Trump finished speaking after roughly 50 minutes and signed an executive order imposing his sweeping reciprocal tariff plan.

"It's going to be a day that hopefully you're going to look back in years to come and you're going to say, 'You know, he was right. This has turned out to be one of the most important days in the history of our country,'" Trump said.

— Kevin Breuninger

The Trump administration announced Wednesday that Canada and Mexico will be exempt from the baseline 10% tariff rate, as well as reciprocal levies for specific countries for now.

The 10% tariff would only kick in when the original 25% duties Trump slapped on Canadian and Mexican imports are terminated or suspended. The 25% tariff was based on allegations that the neighboring countries were failing to stem the flow of drugs and crime into the U.S.

— Yun Li

Exchange-traded funds tied to major U.S. stock indexes fell sharply in after-hours trading Wednesday after President Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on goods imported to the U.S.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) tumbled 2.2%. The Invesco QQQ Trust, which tracks the Nasdaq-100, dropped 3%.

The White House unveiled a baseline tariff rate of 10% on all countries that goes into effect April 5. Higher duties will be charged against countries that levy higher rates on the U.S.

"We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us," Trump said in a press conference from the White House Rose Garden. "So, the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal."

— Fred Imbert, Pia Singh

Trump showed off a big league chart outlining the reciprocal tariffs he is imposing on various countries.

The chart, featuring countries such as China, Vietnam, Japan, India and Switzerland, as well as the European Union, compares the tariffs and other trade costs Trump says those nations place on U.S. imports, with the reciprocal tariffs taking effect.

— Dan Mangan

Trump called out Australia, saying, "they're wonderful people and wonderful everything, but they ban American beef." "Yet, we imported $3 billion of Australian beef from them just last year alone. They won't take any of our beef."

"They don't want it because they don't want it to affect their farmers and you know what, I don't blame them, but we're doing the same thing, right now starting about midnight tonight."

— Erin Doherty

"We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us," Trump said of his reciprocal tariff plan.

"So, the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal," he said.

But that halved figure includes "the combined rate of all their tariffs, nonmonetary barriers and other forms of cheating," he said.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump is promising what he calls "the Golden Age of America," which he believes will see more jobs and domestic production ushering in a new age of domestic prosperity.

"We will supercharge our domestic industrial base, we will open foreign markets and break down foreign trade barriers," Trump said from the Rose Garden.

"And ultimately more production at home will mean stronger competition and lower prices for consumers. … We're gonna come back very strongly."

— Pia Singh

Trump says "jobs and factories will come roaring back" and that the reciprocal tariffs will usher in a "golden age" for the country.

"We will supercharge our domestic industrial base, we will pry open foreign markets and break down foreign trade barriers and ultimately more production at home will mean stronger competition and lower prices for consumers," he said from the Rose Garden.

— Erin Doherty

Trump confirmed his administration will impose 25% tariffs on auto imports starting Thursday at 12:01 a.m.

Trump, in his Rose Garden speech, said, "None of our companies are allowed to go into other countries."

"That's why, effective at midnight, we will impose a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles," he said.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump took the podium in the Rose Garden to tout his new tariffs, calling it America's "declaration of economic independence."

— Dan Mangan

Trump said he is about to sign a "historic executive order instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world."

"Reciprocal. That means they do it to us and we do it to them. Very simple. Can't get any simpler than that," Trump said at the start of his remarks.

— Kevin Breuninger

Media executives have been in ongoing conversations with advertisers who are seeking flexible terms, as they face uncertainty about how impending U.S. tariffs will affect their businesses, according to people close to the discussions.

During tough economic times, companies often pull back on advertising and marketing spending. The scarcity of specifics on the new tariffs has fueled discussions between media companies and advertisers, the people said.

In most cases, brands are seeking more lenient agreements in which they could pivot quickly depending on how the tariffs shake out, they said.

Tariffs, coupled with inflation and unemployment, could tighten budgets beyond earlier expectations, said Kate Scott-Dawkins, global president of business intelligence of GroupM, WPP's media investment group.

