📌 Trump and his advisors said this has been the plan from the start: to scare the world by announcing ridiculously high tariffs, then force countries into negotiations, and with the exception of China, backtrack on the most painful trade barriers while the U.S. works to reach new trade agreements worldwide.
📌 However, Trump's comment leaves his 'reciprocal' tariffs, which were not actually reciprocal, with his administration facing only 90 days to strike extremely complex trade deals with dozens of countries that say they will come forward to negotiate.
📌 Financial markets are unconvinced, stocks fluctuated sharply, while volatility increased, and other markets, including oil and the dollar, send a clear message of deep skepticism about Trump's ability to achieve this.
📌 After another sharp drop in the market on Thursday, it seemed that stocks had calmed down - at least for now - and fluctuated between gains and losses on Friday, with the Dow Jones index rising 450 points, or 1.1%, in late afternoon, the S&P 500 index rising 1.28%, and the Nasdaq index increasing by 1.5%.
📌 The Wall Street stock exchange closed strong on Friday, coinciding with the start of the first quarter earnings announcement season, as investors sought to close the chapter on a week that saw sharp fluctuations due to the repercussions of the trade war.
