By TREVOR HUNNICUTT AND LEIKA KIHARA
TOKYO- US President Donald Trump warned foreign governments they would have to pay “a lot of money” to lift sweeping tariffs, characterizing the duties as “medicine” and triggering further carnage across global financial markets on Monday.
Asian shares sank across the board and US stock market futures traded sharply lower as investors feared that Trump’s tariffs could lead to higher prices, weaker demand and potentially a global recession.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump indicated he was not concerned about losses that have already wiped out trillions of dollars in value from equity markets around the world.
“I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he said as he returned from a weekend of golf in Florida.
Trump said he had spoken to leaders from Europe and Asia over the weekend, who hope to convince him to lower tariffs as high as 50 percent due to take effect this week.
“They are coming to the table. They want to talk but there’s no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis,” Trump said.
Trump’s barrage of tariffs announced last week was met with bewildered condemnation from other leaders and triggered retaliatory levies from China, the world’s No.2 economy.
Billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman, who endorsed Trump’s run for president, called for the tariffs to be paused to avert an “economic nuclear war”.
Investors and political leaders have struggled to determine whether Trump’s tariffs are part of a permanent new regime or a negotiating tactic to win concessions from other countries.
On Sunday morning talk shows, Trump’s top economic advisers sought to portray the tariffs as a savvy repositioning of the US in the global trade order.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said more than 50 nations had started negotiations with the US since last Wednesday’s announcement. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the tariffs would remain in place “for days and weeks.”
Japan, one of Washington’s closest allies in Asia, is among countries hoping to strike some deal but its leader Shigeru Ishiba said on Monday results “won’t come overnight”.
Investors, however, are not hanging around.
As Ishiba spoke in parliament, Tokyo’s Nikkei plunged to a 1-1/2-year low, led by the country’s banks – some of the world’s largest lenders by assets – which have shed almost a quarter of their market value over the last three trading days. – Reuters
