PA MediaPresident Donald Trump said he will not back down on his sweeping tariffs on imports from most of the world unless countries even out their trade with the US.
The president dug in on his plans to implement the taxes, which have sent financial markets reeling, raised fears of a recession and upended the global trading system.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he did not want global markets to fall, but also that he was not concerned about the massive sell-off either, adding: “Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
His comments came as global financial markets appeared on track to continue sharp declines once trading resumes on Monday and after his aides sought to soothe market concerns by saying more than 50 nations had reached out about launching negotiations to lift the tariffs.
“I spoke to a lot of leaders, European, Asian, from all over the world,” Trump said. “They’re dying to make a deal. And I said, we’re not going to have deficits with your country. We’re not going to do that because to me, a deficit is a loss. We’re going to have surpluses or, at worst, going to be breaking even.”
The higher rates are set to be collected from Wednesday, ushering in a new era of economic uncertainty with no clear end in sight.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said unfair trade practices are not “the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks.” The United States, he said, must see “what the countries offer and whether it’s believable.”
Trump, who spent the weekend in Florida playing golf, posted online: “WE WILL WIN. HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy.”
His Cabinet members and economic advisers were out in force on Sunday, defending the tariffs and downplaying the consequences for the global economy.
“There doesn’t have to be a recession. Who knows how the market is going to react in a day, in a week?” Mr Bessent said.
“What we are looking at is building the long-term economic fundamentals for prosperity.”
US stock futures dropped on Sunday evening.
Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures fell nearly 4%, while Nasdaq futures were down nearly 5%. Even the price of bitcoin, which was relatively stable last week, fell nearly 6% on Sunday.
Turmoil continued as Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index dropped nearly 8% early on Monday.
PA MediaTrump’s tariff blitz, announced on April 2, fulfilled a key campaign promise as he acted without Congress to redraw the rules of global trade.
It was a move decades in the making for Trump, who has long denounced foreign trade deals as unfair to the US.
He is gambling that voters will be willing to endure higher prices for everyday items to enact his economic vision.
Countries are scrambling to figure out how to respond to the tariffs, with China and others retaliating quickly.
Top White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett acknowledged that other countries are “angry and retaliating,” and, he said, “coming to the table.”
He cited the Office of the US Trade Representative as reporting that more than 50 nations had reached out to the White House to begin talks.
Trump said Vietnam’s leader said in a telephone call that his country “wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the US”.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said she disagreed with Trump’s move but was “ready to deploy all the tools — negotiating and economic — necessary to support our businesses and our sectors that may be penalised”.
PA MediaCommerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made clear there was no postponing tariffs that are days away.
“The tariffs are coming. Of course they are,” he said, adding that Trump needed to reset global trade. But he committed only to having them “definitely” remain “for days and weeks.”
Billionaire businessman Elon Musk had been relatively silent on Trump’s tariffs, but said at a weekend event in Italy that he would like to see the US and Europe move to “a zero-tariff situation.”
The comment from the Tesla owner, who leads Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, drew a rebuke from White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.
“Elon, when he is on his DOGE lane, is great. But we understand what’s going on here. We just have to understand. Elon sells cars,” Navarro said.
“He’s simply protecting his own interest as any business person would do.”
Trump indicated he disagreed with Musk, saying on Sunday of the European Union: “They want to talk, but there’s no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis.”
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