Posted on 04/23/2025 7:56:05 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
Stock markets have risen around the world after Donald Trump said his tariffs on China would come down “substantially” and he had “no intention” of firing the chair of the American central bank, Jay Powell.
The president told reporters in Washington on Tuesday he plannned to be “very nice” to China in trade talks and that tariffs could drop in both countries if they could reach a deal, adding: “It will come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.”
The comments sparked a fresh rally on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 blue chip index and the Nasdaq ending the day up by more than 2.5%. Overnight in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose by nearly 2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 2.4% and the South Korean Kospi gained 1.6%.
The rally spread to Europe in early trading on Wednesday, with the UK’s FTSE 100 index up 1.6%, while the Italian FTSE MiB rose by 1.1%. Germany’s Dax gained 2.6% and France’s Cac 2.1%.
Investor confidence also grew after Trump told reporters he would not fire Powell, the chair of the US Federal Reserve, reversing the previous day’s losses triggered by the president calling the central bank boss a “major loser”.
The president has criticised the Fed chair repeatedly for refusing to cut interest rates and last week hinted that he believed he could dismiss Powell before his term as the head of the central bank comes to an end in May next year.
Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, last week that Powell’s termination “could not come fast enough”, after the Fed chair raised concerns about the impact of trade tariffs on the American economy.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
On the face of it, that doesn't seem like something that would stir a mass exodus of multinationals from China. If the cost of manufacturing in China is a fraction of what it is here, levying a 20 or 25% duty will just raise prices without creating American jobs.
We'll see, but this sure doesn't sound like the tough talk we heard from Peter Navarro and the trade hawks three weeks ago.
At a minimum, the tariff will be 10% plus what ever it is now.
Trump's 10 percent baseline tariffs are here to stay, Hassett says
The top of another hill on the roller coaster we’re riding. Don’t unbuckle just yet ;-)
I would have preferred scheduled, incremental rises to afford companies the opportunity to reshore. The opening salvo was enough to set things in motion. Some industries can be set up quickly. Others (chips, mining, autos) will take longer.
Beijing Central Va,
In the link WHICH YOU YOURSELF PROVIDED, where does Hassert say that “what ever it is now” will stay in place?
That would fly in the face of the President’s own declaration that there “It will come down substantially but it won’t be zero,” and “we’re going to be very nice and they’re going to be very nice, and we’ll see what happens.”
Maybe more carrot, less stick. Eliminate regulations and slash taxes here, make the USA irresistibly attractive for investment and production, and high tariffs become less necessary.
So did Trump blink, or China?
I mentioned a couple weeks ago a client of mine in the screw and fastener business who got hit with a huge tariff bill right after Liberation Day. He has no alternative domestic supplier to order from, so essentially he was putting a freeze on new inventory.
Obviously setting up a plant to make these basic items would be a heckuva lot easier and quicker than building a semiconductor foundry, but even for these items it would still be far cheaper to produce Chinese screws and fasteners, so even with 30-35% tariffs it’s unlikely to attract a US manufacturer.
Rather than broad tariffs, I think it would have been more effective instituting targeted ones on items we want relocated here, especially advanced tech. And I think tax breaks for multinationals who bring back job-creating factories is an essential ingredient in reversing trade drain.
Dream on Red Rebel, the 10% duty is baseline. Globalist POSes need to accept that reality.
Less but still necessary.
His competitors will figure it out.
I get the impression that multiple people are speaking for the Trump administration on their tariff policy - the mixed messaging isn’t helpful. We should be hanging tough on China and equalizing trade with them - this impression of capitulation this morning is exactly the wrong message.
In some ways Trump is echoing FDR’s response to the Depression. People believe that the alphabet soup agencies were well thought out results of planning. In fact they were the result of throw it against the wall and see what sticks governance. The same seems to be true of Pres Trump’s tariff policy. He seems to be using Wall St reaction to determine what he does with tariffs. Also it appears both Ukraine and Iran are heading in the same direction as the direction of US policy seems to change weekly.
I’m sorry but when your enemy is down, you deal the killing blow or Coup de grâce.
china needs to pay
*sigh* i need anger management when it comes to china, i have dreams of volunteering to taiwan and killing as many ccp soldiers as i can with my customized sks.
The USA will never, cannot ever be a post industrial power house because THERE IS NOT SUCH THING! IF not Trump then who? It may not matter to you because you my be dead when the USA goes under.
China
I don’t mean to question that but I find it gard to believe.
The day after??? It wasn’t yet implemented abd then a few days later there was a 90 day delay to negotiate.
The announcement was on a Tuesday afternoon. The effective date was that Friday. My client said that his shipment was en route and that he expected delivery after that date.
I have no idea when it actually arrived and whether he did in fact have to pay. My guess is that given the magnitude and breadth of the new tariff schedules, a lot of goods came in with varying degrees of enforcement and compliance.
Got it. Thanks.
4D Chess with glass boards, trust the plan, master negotiator, etc.
Need to hear if the Fair/No Traders are breaking up with MAGA.
I think it occurred tonight Trump if we want to import Chinese jobs we will need a bunch of those people we just cutoff and are kicking out. If we cannot get iPhone jobs are we going after hand made and painted clay pots? I’m sure there is big domestic market for union made clay pots.
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