Trump in the “chaos” of the market; “Tariffs are medicine”!
According to the Associated Press, US President Donald Trump says he will only lift tariffs imposed on other countries if they bring their trade into line with the US.
Speaking to reporters on the steps of Air Force One, Trump claimed that he did not want global markets to collapse but was not worried about the dramatic fall in financial markets. He also added: “Sometimes you have to take medicine to heal and improve.”
His comments came as financial markets continued to fall sharply after reopening on Monday. This comes as Trump’s advisers, in an effort to calm and soothe market anger, claimed that more than 50 countries have contacted Washington to begin negotiations with the US to lift tariffs!
Trump added: “I have spoken to a large number of leaders in Europe, Asia, and around the world.” They are not going to give up on the deal (!), and I said we are not going to have a deficit with your country anymore. We are not going to do that because I think a deficit means a loss. Instead we are going to have a surplus or at worst a balance of trade.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant has said that unfair trade practices and practices are “not something that can be negotiated in a few days or weeks and that the US should make a decision after reviewing the countries’ proposals and making sure they are credible.”
The US president, who spent the weekend in Florida playing golf, wrote in a message on social media warning about the dangers of imposing tariffs on other countries on the domestic economy, “We will prevail. Stand firm. This is not an easy task”!