US President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he would not back down on his sweeping tariffs on imports from most of the world unless nations even out their trade with the US, digging in on his plans to implement the tariffs that 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 continued sharp declines and after Trump’s aides sought to soothe market concerns by saying that more than 50 nations had reached out about launching negotiations to lift the tariffs.
Photo: AFP
“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 tariffs are set to be collected beginning tomorrow, ushering in a new era of economic uncertainty with no clear end in sight.
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said unfair trade practices are not “the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks.”
The US must see “what the countries offer and whether it’s believable,” he said.
Trump’s 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?” Bessent said. “What we are looking at is building the long-term economic fundamentals for prosperity.”
Following Trump’s tariff blitz, announced on Wednesday last week, nations are scrambling to figure out how to respond, with China and others retaliating quickly.
Top White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said that other nations are “angry and retaliating, [and] by the way, 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.
Adding to the turmoil, the new tariffs are hitting US allies and adversaries alike, including Israel, which is facing a 17 percent tariff. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to visit the White House and speak at a news conference with Trump yesterday, while Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was reportedly set to have a telephone call with Trump last night.
Another US ally, Vietnam, a major manufacturing center for clothing, has also been in touch with the administration about the tariffs. Trump said Vietnam’s leader said in a telephone call that his nation wants to cut the tariffs down to zero if they are able to make an agreement with the US.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a key European partner, 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 penalized.”
US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick made clear there was no postponing the tariffs.
“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.”
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