Trump responds to market crash, insisting tariffs are the only remedy for the U.S
Trump responded on Monday: "I didn't mean to crash the stock market, but sometimes you have to take medicine to cure the disease."Original Title: "Trump Remains Tough: Tariffs Are the Only Cure for America, Over 50 Countries Urgently Start Negotiations"
Original Author: Natalia Wu, BlockTempo
Due to the turmoil caused by tariff policies, a wave of anti-Trump protests erupted across the U.S. last week, with 500,000 people taking to the streets. However, Trump remains steadfast in his position on tariffs. Trump responded on Monday: "I didn't mean to crash the stock market, but sometimes you have to take medicine to cure the disease."
After U.S. President Trump announced last week that he would implement "reciprocal tariffs" on multiple countries and regions, global financial markets experienced severe turbulence. U.S. stock futures plummeted this morning, with the Dow futures dropping as much as 1,822 points, a decline of 4.7%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also fell over 5%, and the fear index VIX soared past 45, marking the third highest level since the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
The Taiwan stock market, which escaped a disaster last week due to a holiday, also opened with a sharp decline today, dropping as much as 2,085 points to a low of 19,212 points (or 9.8%), setting a record for the largest intraday drop in history. Other Asian stock markets, including Japan, A-shares, and South Korea, also faced significant losses this morning, triggering circuit breakers at one point.
Current Trend of Taiwan Stock Market
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin plummeted to $77,000 this morning, and the total liquidation in the cryptocurrency market exceeded $890 million in the past 24 hours, with over 299,000 people being liquidated. Meanwhile, gold, as a safe-haven asset, also suffered, with spot gold briefly falling below $3,000 this morning.
Investor risk aversion drove the two major safe-haven currencies, the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc, higher. The yen surged 2.27% to 146.584 yen per dollar in the past five days, while the Swiss franc rose over 3% during the same period.
Trump: I Didn't Mean to Crash the Stock Market…
Due to the turmoil caused by tariff policies, an anti-Trump wave has erupted across the U.S., with over 500,000 people participating in 1,200 protest rallies last week, chanting for Trump to "Hands Off."
However, Trump remains steadfast in his position on tariffs. He posted on his social media platform Truth Social this morning, emphasizing that "tariffs are a very good thing," claiming they are bringing hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue to the U.S. His goal is to address the massive trade deficits with China, the European Union, and many other countries, insisting that tariffs are the only solution to trade imbalances.
According to Bloomberg's report on Monday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One:
"I didn't mean to crash the stock market, but sometimes you have to take medicine to cure the disease."
Trump also stated that he has spoken with several unnamed national leaders. He reiterated that the purpose of imposing tariffs is to completely eliminate the U.S. trade deficit.
"They are eager to reach an agreement, and I said, 'We will not have a trade deficit with your country.' We will not do that because, for me, a trade deficit is a loss. We will achieve a surplus, or at worst, we will achieve a balance."
We must address our trade deficit, especially with China. Unless an agreement can reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, I will not reach an agreement. I hope this issue can be resolved. He stated, "China is now suffering a huge blow because everyone knows we are right."
Trump also pointed his finger at Europe, even stating that he not only wants trade balance but also compensation:
"We impose high tariffs on Europe. They come to the negotiating table; they want to negotiate, but negotiations will not proceed unless they pay us a large amount of money each year."
When asked about public concerns that tariffs would lead to a rebound in inflation, Trump simply responded, "I don't think inflation will be a big problem."
Trump Vows to Reverse Trade Deficits with Tariffs
White House economic officials revealed that over 50 countries have called the White House seeking negotiations to mitigate the impact, but Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross emphasized on CBS's "Face the Nation" that Trump "is not joking." Trump's tariff strategy will take effect on April 9 and will not be delayed, "it will definitely be implemented for days or even weeks."
Ross is optimistic that tariffs will stimulate the return of manufacturing. In an interview with CNBC on the 3rd, he revealed that semiconductors are not currently included in the tariffs, but Trump plans to move their manufacturing from Taiwan back to the U.S., with targeted tariffs possibly being added in the future.
Over 50 countries are racing against time to persuade Trump to "spare them," but Trump remains firm, stating, "No negotiations until the trade deficit disappears." Experts warn that this tariff war may trigger a chain reaction, dragging down global growth, with little relief in sight in the short term.
