Advisers to US President Donald Trump have staunchly supported the broad tariffs on imports, pledging to continue their policy even as turbulent markets and warnings against sparking a trade war intensify. In several television interviews, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent minimized the recent declines in the stock market, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick maintained that the reciprocal tariffs would go ahead as planned.
Bessent dismissed fears of an economic downturn by stating there was “no reason” to expect a recession from the current instability. “This is an adjustment process,” he added. Meanwhile, top adviser Kevin Hassett noted that over 50 countries had reached out to Trump, seeking to negotiate a resolution.
The impact on the US market has been severe: all three major stock indexes fell by more than 5% on Friday, and the S&P 500 nearly 6% in what has been the worst week for US stocks since 2020. The fragility of global markets was underscored by the performance of Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange, which, trading on Sunday, closed almost 7% lower, marking its steepest daily drop since the pandemic, according to state-owned media.
US banking powerhouse JP Morgan has even forecast a 60% likelihood of a recession both in the US and globally following Trump’s tariff announcement. When questioned by CBS News on Sunday about the market turmoil, Lutnick confirmed that the 10% “baseline” tariff on all imports, which had come into effect just a day earlier, would definitely “stay in place for days and weeks”. He further assured that the more severe reciprocal tariffs were still on schedule.
These additional tariffs, targeting roughly 60 countries identified as the “worst offenders”, are set to take effect on Wednesday, 9 April. When pressed about this, Lutnick stated they were inevitable: “[Trump] announced it and he wasn’t kidding.” He also defended tariffs imposed on two small Antarctic islands inhabited solely by penguins, arguing that they were necessary to close “loopholes” that would otherwise allow countries like China to “ship through”. In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Bessent argued that Trump had “created maximum leverage for himself, and more than 50 countries have approached the administration about lowering their non-tariff trade barriers, lowering their tariffs, stopping currency manipulation.”
Economic adviser Kevin Hassett echoed the sentiment, reiterating that more than 50 countries had expressed interest in starting negotiations, although neither he nor Bessent provided specifics on which nations had reached out.
Elsewhere, Indonesia and Taiwan announced over the weekend that they would refrain from retaliatory tariffs after the US imposed a 32% levy on imports from both nations. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s leader To Lam has requested that Trump postpone a 46% duty on Vietnamese exports to the US by “at least 45 days”, according to a letter seen by AFP and the New York Times. In contrast, China declared on Friday that it would implement a 34% tariff on all US imports starting Thursday, 10 April.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned on Saturday that “the world as we knew it has gone”. He affirmed that the UK government would persist in seeking an economic agreement with the US that would mitigate some of the tariff burdens. A Downing Street spokesperson later noted that in a phone conversation, Starmer and new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed that “an all-out trade war is in no-one’s interest”.
Looking ahead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to meet Trump in Washington DC for trade discussions. As he boarded his flight to the US, Netanyahu remarked that he is “the first international leader that is meeting with Trump” since the new tariffs were implemented. He emphasized that this meeting highlights both their “personal connection and the connection between our countries that is so essential in this time”.
Over the weekend, anti-Trump protests erupted in cities across the US, marking the largest nationwide demonstration against the president since he took office in January. Hundreds of thousands gathered in cities such as Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington DC, voicing their opposition to a range of policies, from social issues to economic decisions.
Amid the market turmoil, Trump has called on the US to “hang tough”, though it remains to be seen how Asian markets will respond when they open.
