Trump's next round of tariffs on some of America's biggest trading partners are expected to come into effect just after midnight on Wednesday, including a tough new taxation that would increase import tax on Chinese goods by at least 104%.
Trump confirmed Tuesday that his tariffs were “somewhat explosive.” But he continued to defend his approach all day, saying it encourages the country with what he calls “unfair” trade practices to provide concessions.
“We're a lot of countries coming to do business,” he said in a statement at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. Later that night, at dinner with Congressional Republicans in Washington, he said other countries wanted to do business with the US, but he was happy just collecting income from tariffs.
“I know what I'm doing,” he said. He added that he will soon be announcing “major tariffs on drugs.”
President and administration officials said Tuesday that the White House is ready to negotiate a deal, with 70 governments approaching the US to try to rewind taxation. Trump said officials will begin talks with Japan, South Korea and other countries.
The president, whose punitive and serial tariffs on China sparked a trade war that could potentially harm the economy, said he was open to talking to Beijing about the deal.
“China also wants to do business badly, but they don't know how to start,” Trump wrote on social media. “We're waiting for their phone call. It's going to happen!”
On April 2, the president imposed 10% global tariffs on hundreds of countries, and on April 9 he promised much more steeply “mutual” tariffs for the “twound” American nation he claims. Much of his rage is directed at China, which exports to the US much more than it buys. Since February, the president has been imposing consecutive tariffs on China. On Wednesday, the minimum tax on Chinese imports will reach 104%. Some products could face even higher collections if they were subject to tariffs that Trump imposed during his first term.
The president's approach encouraged retaliation from China, prompting other countries to develop their own plans to strike American exports. As a result, economists have raised expectations for a recession in the US, and many now consider this odds a coin flip.
Trump dismissed these concerns and said he would not leave his trade agenda. The president says his approach is necessary to return manufacturing and industrial production to the United States. He and his economic advisers have given mixed signals about the president's willingness to negotiate, but he and his economic advisers have pointed out that recent offers by the state will lower their tariffs.
News that the administration was considering reaching a deal with trading partners helped support the stock market after punishing a three-day loss. However, by Tuesday afternoon, the S&P 500 had abandoned its profits and had closed its fourth consecutive trading day.
White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt said at a briefing Tuesday afternoon that Trump spoke with the Japanese Prime Minister on Monday, saying the US was seeking a deal. She said the president asked his adviser to “coordinate trade deals with all countries that he calls for to attack this administration.”
However, Levitt rejected the idea that the request represented a “evolution” from the aide's previous comment that there were no negotiations on tariffs. She said the president has no plans to suspend his plans. “He expects these tariffs to come into effect,” she said.
Levitt also argued that the US had the advantage when it came to negotiations. “The US doesn't need other countries as much as other countries need us. President Trump knows this,” she said.
Trump's Treasury Secretary, Scott Bescent, made a similar comment Tuesday, warning that China attacked China with retaliation against the US with its own tariffs and that the US has more leverage in the trade war with the world's second-largest economy.
“What will be lost by the Chinese people raising tariffs on us?” Becent said of CNBC. “We export a fifth of what they export to us, so that's a loser for them.”
Trump's chief trade officer, Jamieson Greer, defended the administration's aggressive tariff move before a Senate committee on Tuesday morning, claiming that the US economy is facing a “moment of dramatic and excessive change” after decades of factories moved overseas and hurt the American working class.
Greer said the president imposed tariffs to achieve “mutual treatment from other countries.” He adds that the policy is already working, citing the announcements companies made in recent weeks of US investments.
He refused to say how long the tariffs would be, saying the administration was looking at “country by country.” However, he implied that there may not be a quick remedy.
“Our large, sustained trade deficit has been going on for over 30 years and won't be resolved overnight, but this is all in the right direction,” Greer said.
Becent, who, along with Greer, oversees negotiations with Japan, also showed openness to negotiating deals.
“I think you'll see a very large country with a massive trade deficit moving forward very quickly,” Becent said. “If they come to the table with solid suggestions, I think we can end up with some good deals.”
Other officials were not optimistic about the possibility that a country could find a way to avoid tariffs.
“This is not a negotiation,” wrote Peter Navarro, a trade adviser at the White House, a strong supporter of tariffs, in a Monday opinion essay. “For the United States, it's a national emergency caused by the trade deficit caused by the equipped system.”
Trump's aggressive tariffs have prompted a sharp blow from Congressional Democrats and a growing tension from Republicans who are under pressure from constituents to defend the export market.
A bipartisan group of senators, including Oregon's Ron Wyden, the committee's top Democrat. Chuck Schumer of New York, the leader of the minority. And one Republican, Randpole, Kentucky – a resolution is set to be introduced later this week, ending a national emergency in which the president declared his tariffs.
However, the measure will face a tough road to passing. If the House approves it, Congress will need sufficient votes to override the president's veto. And the house may take action and is not forced to vote for the resolution.
Last week, the Senate approved a similar measure to eliminate the tariffs Trump had imposed on Canada, but House Republicans moved preemptively to close the requirement to vote for such a measure.
Republicans Don Bacon of Nebraska and Jeff Heard of Colorado have introduced a bipartisan House bill that will give Congress the final decision on the tariffs proposed to Congress on Monday. The measure, co-hosted by two Democrats, New Jersey Representative Josh Gottimer and New York's Gregory W. Meek, has yet to attract other Republican supporters.
But Bacon said he said he was talking to other colleagues (like 10 to 20). On Wednesday, Greer testifies before the House Committee on Roads and Means.
Several Senate Republicans on Tuesday had strong interactions with Greer about whether tariffs are a negotiating tool and whether companies relying on imported products could find relief.
“We need to think strategically about tariff policies, including ways to minimize unnecessary costs for American families,” said Sen. Michael D. Krapo, Republican chairman of the Finance Committee. “It's easy to see the costs arising from tariffs, but we recognize that it's much more difficult to assess the costs of denied market access opportunities.”
Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican from Montana, said he was concerned about the inflationary effects of tariffs on consumers. However, he said other countries are encouraged to approach the US for negotiations. He said, “Because there is hope that these tariffs are not merely an end.
Iowa Sen. Charles E. Grassley, one of the few Republicans to sign legislation against Trump's tariffs, said agriculture was “usually the first place in retaliation.”
In the trade war with China in Trump's first term, US agricultural exports plummeted after China placed high retaliation on soybeans, corn, wheat and other American imports, and the US spent about $23 billion to support American farmers.
Grassley said he generally supported the president, but believes Congress has delegated too many powers to him over trade. He said he took a “viewed as a wait” approach to tariffs because he believed Trump and Greer were using them as a tool to get fair deals.
“If not, then just level it up with me,” Grassley told Greer.
The association of retail leaders representing major companies such as Walmart, Target, Starbucks and Best Buy issued a statement ahead of Greer's testimony, saying that tariffs can cause “market and consumer disruption and uncertainty” and can raise prices for products such as baby clothes, handbags and paperboards.
“Americans have elected President Trump to lower inflation and grow the economy,” the group said. “Instead, these broad tariffs threaten family pocketbooks and threaten the risk of destabilizing confidence in the economy.”
For Democrats, tariffs have provided plenty of bait to claim that Trump mismanages the economy.
“The US economy has turned into a laughing matter from world enthusiasm, less time than it took to end the March madness,” Winden said Tuesday. “Through it, Donald Trump and his advisors have yet to provide an understandable explanation for the American people about his tax rise.”
“Donald Trump is pushing this economy off the cliff on his own without evidence to support him,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat of Massachusetts.
Maya C. Miller, Tony Rom and Tyler Pager Reports of contributions.
