Trump downplays business concerns about uncertainty over his tariffs
The US leader claimed that while his plans might affect US growth, ultimately ‘they will be great for us’.
US President Donald Trump has dismissed business concerns over the uncertainty caused by his planned tariffs on a range of American trading partners, as well as the prospect of higher prices.
The US leader is also not ruling out the possibility of a recession this year.
After imposing and then quickly pausing 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada that sent markets tumbling over concerns of a trade war, Mr Trump said his plans for broader “reciprocal” tariffs will go into effect on April 2, raising them to match what other countries assess.
Asked about the Atlanta Fed’s warning of an economic contraction in the first quarter of the year, Mr Trump seemingly acknowledged that his plans could affect US growth.
However, he claimed, it would ultimately be “great for us”.
Although Mr Trump’s early implementation of tariffs has been inconsistent – with him imposing them, then pulling many back – he has been steadfast in endorsing the idea of 21st century protectionism.
Meanwhile, the leaders of China – which has been locked in a trade and tech war with the US for years – say they are open to talks with the US President, but they also made preparations for higher US tariffs, which have risen 20% since Mr Trump took office seven weeks ago.
Intent on not being caught as off-guard as they were during Mr Trump’s first term, Chinese leaders were ready with retaliatory measures – imposing their own taxes this past week on key US farm imports and more.
After the US this past week imposed another 10% tariff, on top of the 10% imposed on February 4, the Chinese foreign ministry uttered its sharpest retort yet: “If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.”
In Mr Trump’s idealised framing, the United States was at its zenith in the Gilded Age of the 1890s, a time of rapid population growth and transformation from an agricultural economy toward a sprawling industrial system in the US.
The desire to recreate that era is fuelled by Mr Trump’s fondness for tariffs and his admiration for his nation’s 25th president, William McKinley.
Experts on the era say Mr Trump is idealising a time rife with government and business corruption, social turmoil and inequality.
They argue he is also dramatically overestimating the role tariffs played in stimulating an economy that grew mostly due to factors other than the US raising taxes on imported goods.
Gilded Age policies, they maintain, have virtually nothing to do with how trade works in a globalised, modern economy.
