: The Alliance for American Manufacturing also putting out a statement
- 5:27Speaker 4: talking about this is a game changer for American workers,
- 5:30Speaker 4: saying today's trade action prioritizes domestic manufacturers and the American workers.
- 5:37Speaker 4: These hard working men and women have seen unfair trade
- 5:41Speaker 4: cut the ground from beneath their feet for decades. They
- 5:44Speaker 4: deserve a fighting chance. Our workers can out compete anyone
- 5:48Speaker 4: in the world, but they need a level playing field
- 5:51Speaker 4: to do it. This trade reset is a necessary step
- 5:54Speaker 4: in the right direction. The National Electrical Contractors Association CEO
- 5:59Speaker 4: also saying that President Trump has consistently prioritized policies that
- 6:03Speaker 4: put the electrical industry as a priority, and we recognize
- 6:08Speaker 4: as commitment to strengthening our nation's economy. As these new
- 6:12Speaker 4: tariffs take effect, we look forward to working with the
- 6:14Speaker 4: administration to ensure that electrical contractors in the entire electrical
- 6:19Speaker 4: industry can continue powering America efficiently while navigating potential costs
- 6:24Speaker 4: and supply chain challenges. These are just some of the
- 6:28Speaker 4: major industries that are backing the president's move. Now, of course,
- 6:33Speaker 4: the media is going to tell you this is a disaster,
- 6:35Speaker 4: that it's going to hurt our economy, that it's starting
- 6:38Speaker 4: a trade war. President of the United States of America
- 6:41Speaker 4: making it very clear I am here to stand up
- 6:44Speaker 4: for the American worker.
- 6:46Speaker 1: In a few moments, I will sign a historic executive
- 6:49Speaker 1: order instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world. Reciprocal.
- 6:56Speaker 1: That means they do it to us and we do
- 6:59Speaker 1: it to them. Very simple. Can't get any simpler than that.
- 7:06Speaker 1: This is one of the most important days, in my opinion,
- 7:09Speaker 1: in American history. It's our declaration of economic independence. For years,
- 7:16Speaker 1: hard working American citizens were forced to sit on the
- 7:19Speaker 1: sidelines as other nations got rich and powerful, much of
- 7:23Speaker 1: it at our expense. But now it's our turn to
- 7:27Speaker 1: prosper and in so doing, use trillions and trillions of
- 7:31Speaker 1: dollars to reduce our taxes and pay down our national
- 7:34Speaker 1: debt and It'll all happen very quickly. With today's action,
- 7:39Speaker 1: we are finally going to be able to make America
- 7:42Speaker 1: great again, greater than ever before.
- 7:47Speaker 4: President Trump wasn't the only one excited about what this
- 7:50Speaker 4: can do for the country. Speaker Mike Johnson saying President
- 7:54Speaker 4: Trump is sending a clear message with Liberation Day that
- 7:57Speaker 4: America will not be exploited by un fair trade practices anymore.
- 8:02Speaker 4: These tariffs restore fair and reciprocal trade and level the
- 8:06Speaker 4: playing field for American workers and innovators. The President understands
- 8:10Speaker 4: that free trade only works when it's fair. Governor Jeff
- 8:15Speaker 4: Landry of Louisiana, a very important state when it comes
- 8:17Speaker 4: to shipping, said this it's pro jobs, pro business, and
- 8:21Speaker 4: pro America. Senator Jim Banks saying the decision by President
- 8:25Speaker 4: Trump today to impose reciprocal tariffs will be so good
- 8:29Speaker 4: for Indiana. Those are the manufacturing jobs that President Trump
- 8:33Speaker 4: is bringing back from overseas. Senator Bill Cassidy saying the
- 8:37Speaker 4: President's trade agenda can pave the way for stronger trade deals,
- 8:41Speaker 4: fairer rules, and real results. I'm excited to work with
- 8:44Speaker 4: President Trump to make it happen. Louisiana workers and families
- 8:47Speaker 4: deserve it nothing less. And the President wasn't done there.
- 8:51Speaker 4: He also had this to say about the reciprocal tariffs
- 8:55Speaker 4: and why it is working the way that he is
- 8:57Speaker 4: doing it.
- 8:58Speaker 1: The tariffs will be not a full reciprocal I could
- 9:02Speaker 1: have done that, yes, but it would have been tough
- 9:05Speaker 1: for a lot of countries.
- 9:06Speaker 2: We didn't want to do that. I'd like to see
- 9:08Speaker 2: the chart. If you have it, could you bring it up, Howard?
- 9:11Speaker 2: This is our great Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick. Thanks all.
- 9:20Speaker 1: So if you look at that China first row, China,
- 9:24Speaker 1: sixty seven percent, that's tariff charged to the USA, including
- 9:30Speaker 1: currency manipulation and trade barriers. So sixty seven percent. I
- 9:34Speaker 1: think you can, for the most part see it. Those
- 9:37Speaker 1: with good eyes with bad eyes, we didn't want to
- 9:39Speaker 1: bring it's very windy out here. We didn't want to
- 9:41Speaker 1: bring out the big charts because it had no chance
- 9:43Speaker 1: of standing. Fortunately, we came armed with a little smaller charge.
