The White House Friday touted President Donald Trump's sweeping new tariff policy, as markets fell sharply for a second straight day.
Officials said they believe that the new trade agenda will ultimately have medium and long term benefits. A senior administration official said the White House is analyzing the effects not just day to day, but also month to month and year to year. The administration also characterized stock performance as a "snapshot in time."
President Trump believes the tariffs will lead to a boost in production and revenue in the long run, as well as more investments. He wrote on social media that "this is a great time to get rich."
But some economic experts are warning of inflation projections, equating a tariff to a tax on consumers.
Despite Trump urging Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to cut interest rates, Powell Friday warned that tariffs could "generate at least a temporary rise in inflation."
"While uncertainty remains elevated, it is now becoming clear that tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected. And the same is likely to be true of economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth," Powell said.
Countries across the world are also closely watching tariff actions, while some are taking countermeasures. China, for instance, enacted a reciprocal 34% tariff on U.S. imports. Canada is also taking steps.
Others are looking to talk. A senior administration official said many countries have reached out to Trump, indicating he talked with the leader in Vietnam.
Officials have said the tariffs are not a negotiation, since they are in response to a national emergency that President Trump declared. But officials at the White House have said if a country wants to talk, they will listen.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio was with his European counterparts overseas Friday denying that markets were crashing.
"Ultimately the markets — as long as they know what the rules are going to be moving forward, and as long as that's set and you can sustain where you're going to be — the markets will adjust. Businesses around the world, including in trade and global trade — they just need to know what the rules are. Once they know what the rules are, they will adjust to those rules. So I don't think it's fair to say economies are crashing."
Meanwhile, trade experts told Scripps News that short- and long-term effects of the tariffs would likely manifest as a diminished U.S. standing with the rest of the world.
"That's a near term impact, that countries are going to — they have to — retaliate. You can't have this type of aggressive trade action without some sort of retaliation," Said Ben Harris, VP and director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution. "But as bad as the short-term impact is, the worst impact is what's going to happen over time. People decide the United States is A) no longer a country that abides by the rule of law, because there are serious questions as to whether or not these tariffs are legal."
