US ‘Doing Really Well’ On Tariff Policy, Insists Trump Even As Trade War Triggers Recession Fears

<p>US President Donald Trump said his trade war with almost every other nation in the world was “doing really well” even as fears of recession intensified and China hit back and hiked the levies on US exports again.</p>
<p>Trump described the tariff approach as &ldquo;moving along quickly,” as a widely followed economic survey showed US consumer expectations for inflation had jumped to the highest level in four decades.</p>
<p>Despite the economic jitters, the White House insisted that the US is on the brink of a “golden age,” asserting that dozens of countries that are now facing a 10 percent US tariff following Trump&rsquo;s decision to halt higher rates until July, were seeking to make deals.</p>
<p>”The phones have been ringing off the hook to make deals,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Friday.</p>
<p>”We are doing really well on our TARIFF POLICY,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Very exciting for America, and the World!!! It is moving along quickly. DJT”</p>
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<h3>’Trust In President Trump’, Says White House&nbsp;&nbsp;</h3>
<p>This comes as China responded to the US tariffs by slapping it back with 125 percent counter-tariff on goods, accusing Trump of “unilateral bullying and coercion.”</p>
<p>&ldquo;Even if the US continues to impose even higher tariffs, it would no longer have any economic significance, and would go down as a joke in the history of world economics,&rdquo; China&rsquo;s finance ministry said in a statement.</p>
<p>Amid this, the US government bonds, which have been long considered among the safest investments in the world, continued to be sold off, and were headed towards their largest weekly loss since 2019. The US dollar weakened against major currencies, including the euro and the pound.</p>
<p>After several days of volatile trading, stock markets showed signs of stabilization Friday. London&rsquo;s FTSE 100 rose 0.6%, while in the US, the S&amp;P 500 climbed 1.8% and the Dow Jones industrial average saw a gain of 1.6%. For the week, the S&amp;P 500 gained 5.7%, its strongest weekly performance since November 2023, The Guardian reported.</p>
<p>However, some of the most influential figures of Wall Street were unconvinced. “I think we&rsquo;re very close, if not in, a recession now,” Larry Fink, CEO of the investment giant BlackRock, told CNBC.</p>
<p>”Far from providing certainty, the 90-day pause on higher US tariffs on much of the world &ldquo;means longer, more elevated uncertainty&rdquo;, he added.</p>
<p>JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon echoed similar concerns, saying the US economy was witnessing “considerable turbulence” amid a sharp drop in consumer confidence. A University of Michigan survet showed US consumer sentiment falling 11% to 50.8 this month, the lowest since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and the second-lowest reading on record.</p>
<p>But White House, when asked about the survey, said: “There is great optimism in this economy.”&nbsp; “Trust in President Trump. He knows what he&rsquo;s doing. This is a proven economic formula,” Leavitt said at the White House briefing.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Tesla has halted orders in China for two of its US-made vehicles as companies race to adjust to steep tariffs resulting from Trump&rsquo;s trade war. The Elon Musk-led manufacturer had removed the “order now” buttons from its Chinese website for the Model S sedan and Model X SUV.</p>
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