 "US President Donald Trump. File image/ Reuters")
US President Donald Trump Friday (March 21) hinted that there would be “flexibility” on his reciprocal tariff plan, slated to go into effect on April 2.
Trump, who keeps touting April 2 as America’s “liberation day”, has repeatedly lauded his reciprocal tariff plan, which would assign tariff rates to all countries matching their own respective tariffs on US goods.
“April 2nd is Liberation Day in America!!! For DECADES we have been ripped off and abused by every nation in the World, both friend and foe. Now it is finally time for the Good Ol’ USA to get some of that MONEY, and RESPECT, BACK,” he posted on his Truth Social platform.
‘Flexibility is an important word’
But on Friday, while speaking at the Oval Office, Trump said people were coming to him and asking for “exceptions”.
“People are coming to me and talking about tariffs, and a lot of people are asking me if they could have exceptions,” Trump said, adding, “And once you do that for one, you have to do that for all.”
Trump insisted that he was not changing his course but was open to “flexibility”.
“I don’t change. But the word flexibility is an important word,” he said. “Sometimes it’s flexibility. So there’ll be flexibility, but basically it’s reciprocal.”
On Friday, Trump also announced plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid escalating trade tensions.
In response to Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports, Beijing has imposed retaliatory tariffs on American agricultural products.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has issued multiple tariff measures, raising concerns among investors and fueling fears of a full-scale trade war.
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Wall Street’s major stock indexes recovered slightly from their session lows after Trump’s suggestion.
Earlier in the day, New York Federal Reserve president John Williams said that uncertainty was running high ahead of the next big round of tariffs.
“It’s hard to know with any precision how the economy will evolve,” Williams said in a speech at the Macroeconometric Caribbean Conference in the Bahamas.
“Uncertainty is high, and there are many scenarios that could play out, depending on fiscal and trade policies and geopolitical and other developments.”