(April 4): President Donald Trump blasted China for retaliating against his sweeping tariff plan and vowed his economic policies “will never change”, as the prospect of a trade war wreaked more havoc on the global economy.

Trump on Friday condemned China’s move to slap a 34% charge on all American goods in response to his reciprocal tariffs, which raised duties on Chinese imports to at least 54%. The tit-for-tat raised fears his trade fight could escalate and tip global economies into a recession.

“CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED — THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!” Trump posted on social media.

The US president did not announce plans to respond to China with further measures, but he has previously pledged that if countries raise duties in response to his new tariffs, he will do so as well. The White House declined to elaborate on Trump’s post.

Countries are weighing how to respond to Trump’s latest levies, which raised US tariffs to their highest level in more than a century and battered the post-World War II world trading system he has long decried as unfair.

While China hit American goods with tariffs, Cambodia offered to slash its own duties in a bid to convince Trump to hold off on imposing a 49% charge — one of the highest rates on any Asian economy.

Top administration officials, including the president himself, have sent conflicting messages about the opportunity for US trading partners to cut deals to lower the new tariffs, but Trump on Friday suggested there was little room for negotiation.

“TO THE MANY INVESTORS COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES AND INVESTING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF MONEY, MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE. THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH, RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE!!!” Trump posted on social media.

US stocks took another beating on Friday, accelerating a rapid selloff not seen since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The benchmark S&P 500 Index fell 3.7% as of 10.32am in New York, after declining as much as 4.1% premarket.

After posting his missives, Trump travelled to his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Brushing aside the market turmoil, the president appeared emboldened by March jobs data that beat forecasts, with US nonfarm payrolls increasing 228,000 last month. Those numbers comprise hiring decisions before he announced his tariff plan.

“GREAT JOB NUMBERS, FAR BETTER THAN EXPECTED. IT’S ALREADY WORKING,” the president wrote in another social media post.

Complicating the challenge for foreign leaders and business executives are Trump’s own mixed signals about his willingness to negotiate to reduce the size and scope of his levies. Late Thursday, Trump indicated he would be willing to lower his duties if other nations offered him something “phenomenal”.

Trump and top advisers say they are counting on tariffs — including a minimum 10% levy on all US trading partners — to encourage domestic investment by companies eager to avoid import taxes. Handing out exemptions could undermine that business case for investing in US manufacturing, White House trade counselor Peter Navarro said in a Thursday interview with CNBC.

Trump separately shared a TikTok video from another user asserting that he was “purposely crashing the market” by 20% as part of a grand strategy get the Federal Reserve to “slash interest rates”. The video argues the tariffs will force companies to invest in America and also make farmers “sell more of their products here in the US to bring grocery prices way down”.

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