Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he will not back down from imposing excessive tariffs on imports fromvarious countries. Trump has decided not to back down from his position even though the tariffs have caused financial markets to plummet, raised fears of a recession and disrupted the global trading system. He also reiterated that the US has decided to move forward with the higher tariffs.
He also joked that if markets were to collapse due to tariffs, they should be “treated.” Trump said he would focus on plans to implement the tariffs and that he did not want global markets to fall. He said global financial markets would continue to fall sharply once trading resumed on Monday (April 6). He also said that more than 50 countries had approached him to begin talks to raise tariffs.
“I’ve spoken to many leaders from Europe and Asia around the world. They want to make a deal,” Trump said. “But we’re not going to reduce our tariffs on your country. It would be a loss for our country and we’re going to impose higher tariffs starting Wednesday,” he added.
Asian stock markets fell sharply today after Trump announced that there would be no waivers on tariffs. Stock markets in Singapore, Australia, and Taiwan fell sharply this morning. The previous day’s global declines had been significant.
US stock futures fell sharply. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures fell about 4 percent, while Nasdaq futures fell about 5 percent. The price of Bitcoin, which had been relatively stable last week, also fell about 6 percent. Meanwhile, there are concerns that the world could move towards a trade war as Trump’s tough stance has intensified.
