Economists who spoke to ABC News said Trump's tariff proposals would all but certainly trigger a global trade war, diminishing sales for U.S. exporters, which account for about 10% of the nation's economy. The disruption would likely trigger job cuts and slow the nation's economic performance, economists added.

In their view, it’s one thing to unilaterally apply global steel or aluminum tariffs, tariffs on half of all Chinese imports, or other security-related sanctions, but belching out tariffs on everything from everywhere is a totally different animal.