Tariffs dwell: Global markets unstable whereas Trump says US ‘doing really well’ on commerce coverage

Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House’s phones have been “ringing off the hook” as over 75 countries try to negotiate a trade deal with the US.

“More than 75 countries have now reached out to the Trump administration, eager to address the trade issues that have exploited America and hurt our workers,” she said.

“In the process, the phones have been ringing off the hook to make deals, and these countries wisely heeded president Trump’s warning not to retaliate, and as a result, they were rewarded with a 90 day pause and substantially lower reciprocal tariff rates during this period so potential solutions can be achieved.”

The US dollar index fell 1.2 per cent to 99.50 on Friday, marking its lowest level since April 2022.

But the White House has insisted the American economy is on the up.

Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a press briefing: “More excellent economic news that was released yesterday, the Consumer Price Index report showed inflation fell to 2.4 per cent in March, smashing expectations for the second straight month in a row. This marked the first drop in consumer prices dating all the way back to the COVID pandemic.

Prescription drug prices saw the largest monthly decline on record.

“Prices for airfare, used vehicles and car insurance all decreased as well, and energy prices fell 2.4 per cent in March, driven by plummeting gas prices around the country.”

Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt has begun her press briefing.

She will answer questions on behalf of the White House.

She begun the press conference speaking about Donald Trump’s health check up and the release of US-Russian dual national, Ksenia Karelina, who had been detained in Russia, in a prisoner swap in Abu Dhabi.

We are expecting the White House to begin a press briefing in the next few minutes.

Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt will be answering questions from journalists as the tariff row between the US and China continues.

London’s FTSE 100 share index rose by 0.64%, or 50.93 points, to 7,964.18 at the close of trading on Friday.

Meanwhile, in the US, the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 were both slightly higher – up 0.13% and 0.27% respectively.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian echoed comments made by the country’s president earlier today, saying that Beijing was responding to “bullying behaviour” from the US with its increased tariffs.

“China is a responsible country. We’ve taken countermeasures against the bullying behavior of the U.S., not only to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests, but also to uphold international rules and order, the common interests of countries in the world, and international fairness and justice,” He said.

“In the face of U.S. hegemony and bullying, remember this: give the bully an inch, he will take a mile.”

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said trade wars have no winners, after Beijing lifted its tariffs on US goods to 125 per cent.

The hike was in response to the US lift its levies on Chinese goods to 145 per cent, despite introducing a 90-day pause on all other tariff increases over 10 per cent.

Here’s what Mr Lin said in his daily press conference on Friday:

China has repeatedly stated its solemn position on the tariff issue. Tariff and trade wars have no winner. China does not want to fight these wars but is not scared of them.

Let me stress that if the U.S. truly wants to resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiation, it should stop maximum pressure and capricious and destructive behavior. This never works with China.

For any dialogue to happen, they must be based on equality, respect and mutual benefit. If the U.S. is determined to fight a tariff and trade war, China’s response will continue to the end.

The European Union’s economic commissioner has pointed out the US is hurting itself first through widespread tariff increases.

Valdis Dombrovskis has been at a meeting of European economic and finance ministers and central bankers in Poland, and said the group welcomed the 90-day pause on tariffs over 10 per cent.

“What is clear, and what ministers in today’s meeting agreed on, is that the US itself will be the first and most hit by the tariffs,” he said following the Warsaw meeting.

“The imposition of tariffs will weaken the US economy by reducing consumers’ purchasing power, real wages and making imported intermediate goods for production more expensive.”

The EU Commissioner for Economy and Productivity said a loss of investor confidence could also hit American economic activity, with EU modeling showing US GDP would be reduced by 0.8 to 1.4 per cent until 2027, while Europe’s GDP would only take a 0.2 per cent hit.

“Given the extraordinary uncertainty and frequently changing tariff decisions, our model simulations cannot be fully precise,” he said.

“But they do show the overall trend that tariffs are damaging for prosperity.”

Ireland’s deputy premier said negotiations over the weekend between the European Union and the US will be “vital” to reaching an agreement on tariffs.

European commissioner for trade and economic security, Maros Sefcovic is travelling to Washington for talks on Sunday with US officials over tariffs.

The trip comes after Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on higher levies, and the EU then announced it would also pause the introduction of countermeasures.

Simon Harris said it was important to use the time wisely.

“This is a vital weekend, and I think there isn’t an hour to lose, because we have a 90-day pause,” he said on Friday.

“But 90 days can come and go quickly, and it’s really important that there’s very intensive engagement now between Europe and between the United States.

While the US has paused placing 20 per cent tariffs on EU goods, Mr Harris noted the broader 10 per cent duties remained in place, as well as 25 per cent taxes on vehicles, steel and aluminium.

“It cannot be good for the global economy. So it is really important that we actually utilise this pause and put it to good use, “ he said.

As the US stock markets continue to fluctuate, business leaders have warned that the threat of a recession remains higher than before the tariffs were first announced.

“Recession risk is much, much higher now than it was a couple [of] weeks ago,” said Adam Hetts, global head of multi-asset at Janus Henderson.

BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink told CNBC there would be a widespread economic slowdown.

“I think we’re very close, if not in, a recession now,” Fink said.