Trump 'couldn't care less' if foreign automakers raise prices
Asked what his recent message to automotive industry CEOs was and whether he had warned them against raising prices, Trump said: “The message is congratulations, if you make your car in the United States, you’re going to make a lot of money. If you don’t, you’re going to have to probably come to the United States, because if you make your car in the United States, there is no tariff.”
Pressed about whether he told CEOs not to raise prices, as The Wall Street Journal reported, Trump added: “No, I never said that. I couldn’t care less if they raise prices, because people are going to start buying American-made cars.”
Mexico promises a response
Mexico has promised to retaliate, but President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has held frequent talks with Trump, has not yet imposed any tariffs. Sheinbaum said she wants to maintain “cool heads” as she seeks to avoid a trade war.
Canada and the European Union hit back
Canada imposed a 25% tariff on U.S. steel and aluminum products worth nearly $16 billion. It also hit back with 25% tariffs on U.S. computers, servers and sports equipment.
The European Union has promised to retaliate against U.S. beef, bourbon, peanut butter and denim products, but it delayed those tariffs until mid-April. The bloc’s top trade official said he was holding talks with the United States about avoiding tariffs. European capitals have been pushing to avoid an all-out trade war between the 27-nation union and the United States.
What retaliation has the United States faced so far?
As the threat of tariffs looms large in capitals around the world, many trading partners have already retaliated or vowed to respond to Trump’s tariffs. China has imposed retaliatory tariffs as high as 15% on some U.S. agricultural products, such as chicken, wheat, soybeans, pork, fruits and dairy products.
Consumers call out for a lifeline as more tariffs loom
Consumers’ economic pessimism is worsening as inflation stays hot and a series of new reports flash alarms before the White House expands its trade war.
In February — with much of Trump’s tariff agenda announced but not yet implemented — stubborn inflation collided with tepid spending, a closely watched federal report showed Friday. The data indicated many households are paring back on hotel stays and dining out to cover pricier groceries and health care.
The financial firm ING called the new numbers “ugly” and flagged ongoing stagflation risks, saying “we are moving in the wrong direction” as Trump’s trade war and spending cuts threaten to worsen things.
Wells Fargo analysts, who similarly warned of an “ugly” quarter ahead, said that if there’s one “silver lining” to the report, it’s that “income growth was broad and supported by decent wage gains.” But “to judge from consumers’ own reported inflation expectations, which have been rising, they are going to need the extra support,” they wrote. Consumers’ attitudes are indeed growing gloomier.
As retaliatory tariffs mount, recyclers are getting worried
Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum took effect March 12, triggering a wave of countermeasures from foreign governments. The temporary carveouts he granted Canada and Mexico for those metals and other products are set to expire today — when Trump is expected to unveil a vast new slate of tariffs on “all countries,” including “reciprocal” levies equalizing trade barriers around the world.
The European Commission said yesterday that it’s preparing to reintroduce the retaliatory duties it imposed during Trump’s first term as part of a broader series of levies on American products teed up for mid-April. Canada has already slapped 25% tariffs on various U.S. goods, including steel and aluminum.
Tariffs can give domestic business a short-term boost, economists say, but it gets more complicated once other countries retaliate — making it tough to game out the ultimate winners and losers in an ever-evolving global trade war.
How Trump turned global trade into an economic battlefield
Trump’s dizzying tariffs rhetoric has caught the economy flat-footed.
While Trump has long lauded trade duties as a solution to a host of economic woes, it has been the tariffs’ erratic rollout and shifting rationales that have alarmed investors.
Here's a timeline of Trump's tariff efforts that began unfolding in February.
What tariffs have been enacted so far?
Trump’s tariffs have been applied in an on-again, off-again way. So what tariffs are currently in effect? As of yesterday morning, a 25% tariff on goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal are in effect. A 10% tariff on goods from China, on top of various tariffs already imposed on Chinese goods, plus a 25% tariff on worldwide steel and aluminum imports are in place.
The United States has more than 200 trading partners and 12,500 different tariff categories, so, according to analysts at UBS, there could be up to 2.5 million tariff and country combinations.
The threat of Trump's trade war is already having an effect
Even before today’s announcement, the mere threat of the higher tariffs has caused business and consumer sentiment to plummet.
The most recent report from the Conference Board showed consumer expectations for the next 12 months plunged to a 12-year low, while talk of tariffs has exploded in recent corporate earnings calls. In parallel, stocks just had their worst quarter since the Covid pandemic.