The potential hit to the ad market shows the ripple effect of tariffs on companies that won't directly contend with heightened costs on products.

— Lillian Rizzo

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is attending Senate Republicans' weekly lunch today before Trump's expected tariff announcement.

The Treasury secretary's visit to Capitol Hill comes a day after he visited with House Republicans.

There, Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., told CNBC that Bessent said the tariff rates being announced today would be the top rates, and will go down from here, not up.

— Erin Doherty

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., is warning that Trump's tariffs are "regressive" and will hit "people on things they buy every day."

"I don't think people are seeing this, including a lot of Republicans, as a day of liberation, but … a day of higher costs and a day of chaos," Gottheimer told CNBC's "The Exchange."

"Regardless where people are on the political spectrum, what they don't like is a lot of uncertainty," said Gottheimer, who is currently running for governor of New Jersey.

"I think people are hearing all this noise, they're seeing every day the news change and they just want some certainty," he added.

"They want less chaos in their lives."

— Erin Doherty

Major averages are trading modestly higher in the volatile session as investors await details about tariffs on key U.S. trading partners.

The S&P 500 last traded up 0.2% after swinging significantly between gains and losses. At its session high, the benchmark was up 1.1%. At its session low, the S&P 500 declined 1.1%.

The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60 points, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.3% as Tesla shares jumped more than 4%.

"Any 'relief' bounce is likely to be short-lived as the absolute effect of the trade agenda remains decidedly negative with downside pressure on growth/earnings and upside risks to inflation," Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, said in a note.

— Yun Li

The Trump administration is adding imports of beer and empty aluminum cans to its 25% tariffs on derivative aluminum products, according to a notice posted Wednesday in the Federal Register.

The notice from the Commerce Department said the adjusted tariffs would take effect after midnight Friday.

One of the two product tariff codes referenced in the notice applies to "beer made from malt." The other applies to aluminum casks, drums, cans, boxes and similar containers with a capacity no greater than 20 liters.

The notice does not include a separate code that would encompass beer in glass containers.

The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

— Kevin Breuninger

Uncertainty surrounding Trump's tariff policy has created panic for smaller businesses grappling with the likelihood of added operations costs and potential supply chain bottlenecks.

"I'm going to run out of appliances," said Robin Liss, founder of kitchen gadget company Suvie, ahead of her two-week trip to Taiwan and Vietnam to work out a new business plan. "I've got to figure this out."

Trump slapped additional tariffs on China and is threatening to strain America's relationships with other longtime trading partners.

Read the full story here.

— Samantha Subin

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says she does not plan to implement tit-for-tat tariffs on American goods in response to Trump's import duties.

"It's not about tit-for-tat, but about what is best for Mexico and how to face this situation," she said during a morning press conference.

"We do not believe in an eye-for-an-eye, a tooth-for-a-tooth because that always leads to a bad situation," she said.

— Erin Doherty

The Senate is poised to vote later today on a Democratic-led resolution to undo the "national emergency" that Trump declared in order to create a legal rationale for his tariffs on Canada.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters earlier that Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., indicated that he plans to back the resolution. At least three other Republican senators — Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, Susan Collins, of Maine, and Rand Paul, of Kentucky — have also signaled plans to support the measure.

The resolution is largely symbolic, because it still needs to move through the Republican-controlled House and would require Trump's signature to become law.

Nonetheless, Senate passage with the support of some Republicans — on the same day Trump unveils his tariff plan — would mark a rebuke to Trump's tariff policy.

— Erin Doherty

Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., a member of the Senate Finance Committee, is slamming Trump's tariff policies, saying that his "half-baked trade war will only raise prices for consumers."

"Trump's so-called 'liberation day' will throw the global economy into turmoil and leave Americans holding the bag," Welch says in a statement hours before the unveiling of so-called reciprocal tariffs at the White House.

