Trump says US Will Not Budge on Tariffs

A day before Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs are scheduled to kick in, the US president appears locked in a high-stakes game of chicken, with the world’s economy hanging in the balance.

Some nations labelled worst offenders are scrambling to make nice with the White House to end this game before it reaches a potentially devastating climax.

China, in contrast, is playing a different game, one of retaliation and resistance.

Meanwhile, Trump has pressed ahead, even as some allies – in Congress and on Wall Street – wonder if he’s going too far.

On Sunday, when asked what level of market fall he would tolerate before changing course, he snapped that it was a “stupid question”.

Whether it is a negotiating tactic, as many investors and politicians hope, – or a longer game aimed at permanently restructuring the global economy and America’s place in it remains to be seen.

In this new world, whether a country is an ally or an adversary depends on whether that nation is giving the US a good deal.

On Monday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first world leader to visit the president since his trade announcement, tried his hand at playing Trump’s new game.

He pledged that his nation – which has been slotted for tariffs of 17 per cent – would drop its trade barriers and move to eliminate its trade surplus with the US.