Trump downplays business concerns about uncertainty from his tariffs and prospect of higher prices

President Donald Trump waves before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, March 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — U.S. President Donald Trump is dismissing business concerns over the uncertainty caused by his planned tariffs on a range of American trading partners and the prospect of higher prices, and isn’t ruling out the possibility of a recession this year.

• America First fades: U.S. markets now trailing the world

After imposing and then quickly pausing 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada that sent markets tumbling over concerns of a trade war, Trump said his plans for broader “reciprocal” tariffs will go into effect April 2, raising them to match what other countries assess.

“April 2nd, it becomes all reciprocal,” he said in a taped interview with Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “What they charge us, we charge them.”

Asked about the Atlanta Fed’s warning of an economic contraction in the first quarter of the year, Trump seemingly acknowledged that his plans could affect U.S. growth. Still, he claimed, it would ultimately be “be great for us.”

“There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big,” Trump said. “It takes a little time. It takes a little time.”

On Wall Street, it was a tough week with wild swings dominated by worries about the economy and uncertainty about what Trump’s tariffs.

Trump brushed aside concerns from businesses seeking stability as they make investment decisions. He said that “for years the globalists, the big globalists have been ripping off the United States” and that now, “all we’re doing is getting some of it back, and we’re going to treat our country fairly.”

“You know, the tariffs could go up as time goes by, and they may go up and, you know, I don’t know if it’s predictability,” the Republican president said.

• As tariff chaos reigns, what is Trump actually trying to do?

Trump last week lifted the Mexico and Canada tariffs on American car manufacturers, and then virtually all imports to the U.S., but kept them on goods from China.

More tariffs are coming this week, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” that 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will take effect Wednesday. Lutnick said Trump’s threatened tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber though would wait until April.

“Will there be distortions? Of course,” Lutnick said. “Foreign goods may get a little more expensive. But American goods are going to get cheaper, and you’re going to be helping Americans by buying American.”

Zeke Miller, The Associated Press