President Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on his trade war and threatened to levy even higher tariffs on China this week, as markets endured a third day of intense volatility.
“We’ve been ripped off and taken advantage of by many countries over the years, and can’t do it anymore,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office on Monday. “We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us, and they’re going to be fair deals.”
Trump’s commitment to his tariffs comes amid mounting pressure from economists, investors, and even Republicans in Congress for the White House to pause a trade strategy many fear could drive a global recession. Last week, Trump imposed a 10% across-the-board tariff on imports, as well as additional tariffs on some 90 countries. On Sunday, Goldman Sachs said the probability of a recession in the next 12 months had jumped to 45%.
“We have $36 trillion in debt. I want to get rid of it, and we can do it quickly with proper deals,” Trump said Monday. “Countries don’t allow us to sell our product, but we allow them to sell their product…They charge us massive amounts of money for the privilege of going into their country. Those days are over.”
The meeting marked the first time Trump met in-person with a foreign leader since he unveiled the sweeping new tariffs last week in a rambling and unclear announcement in which he described an opaque formula used to calculate higher tariff rates on adversaries and allies alike. The strategy drew puzzlement from economists, who quickly found errors and inconsistencies in how the administration calculated the new tariff rates.
Some countries have attempted to quickly show they can address Trump’s unhappiness with the current trade status quo. During Monday’s press meeting, Netanyahu claimed he would work hard to “quickly” eliminate the trade deficit with the U.S.—though President Trump did not respond with a commitment to reduce the new 17% tariff on the country. “Don’t forget, we help Israel a lot,” Trump said in reference to the billions of aid the U.S. sends their closest Middle Eastern ally.
Others have responded more firmly. China retaliated with a 34% tariff against American imports, which the President criticized during the press conference and on his social media platform. “If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” Trump threatened on Truth Social Monday morning.
Several business leaders have called on Trump to pause the implementation of his tariffs and impose a more predictable strategy to pressure more manufacturers to produce goods inside the U.S. Bill Ackman, a hedge fund manager who has supported Trump, warned of a “self-induced, economic nuclear winter” if Trump doesn’t change course. “By placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business, and as a market to invest capital,” Ackman wrote Sunday on X.
Trump said he wasn’t worried about driving trading partners to China, claiming that many countries have already approached him about negotiations.
To some extent, Trump recognized that building up domestic manufacturing and bringing back jobs would take time.
“You got to build a thing called the factory. You have to build your energy. You have to do a lot of things,” he said. “I’m giving them energy. You know, we’re going to let them build their own power plants. They’ll be their own … We need massive amounts of electricity. We’re going to compete with China and others.”
