Trump reacts to market decline amid new tariffs
Donald Trump, President of the US (photo: Getty Images)
Despite market losses amounting to trillions of dollars, US President Donald Trump is standing firm on his tariff policy, comparing the new duties to medicine, reports Reuters.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the US president said foreign governments would have to pay a lot of money to see the new tariffs lifted.
Trump noted that he was not concerned about market losses, which have already wiped out nearly $6 trillion in US stock value.
Western media have noted that financial markets are signaling the possibility of another week of heavy losses.
“I don't want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” Trump said.
The US president also revealed that he had spoken over the weekend with leaders from Europe and Asia who are hoping to persuade him to cut by 50% the tariffs set to take effect this week.
“They are coming to the table. They want to talk but there’s no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis,” the American president said.
President Trump’s announcement of new tariffs last week sent shockwaves through global economies, drawing concerns over a looming trade war and potential recession, Reuters notes. The move also prompted China to announce retaliatory tariff changes.
On Sunday morning talk shows, Trump’s top economic advisers sought to frame the tariffs as a rational shift in the US stance within the global trade order. They also worked to downplay the economic disruption triggered by the abrupt rollout last week.
Wall Street futures opened sharply lower on Sunday, signaling continued market turbulence ahead.
Trump's new tariffs
On April 2, US President Donald Trump announced tariffs targeting nearly all of the country’s trade partners. A 10% duty - effective from April 5 - applies to a number of nations, including Ukraine, while a higher rate for around 60 countries is set to take effect on April 9.
On April 3, it became clear that the tariffs introduced by Trump dealt a heavy blow to the US stock market.
Reports also indicated that the new tariffs sent shockwaves through global markets, driving gold prices to a record high.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier stated that more than 50 countries had entered talks with the US following the tariff announcement last Wednesday, though he did not specify which nations. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, also noted that dozens of countries had expressed readiness to discuss the tariffs with Washington.
On April 6, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that Washington had no intention of delaying the implementation of the new tariffs introduced by Trump, despite calls from several countries to reconsider the measures.