- 9:47Speaker 1: So sixty seven percent. So we're going to be charging
- 9:50Speaker 1: a discounted reciprocal tariff of thirty four percent.
- 9:53Speaker 2: I think, in other.
- 9:54Speaker 1: Words, they charge us, we charge them, we charge them less.
- 9:57Speaker 1: So how can anybody be upset. They will be because
- 10:00Speaker 1: we never charge anybody anything. But now we're gonna charge
- 10:04Speaker 1: European Union. They're very tough, very very tough traders. Uh
- 10:09Speaker 1: you know, you think of European Union, very friendly. They
- 10:12Speaker 1: rip us off. It's so sad to see, it's so pathetic.
- 10:16Speaker 1: Thirty nine percent. We're gonna charge them twenty percent. So
- 10:19Speaker 1: we're charging them potentially have Vietnam great negotiators, great people.
- 10:25Speaker 2: They like me. I like them.
- 10:26Speaker 1: The problem is they charge us ninety percent. We're gonna
- 10:29Speaker 1: charge them forty six percent tariff. Taiwan where they make
- 10:33Speaker 1: they took all of our computer chips and semiconductors.
- 10:37Speaker 2: We used to be the king right with everything. We
- 10:40Speaker 2: had all of it. Now we have almost none of it.
- 10:43Speaker 1: Except the biggest company is coming in they're gonna have
- 10:45Speaker 1: We're gonna end up with almost forty percent. Leez Elden's
- 10:47Speaker 1: working to get their approvals and it's an amazing company,
- 10:51Speaker 1: mister way of one of the great companies of the world. Actually,
- 10:55Speaker 1: they're coming in from Taiwan and they're gonna build one
- 10:58Speaker 1: of the biggest plants in the world, maybe the biggest
- 11:00Speaker 1: for that, but sixty four percent we're going to charge
- 11:03Speaker 1: them thirty two percent. Japan very very tough, great people.
- 11:08Speaker 1: And again I don't blame the people for doing it.
- 11:11Speaker 1: It's I think they're very smart to do it. I
- 11:13Speaker 1: blame the people that sat right in that Oval office,
- 11:15Speaker 1: right over there, right behind the resolute desk, whichever deak
- 11:19Speaker 1: they chose. Japan forty six percent, they would charge us
- 11:23Speaker 1: forty six percent, and much higher for certain items like cars,
- 11:27Speaker 1: you know, little items like cars, forty six percent. We're
- 11:30Speaker 1: charging them twenty four percent. India very very tough, very
- 11:34Speaker 1: very tough. The Prime Minister just left. He's a great
- 11:39Speaker 1: friend of mine. But I said, you're a friend of mine,
- 11:41Speaker 1: but you're not treating us right. They charged us fifty
- 11:44Speaker 1: two percent. You have didn't stand. We charge them almost
- 11:46Speaker 1: nothing for years and years and decades, And it was
- 11:49Speaker 1: only seven years ago when I came in.
- 11:53Speaker 2: We started with China and charged you.
- 11:55Speaker 1: We took in hundreds of billions of dollars from China
- 11:59Speaker 1: in tariffs, and they understood. Honestly, Presidency understood. He said, look,
- 12:04Speaker 1: I understand, and the other countries and they all understand.
- 12:07Speaker 2: We're going to have to go through a little tough love.
- 12:09Speaker 1: Maybe but they all understand they're ripping us off, and
- 12:12Speaker 1: they understood it.
- 12:13Speaker 4: So the big takeaway from the President of the United
- 12:16Speaker 4: States of America is this, these are countries that are
- 12:19Speaker 4: doing this to us first and have been doing it
- 12:22Speaker 4: at a much higher rate. We are not going back
- 12:25Speaker 4: with the same number that they're putting on our goods
- 12:27Speaker 4: and services. And this is a time for us to
- 12:30Speaker 4: have free and fair trade where America is not being
- 12:33Speaker 4: taken advantage of. There is no doubt that the media
- 12:36Speaker 4: is going to use this moment to attack the president.
- 12:39Speaker 4: But remember the people that I told you about earlier
- 12:42Speaker 4: in their statements, real American workers organizations saying it is
- 12:47Speaker 4: long overdue and this is going to be good for
- 12:50Speaker 4: America long term. That is exactly why the President's calling
- 12:54Speaker 4: it Liberation Day and why so many American workers are
- 12:57Speaker 4: celebrating this big win.
- 13:00Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to this forty seven Morning Update
- 13:03Speaker 3: Special edition with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit
- 13:07Speaker 3: subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now and
- 13:11Speaker 3: for more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben
- 13:14Speaker 3: Ferguson podcast and we will see you back here. Tomork