White House officials are considering a proposal for a 20% tariff on most imports to the U.S. The plan — tapping into President Donald Trump’s long-held “reciprocal tariff” strategy — is set to be announced Wednesday as part of a wider economic policy rollout.
A new wave of tariff proposals indicates an “America First” economic policy revival, and global markets and crypto will watch closely.
According to reports, the administration is also weighing whether to use potential revenues from such tariffs, which are projected to be in the trillions of dollars, to fund a tax rebate or dividend for American households. On Monday, Trump signed executive orders at the White House, including ones dealing with ticket scalpers and fees.
Similarly, the U.S. is now imposing a 25% tariff on countries buying Venezuelan oil, adding to pressure on Caracas. According to Reuters, major buyers such as India’s Reliance Industries and Chinese refiners are pulling back from PDVSA deals—Venezuela’s state oil company. On March 31, The President posted on Truth Social about it, likely as a nod of approval.
Trump’s tariffs on Venezuelan oil might have a link to its current measure to oppose Venezuela’s alleged sending “violent criminals” to the U.S.—a claim that is not independently verified.
Markets are mixed ahead of an expected Trump tariff announcement. Consumer and tech stock boosts lifted the Nasdaq, with the Dow Jones up slightly. Healthcare and energy shares are trading lower.
Bitcoin’s performance on April 1 tells a different story.
It is primarily a moment of uncertainty for investors. There has been a healthy uptick in the global crypto market cap, which currently stands at $2.71 trillion and has increased around 2.65% over the last 24 hours, showing a short-term bullish sentiment across the broader market.
According to Kraken, Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, continues to experience headwinds; it is currently trading at $83,597.34 after a significant 4.54% drop over the past seven days.
Of concern, an even closer inspection of the different charts reveals a bearish crossover on the MACD indicator.
The MACD line (12, 26) crosses down below the signal line, registering a -17 to -8 value, with the histogram continuing within the negative territory. Overall, this technical setup indicates a loss of momentum, which, combined with Bitcoin’s price not being able to repeat the $85,000 mark, indicates a loss of momentum.
