Speaking at a White House press conference, Trump brushed off warnings that his aggressive stance could destabilise the economy, insisting that the levies would force manufacturers to bring production back to American soil.

"When they come into the United States, and they have their plant or factory here, there is no tariff," Trump said.

The threat of tariffs has loomed since Trump returned to office last month, with his administration pledging to "rebalance" the global economic order in America’s favour.

However, many announced tariffs have yet to take effect, with duties on imports from Canada and Mexico repeatedly delayed. Modified steel and aluminium levies announced last week will not be enforced until next month, and a sweeping set of so-called "reciprocal" tariffs won’t take effect until April.

This gives producers and countries to bow down to Trump’s demands.

Asked whether he had finalised the exact rate for car import tariffs, Trump said he would "probably" confirm the figure on 2 April, but it would be "in the neighbourhood of 25 per cent".

When pressed on semiconductor and pharmaceutical tariffs, he responded: "It’ll be 25 per cent and higher, and it’ll go very substantially higher over a year."

Business leaders and economists have sounded the alarm over the potential fallout, warning that these measures could do more harm than good.

CEO Ford Jim Farley warned that a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada "will blow a hole in the US industry that we have never seen."