Trump’s tariffs haven’t been so popular with the stock market
The president has said people will ‘realize’ that tariffs are ‘beautiful’ for the country, despite the US stock market dropping again.
Donald Trump is ferociously defending his ‘reciprocal tariffs’ for countries around the world after announcing the plan on ‘Liberation Day’ (April 2), which caused immediate shockwaves across the globe.
The president said the levies on foreign goods would boost domestic industries, create more jobs and heal the US economy.
This includes hiking taxes by 20 percent on goods from the European Union, 54 percent on goods from China and 10 percent on UK imports, plus various other taxes on as many as 60 countries.
Despite the stock market’s sharp decline, with the S&P 500 losing $2 trillion in market capitalization, President Trump is standing firm on his tariff strategy. Economists have raised concerns that Americans may end up paying the price, from higher grocery costs to more expensive cars and potentially impacting their retirement savings. Historically, tariff hikes have also caused issues for the US economy.
Yet, even as stock futures dropped on April 6, Trump remains resolute, calling the tariffs a “beautiful thing” for the future of the United States. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote, “We have massive financial deficits with China, the European Union, and many others. The only way this problem can be cured is with tariffs, which are now bringing tens of billions of dollars into the U.S.A. They are already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold.”
He also took aim at President Joe Biden, stating, “The surplus with these countries has grown during the presidency of Sleepy Joe Biden. We are going to reverse it, and reverse it quickly.”
Trump concluded, “Someday, people will realize that tariffs, for the United States of America, are a very beautiful thing!”
President Trump also revealed that leaders from various countries have been reaching out to him to strike a deal with the US, according to the New York Post.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of leaders — from Europe, Asia, and all around the world. They’re eager to make a deal,” he said. “But I told them, we’re not going to have deficits with your country. I see a deficit as a loss. We’re aiming for surpluses, or at worst, breaking even.”
Despite this, stock futures took another hit, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 2.1%, and the S&P 500 falling by approximately 2.5%. Nasdaq saw a decline of around 3.1%, and shares across Asia plummeted. Tokyo’s 225 index lost nearly 8% when the market opened, and dropped another 6% by midday. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 9.4%, and the Shanghai Composite index dropped 6.2%.
While Trump stated he doesn’t want to see stocks fall, he emphasized that “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
“We’ve been treated terribly by other countries because we had foolish leadership that let this happen,” he said. “They took our business, they took our money, they took our jobs.”