"We should not impose sweeping tariffs on our allies and longtime partners in trade. America's close economic ties with our trading partners are based on trust," Welch says.

"These on-again, off-again tariffs are extremely destructive and totally unnecessary," he says. "President Trump is sticking it to our farmers, our businesses, and everyday working people."

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump has made a final decision on how he wants to proceed with his sweeping reciprocal tariff plans, a White House official told CNBC's Megan Cassella.

The update marks an apparent end to the internal deliberations that were reportedly ongoing in the hours before the Wednesday afternoon announcement event.

— Kevin Breuninger and Megan Cassella

Trump will be joined in the Rose Garden by workers from industries that are likely to be affected by his reciprocal tariffs.

The guest list includes "steel workers, autoworkers, oil and gas workers, steam fitters, truck drivers, and hardworking Americans from a variety of trades," a senior White House official told NBC News.

— Kevin Breuninger and Peter Alexander

Trump has said tariffs on pharmaceutical products imported into the U.S. were coming soon, but it is not clear if they will be announced at the White House event.

Those potential tariffs would likely drive up U.S. drug prices for patients, because even if companies moved to produce those medications domestically, it would take years and cost more than producing medicines abroad, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger said in a note last week. 

Predicting the potential impact of tariffs on pharmaceutical companies is difficult since they have vast and complex manufacturing networks with multiple steps, sometimes in different geographies, TD Cowen analyst Steve Scala said in a note.

But Scala said Eli Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb and AbbVie appear better positioned than others to weather tariffs because they have more major manufacturing plants in the U.S. than internationally.

The majority of their sites responsible for producing the active ingredients in drugs are also in the U.S., he added. 

Meanwhile, Novartis and Roche "look more at risk" because they have few U.S. plants and a higher share of active ingredient sites that are international, Scala said.

— Annika Kim Constantino

Some tequila makers have been warning about how tariffs could hit their businesses, but Colorado-based Suerte Tequila said it won't raise prices to offset tariffs.

"Tequila margins are stronger than ever," said Laurence Spiewak, Suerte Tequila CEO.

Still, the industry could see a hit with tariffs on Mexico.

In 2024, the U.S. imported $5.2 billion worth of tequila and $93 million worth of mezcal from Mexico, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.

— Brandon Gomez and Michele Luhn

Trump is targeting Sen. Mitch McConnell and three other Republican senators in a critical Truth Social post, urging them to oppose a bill that would undo U.S. tariffs on Canada.

McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul, both of Kentucky; Sen. Susan Collins, of Maine, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, "will hopefully get on the Republican bandwagon, for a change," Trump writes.

He presses the senators to "fight the Democrats wild and flagrant push to not penalize Canada for the sale, into our Country, of large amounts of Fentanyl, by Tariffing the value of this horrible and deadly drug in order to make it more costly to distribute and buy."

It is not immediately clear what Trump means by "tariffing the value" of fentanyl.

Trump calls the Senate bill introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a "ploy" intended to "show and expose the weakness of certain Republicans, namely these four."

The president also calls on Kentucky, Alaska and Maine voters to call these senators' offices.

"They have been extremely difficult to deal with and, unbelievably disloyal to hardworking Majority Leader John Thune, and the Republican Party itself," Trump adds.

— Kevin Breuninger

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he stands ready to remove retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products if Trump cancels heavy American import duties on Canadian goods.

"We're willing to take these tariffs off, like in the next minute, if he said he's taking their tariffs off," Ford told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Canada has imposed 25% tariffs on more than $20 billion worth of U.S. goods in retaliation for the Trump administration's steel and aluminum duties.

In addition, Ottawa has slapped 25% counter-tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods, in response to Trump's imposition of broad-based tariffs on imports from Canada.

— Yun Li

Trump is hyping his reciprocal tariffs in a Truth Social post declaring the day of their unveiling "LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA!"

Trump commonly refers to his tariffs in historic terms, raising expectations and concerns about how severe the duties could be.

