"Make or Break"? Trump Changes Stance Again: May Reimpose Reciprocal Tariffs Within Weeks

TradingKey - Less than 100 days into his presidency, U.S. President Donald Trump has performed yet another round of policy flip-flopping on tariffs. Just two weeks after granting a "90-day pause," Trump stated that if the U.S. fails to reach agreements with its trading partners, he will reimpose reciprocal tariffs within weeks.

According to Fox News, during a Wednesday, April 23 meeting in the Oval Office, Trump stated that so far, the U.S. government has held consultations with 90 countries, all of which hope to reach trade agreements with the U.S.

He reiterated his "optimistic" stance, expressing confidence that these countries would strike excellent deals with the U.S. However, he also warned, "If we don't have a deal with a company or a country, we're going to set the tariff. That will happen I’d say over the next couple of weeks."

Trump added that they would determine the tariff rates themselves, including for China. The day before, Trump had said that he believed the 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods was too high and would be significantly reduced.

While Trump’s latest remarks cannot be described as a complete reversal, they add another layer of uncertainty to the trade tensions that had only just eased a day earlier.

According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, 40% of Americans approve of Trump's job performance, a 7-percentage-point drop from February’s survey. A staggering 59% of Americans oppose the government’s decision to raise tariffs.

Additionally, 91% of Democrats and 65% of Republicans believe that if a federal court rules an action illegal, the government should halt it.