Trump open to tariff cuts in return for ‘phenomenal’ offers

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said he was open to reducing his tariffs if other nations were able to offer something “phenomenal”, indicating that the White House was open to negotiations despite the insistence of some top officials.

Mr Trump, speaking on Air Force One on April 3, broadly defended

his tariff programme

despite a stock market meltdown, saying he was happy that interest rates were falling and believed that the economic turbulence would settle.

“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate,” he said, adding that “every country has called us”.

When asked if that meant he was considering relenting, he said it “depends”. He added: “If somebody said that we are going to give you something that is so phenomenal, as long as they are giving us something that is good.”

Yet, the President also flagged more levies were on the way.

“The chips are starting very soon,” he said. “The pharma is going to start coming in, I think, at a level that we have not really seen before. We are looking at pharma right now. Pharmaceuticals. It is a separate category. We will be announcing that sometime in the near future. It is under review right now.”

Pharmaceutical stocks in India fell on April 4 as shares declined across Asia.

Index futures for the US and Europe dropped, the greenback extended its slide, while yields on the 10-year US Treasury dipped below 4 per cent again as the tariff moves continue to reverberate through markets. 

Mr Trump spoke after one of the worst days for stocks since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

About $2.5 trillion (S$3.34 trillion) was erased

from the S&P 500, with the gauge down about 5 per cent.

The Russell 2000 of smaller firms extended its plunge from a 2021 all-time high to 20 per cent on speculation Mr Trump’s trade offensive will stunt the American economy. The dollar slid 1.5 per cent. 

Mr Trump reiterated that he would, in particular, be willing to offer tariff relief for China if Beijing approved the sale of the US operations of ByteDance’s TikTok social video app.

The service is facing an April 5 deadline for divestment, unless Mr Trump offers an extension as part of his efforts to broker an agreement.

They were “very close to a deal”, he said.

“I think that maybe China will call and say, ‘well, we’re upset with the tariffs’, and maybe they want to get something a little bit in order to get TikTok approved,” he said, while cautioning he had “no knowledge” that Beijing would seek that approach.

The President indicated that he had spent the day in conversations with foreign governments and business leaders seeking tariff relief.

He said he spoke to automaker executives on April 3, but declined to name them, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Mr Trump said could visit the US next week. 

Israel earlier this week removed its tariffs on US goods in hopes of being spared from the tariffs, but the White House announced that Israeli goods would face a 17 per cent rate.

“I think our markets are going to boom. Got to give it a chance,” Mr Trump said. “Got to give it a little bit of time.”

He pointed out a fall in energy prices and 10-year yields, casting them as a positive.

“One thing I like is interest rates going down, like groceries going down,” he said. “I like eggs going down, if you look at it. And very importantly, the petrol prices are going down.”

Mr Trump also said he believed Britain was happy about its treatment under his new tariff regime.

Britain is facing the minimum 10 per cent tariff, while European Union nations have seen a 20 per cent rate imposed. BLOOMBERG