The White Home on Monday confirmed no indicators of backing off its implementation of sweeping tariffs on dozens of different nations, at the same time as its method rattled monetary markets and raised the specter of an financial slowdown.
President Trump was adamant that the aggressive tariffs, that are set to enter impact at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, had been a needed instrument to rebalance commerce and reorient the U.S. financial system after years of being taken benefit of.
He additionally introduced he would impose a brand new 50 p.c tariff on imports from China in response to that nation’s announcement final week of tariffs on the U.S.
The most recent announcement would primarily put U.S. tariffs on Chinese language imports at 104 p.c, a dramatic escalation of a possible commerce battle between the world’s two largest economies.
The president additionally warned that he would minimize off negotiations with China about tariffs shifting ahead if it didn’t again off its retaliatory tariffs.
“We’re going to have one shot at this. And no other president’s going to do this, what I’m doing. And I’ll tell you what, it’s an honor to do it, because we have been just destroyed,” Trump instructed reporters within the Oval Workplace throughout a joint look with Isreal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose nation can also be getting hit with Trump tariffs.
“We have an opportunity to change the fabric of our country,” Trump added. “We have an opportunity to reset the table on trade.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Common closed Monday with a lack of 349 factors, falling 0.9 p.c on the day after falling greater than 1,600 factors under its Friday shut earlier within the day. In complete, the Dow has dropped greater than 4,000 factors because the announcement of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, and 9.35 p.c during the last 5 days.
The S&P 500 index closed with a lack of 0.2 p.c, whereas the Nasdaq squeaked out a 0.1 p.c achieve.
Shares opened Monday with a steep plunge after Trump and high administration officers spent the weekend defending the president’s tariffs and downplaying the potential financial prices.
Lower than an hour after the opening bell, the market shot into constructive territory for the primary time in days amid a number of — however misguided — studies that Trump was contemplating a 90-day tariff pause.
Shares fell once more shortly after the White Home dismissed the pause as “fake news” and media shops behind the unique studies backtracked.
However even the false report of aid appeared to snap the market out of its hysteria as shares bounced backwards and forwards till the closing bell.
Trump, nevertheless, stated he was not contemplating any sort of pause whereas once more shrugging off the market response.
“We’re not looking at that,” Trump stated later when requested if he was a pause. “We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us. And they’re going to be fair deals. And in certain cases they’re going to be paying substantial tariffs.”
On the identical time, Trump and a few members of his administration despatched blended indicators about whether or not international locations might negotiate down their tariffs and the way they may accomplish that.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent introduced on Monday afternoon that he would start negotiations along with his Japanese counterpart “regarding tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers, currency issues, and government subsidies.”
Shortly earlier than Bessent’s announcement, The Monetary Instances revealed an op-ed from Trump’s senior commerce adviser, Peter Navarro, wherein Navarro wrote of the tariffs: “This is not a negotiation. For the U.S., it is a national emergency triggered by trade deficits caused by a rigged system.”
Sources near the White Home instructed The Hill that it’s going to in the end be as much as Trump whether or not he desires to barter with different international locations over tariffs. And Trump himself has signaled he’s open to it and argued the tariffs give him important leverage.
However even the president has at occasions been unclear about what he’s looking for from different international locations. He has at occasions referred to as for different nations to drop their commerce boundaries and decrease their tariff charges, whereas on Sunday he instructed reporters he wouldn’t make a cope with China until the U.S. resolved its commerce deficit with Beijing, one thing that may take years to perform.
“They can both be true. There can be permanent tariffs and there can also be negotiations, because there are things we need beyond tariffs,” Trump stated Monday.
Netanyahu stated following a gathering with Trump on the White Home that Israel intends to “eliminate the trade deficit with the United States” and “eliminate trade barriers.”
“I think Israel can serve as a model for many countries who ought to do the same,” Netanyahu stated.
Requested if he deliberate to cut back the 17 p.c tariff on Israel that was introduced final week in consequence, Trump stated, “Maybe not.”
Different international locations, comparable to Vietnam and the European Union, have indicated a willingness to barter as properly, however it’s unclear if the Trump administration will take them up on it.
Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) urged Trump to have interaction with European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen’s provide to barter on “zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial items.”
“At some point, you have to take YES for an answer,” Johnson posted on X.
Trump within the Oval Workplace stated the European Union’s provide was not ample.
In an additional signal of GOP unease with Trump’s method, seven Republican senators, together with Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), have signed on to a bipartisan invoice that may require Congress to approve Trump’s steep tariffs on buying and selling companions.
The White Home has stated Trump would veto the invoice if it reached his desk.
Financial leaders have repeatedly expressed wariness about Trump’s method and what it might imply for the bigger financial system.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon wrote in a letter to shareholders on Monday morning that the administration’s tariffs “will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession.”
Callie Cox, chief market strategist at Ritholtz Wealth, wrote in a Monday evaluation revealed earlier than the market closed that companies “aren’t exactly enthusiastic about hiring new people or launching bold revenue-generating projects when their stock is in freefall.”
“This isn’t a crisis of confidence. At least not yet. The worst-case scenario now is if investors lose confidence in the U.S.’ ability to pay back its debts or support deep and transparent stock markets,” Cox wrote.
