President Donald Trump and his top officials on Thursday brushed off continued turmoil from his tariff policy as “transition problems.”
“We think we’re in very good shape,” Trump said as he convened his Cabinet for a meeting at the White House. “We think we’re doing very well. Again there will be a transition cost, transition problems, but in the end it’s going to be a beautiful thing.”
The global markets experienced some relief on Wednesday when Trump backed down from his punishing tariffs against nearly 90 trading partners, instead lowering the levies to a near-universal 10%.
But they tumbled again Thursday as uncertainty remains over what happens next, especially when it comes to China — which the White House clarified now faces a whopping 145% tariff.
Trump on Wednesday said he was upping the tariff against China to 125% after Beijing retaliated with a significant levy on U.S. goods. That new tariff is in addition to a 20% fentanyl-related levy imposed by Trump back in February, the White House confirmed on Thursday.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said when asked directly to comment on next steps with China, the world’s second largest economy behind the United States.
Trump repeated much of what he said on Wednesday, including that he would “love to be able to work a deal” with Beijing but contended they’ve “ripped us off badly.”
“We’re resetting the table, and I’m sure that we’ll be able to get along very well,” he said. “I have great respect for President XI. He’s been in a true sense. He’s been a friend of mine for a long period of time. And I think, that will end up working out something that’s very good for both countries.”
A stock market sell-off continued on Thursday, wiping away half of the previous day’s rally. Trump had touted Wednesday’s market gains as “the biggest day in history” but was mum on the recent downward development.
“I haven’t seen it because I’ve been in here for two and a half hours,” Trump said at the Cabinet meeting.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, seated across the table from the president, said the market dive wasn’t a “bad ratio” and tried to play up the latest inflation report (which showed inflation cooled in March, before Trump’s tariff escalation).
“I don’t see anything unusual today,” Bessent asserted.
Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick instead highlighted negotiations with other nations. Bessent on Thursday met with Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc and agreed to begin formal trade talks.
“As we go through the queue and settle with these countries who are going to bring us their best offers, we will end up in a place of great certainty over the next 90 days on tariffs,” Bessent said.
Lutnick asserted so many foreign officials want to meet, “I’m not sure we could ever have enough time in the day to talk to all these countries.”
The administration’s now up against the clock of Trump’s 90-day pause.
ABC News White House Correspondent Karen Travers asked Trump on Thursday what happens if they don’t make the deals they want within that time frame.
“I mean, if we can’t make the deal that we want to make or we have to make or that’s, you know, good for both parties — it’s got to be good for both parties — then we go back to where we were,” he responded, threatening a return to the higher tariff rates he unveiled last week.
But he also left the door open to an extension of the pause. “We’ll have to see what happens,” he said.
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