President Donald Trump might approve breaks for countries when the United States imposes reciprocal tariffs in April.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference announcing a $21 billion investment from South Korea-based automaker Hyundai, Trump stated that the planned April 2 tariffs are “going to be everything.”
“I may give a lot of countries breaks,” Trump told a reporter when asked if the levies would be sector-specific as well as reciprocal.
He said the tariffs could be less than what other trading partners charge “because they’ve charged us so much.”
“I don’t think they could take it,” the president said. “In other words, they’ve charged us so much that I’m embarrassed to charge them what they’ve charged.”
More details will be announced on April 2, which he has touted as America’s “Liberation Day.”
Earlier in the day, during a Cabinet meeting, Trump revealed that he is set to announce tariffs on automobiles, pharmaceuticals, lumber, and semiconductors.
He later clarified that his administration will “be announcing that fairly soon over the next few days, probably.”
This comes after two reports indicated the president could narrow his April 2 reciprocal tariffs.
The newspaper also noted that these adjustments could limit tariffs on 15 percent of nations with persistent trade deficits with the United States.
Traders breathed a sigh of relief heading into the weekend in response to the president’s tariff comments.
In remarks in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters on March 21 that there could be “flexibility” in his efforts to institute universal tariffs on U.S. trading partners next month.
“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.”
Meanwhile, President Trump also confirmed that he will slap a 25 percent tariff on countries purchasing crude oil from Venezuela.
“We’ve been ripped off by every country in the world,” Trump said in the Cabinet meeting. “We did something with Venezuela, which is long in the making.”
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rocketed by more than 600 points, or about 1.5 percent.
The broader S&P 500 surged by about 100 points, or 1.8 percent.
The tech-driven Nasdaq Composite Index soared by more than 400 points, or 2.3 percent.
This is a sharp reversal after weeks of declines. Over the past month, U.S. stocks have been hammered by growing tariff-driven inflation and recession fears.
The Nasdaq is down by 12 percent from its recent high, slipping into correction territory.
The S&P 500 recently fell into a correction, though it has pared its losses and is now down by about 7 percent from its record high.
U.S. Treasury yields, viewed as a conventional safe haven asset amid market turmoil, also climbed across the board.
The benchmark 10-year yield firmed above 4.33 percent. The two-year yield topped 4.03 percent, and the 30-year surpassed 4.66 percent.
On March 24, a White House official told The Epoch Times that there may or may not be sectoral tariffs.
“No final decisions have been made yet on sectoral tariffs being tacked on to reciprocal for April 2 timeline,” the official said.