— Kevin Breuninger

Slovakia, the landlocked country east of Austria, could suffer the most from the new auto tariffs that Trump said will start to take effect Thursday.

"Germany's car industry is in the eye of the storm and by far most exposed in terms of value, with major players like Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche likely getting hit by tariffs," economists Inga Fechner and Rico Luman of Dutch bank ING said in a recent research note.

"But Slovakia — home to several car plants — is most exposed in terms of total US export volume," they said.

The nation of 5.4 million people produces more cars per capita than any other country in the world. And the "Detroit of Europe" relies heavily on U.S. trade, with autos comprising a major chunk of its U.S. exports.

— Kevin Breuninger and Sam Meredith

The U.S. stock market was poised to open lower Wednesday as Wall Street continues to struggle in the face of the looming tariff policies from the Trump administration.

The S&P 500 is now down 4.2% over the past month and is 8.4% below its record high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has dropped 7.4% over the past month and is 13.6% below its record high.

Uncertainty about tariffs is not the only reason the stock market has struggled, as some tech stocks that are thought to be relatively insulated from trade war concerns have also fallen.

Other stock moves seem to have a more direct line to concerns about tariffs and their economic impact, such as the 12% decline in the past month for Stellantis.

On the other hand, gold and Treasury bonds have both been rallying in recent days, a sign that investors may be looking to reduce risk. Gold was trading near a record high Wednesday morning.

— Jesse Pound

The scope of new tariffs has yet to be finalized by the White House, the Bloomberg news service reported.

"The White House has not reached a firm decision on their tariff plan," Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the plan.

Several options are under consideration at the White House. One is a universal flat tariff rate applied to all trade partners, while another would tailor tariffs to each trade partner.

A third option prepared by the U.S. Trade Representative's office would apply a flat rate to a select group of countries.

— Dan Mangan

Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont said the tariff disagreements between Trump and Democrats go beyond typical party differences, calling it a "very, very serious situation."

"We believe what President Trump is doing is, in many cases, lawless and really beyond any norms," he said on "Squawk Box."

Welch said Congress has tariff authority that can be traced back to the Constitution.

Trump's actions are an "overreach" in service of a personal agenda, he said.

"There's a real abdication by Congress of its own authority," he said.

— Laya Neelakandan

The U.S. Trade Representative's office has prepared a third option for tariffs, The Wall Street Journal reports.

This tariff structure would set a rate below 20% and apply it only to a small group of trade partners.

There are two other plans under consideration at the White House.

1. A universal flat tariff rate applied to all trade partners.
2. A different tariff rate for every trade partner that reflects what the administration views as that country's overall import barriers to U.S. goods.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal.

— Erin Doherty

Trump's new tariffs will take effect "immediately" after he announces them in the Rose Garden, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.

The timeline offered a morsel of clarity about the reciprocal tariff plan, which remains highly opaque just hours before it is set to be unveiled.

— Kevin Breuninger

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke on the phone in advance of looming U.S. tariffs to reaffirm their "strong trading and investment relationship," Carney's government in Ottawa said.

"With challenging times ahead," the two leaders "emphasized the importance of safeguarding North American competitiveness while respecting the sovereignty of each nation," Ottawa said in a statement after Tuesday's call.

Carney also laid out his "plan to fight unjustified trade actions against Canada" by the Trump administration.

In separate remarks to reporters Tuesday, Carney said Canada is prepared to retaliate against whatever actions the U.S. takes Wednesday.

"We have held back, but we will not disadvantage Canadian producers and Canadian workers relative to American workers," he said.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump is about to drop a sweeping tariff policy on an economy that already seems to be showing cracks.

Several top analysts have lowered economic growth projections in recent weeks and warned of persistent inflation, dragging the term stagflation back into the conversation.

Strategists and fund managers have also recently raised the probability of a recession, a shift that stems in large part from concerns about the Trump administration's fiscal policies.

These fears coincide with a highly volatile stock market and souring sentiment from consumers and businesses alike.

— Kevin Breuninger