WASHINGTON/TAIPEI/VERONA: More than 50 nations have reached out to the White House to begin trade talks since US President Donald Trump rolled out sweeping new tariffs, top officials said on Sunday (Apr 6) as they defended levies that wiped out nearly US$6 trillion in value from US stocks last week and downplayed economic fallout.
On Sunday morning talk shows, Trump’s top economic advisers sought to portray the tariffs as a savvy repositioning of the US in the global trade order. They also tried to minimize the economic shocks from last week’s tumultuous rollout, ahead of Monday’s expected bumpy opening of Asian stock markets.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said more than 50 nations had started negotiations with the US since last Wednesday’s announcement, putting Trump in a position of power.
Neither Bessent nor the other officials named the countries or offered details about the talks. But simultaneously negotiating with multiple countries could pose a logistical challenge for the Trump administration and prolong economic uncertainty.
“He’s created maximum leverage for himself,” Bessent said on NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press.’
Bessent downplayed the stock market drop and said there was “no reason” to anticipate a recession based on the tariffs, citing stronger-than-anticipated US jobs growth.
Trump jolted economies around the world after he announced broad tariffs on US imports, triggering retaliatory levies from China and sparking fears of a global trade war and recession.
JPMorgan economists now estimate the tariffs will result in full-year US gross domestic product declining by 0.3 percent, down from an earlier estimate of 1.3 percent growth, and that the unemployment rate will climb to 5.3 percent from 4.2 percent now.
