WASHINGTON, April 2 — US President Donald Trump is poised to unveil sweeping new “Liberation Day” tariffs today, but kept the world guessing until the last minute about the scope of an onslaught that could spark a global trade war.

Trump will roll out the measures flanked by cabinet members in the Rose Garden of the White House at 4 pm, promising that they will stop America being “ripped off” and will deliver a new “golden age” of US industry.

But while Trump insisted he had decided on the reciprocal tariffs hitting countries that have targeted the United States, the White House admitted he was still ironing out the details with less than 24 hours to go late yesterday.

The Republican billionaire has had a long love affair with tariffs, insisting in the face of economic experts that they are a cure-all that will tackle America’s trade imbalances with friends and foes alike.

The move also underscores the growing and profound gulf between Trump’s America and many of its closest allies, not only on trade but on security, defense and almost everything else.

But in typically unpredictable fashion, the 78-year-old US president is keeping the details close to his chest.

Trump has trailed the measures for weeks, initially suggesting that the tariffs would simply match whatever levies other countries impose.

On Monday, he merely that he would be “very kind”—but gave little away.