More than 50 countries have contacted White House to start trade talks - Trump adviser

More than 50 countries have reached out to the White House to begin trade talks, the US national economic council director Kevin Hassett has told ABC News’ This Week programme. He said:

I got a report from the USTR last night (the office of the US trade representative) that more than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation.

But they are doing that because they understand that they bear a lot of the tariff.

And so I don’t think you will see a big effect on the consumer in the US because I do think that the reason why we have a persistent, long run trade deficit is these people have very inelastic supply.

They have been dumping goods into the country in order to create jobs say in China.

Kevin Hassett speaks to members of the media at the White House. Kevin Hassett speaks to members of the media at the White House. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/Reuters

Hasset denied that the tariffs were part of a strategy by Trump to crash financial markets to pressure the US federal reserve to cut interest rates, insisting there were would be no “political coercion” of the central bank.

As we have been reporting throughout the day, goods imported from dozens of countries and territories are now going to be taxed at sharply higher rates, and that is expected to drive up the costs of everything from cars to clothes to computers.

These tariffs – which can run as high as 50% - are meant to punish countries for trade barriers that Trump says unfairly limit US exports and cause it to run huge trade deficits.

It is unclear whether the tariffs will be long lasting or if Washington will lower or drop them in response to other countries negotiating to reduce their own tariffs and other trade barriers.

US retail giants predicted that prices were “highly likely” to start rising for US almost immediately after a 25% duty came into effect on exports from Mexico to the US.

Americans have been warned to brace for higher prices more generally too, with households fearing a recession in the future and higher inflation because of tariffs.

Trump’s team has said any short term shock to the economy will be worth the net positives of the tariffs, which the US president claims will help bring manufacturing back to the states and boost tax revenues.

So the trade war is on. There is no deying that this will continue since it's not possible that all countries agree on reducing tariffs. Most will retaliate. With the news of European Union reacting with the US tariffs the market on monday opening doesn't seem to spark any positive sentiment, similar to China reaction also.

Trump Media lost millions of dollars in the current stock market downturn.(Picture from Fortune magazine).

So we are all in this together?

Somehow as soon as I saw this, my mind immediately connected to a scene from the movie Gilda - where Rita Hayworth tells Glenn Ford “I hate you so much, Johnny, that I would destroy myself just to take you down with me”.

—-

Yes, I think to myself, the Big Boys lost millions. But they have billions.

I lost 40 K of my retirement fund. And I don’t have another lifetime to recoup.

Losses mean different things to different people.

No, we are not in this together with the Big Boys.

—-

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te on Sunday offered zero tariffs as the basis for talks with the U.S., pledging to remove trade barriers rather than imposing reciprocal measures and saying Taiwanese companies will raise their U.S. investments.

In a video message released by his office after meeting executives from small and medium-sized companies at his residence, Lai said given Taiwan's dependence on trade the economy would inevitably have a hard time dealing with the tariffs, but that he thought the impact could be minimised.

"Tariff negotiations can start with 'zero tariffs' between Taiwan and the United States, with reference to the U.S.-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement," Lai said.

***India and Vietnam have offered the same deal as well. Indonesia and Singapore have announced they won't be retaliating either.

Guys, be careful when something looks too obvious in the market. There’s a ton of people loading up on puts this week, betting on a crash, but that could be a setup for manipulation. How does it work? Easy: the big players (banks, funds, etc.) know where the crowd’s pain points are like a bunch of puts waiting for a drop. So, they might push a massive gap up, pump the price for a few days, burn those puts (making them worthless), and then crash it hard afterward. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s just the game: they move the price to where their wallets win. Stay sharp, ‘cause when everyone’s betting on the same side, the market loves flipping the table.

Do I want the market to crash?, of course not. I am a futures trader and have been one for longer than I care to remember and I will make money here whatever happens, BUT as a human being who has empathy for others, I absolutely do not want the to happen. But is it happening?, yeah I think it is. My Personal opinion is that stock market crashes generally start on Thursday, accelerate on Friday and climax on Monday. Is this going to happen? I have not a clue. But that is what this feels like to me, a shift in portfolio from growth to defense in anticipation of a deep self inflicted recession. I hope I am wrong.

A stock market crash is a sudden, sharp decline in the value of stocks, often occurring over a short period. This rapid drop, typically defined as a double-digit percentage loss in major stock indexes such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average can unfold over a few days or weeks. Crashes are not just a signal; they are the market actually shifting from optimism to panic, prompting widespread selling.

Most market crashes follow a recognizable pattern, though the triggers vary. Like a line of dominoes, crashes typically start with a catalyst—perhaps disappointing economic data, a major bankruptcy, or a global crisis—that sparks an initial wave of selling. It doesn't matter that the catalyst has perhaps appeared at other times without apparent effect; it only matters that this time it's taken to indicate deep troubles arising from within the markets.

Market crashes typically have three phases:

• The initial shock and sharp decline
• A period of intense selling and volatility
• A bottom formation process that can last weeks or months

While markets experience regular fluctuations, a crash is different because of its velocity and severity. Instead of gradual adjustments to stock prices, crashes are marked by panic selling as investors rush to exit their positions. The fear of further losses creates a self-fulfilling spiral, where more selling leads to lower prices, prompting even more selling.

https://www.investopedia.com/timeline-of-stock-market-crashes-5217820

I finally moved all my investments into a money market alone because these drops are terrifying and I’m happy i did

Had I waited longer I would have lost another 8k.

Now I’m sitting in about 50k in a money market and not sure if I should buy anything in the dip now

If anyone else here has moved their money/liquidated into a cash position, how are you feeling about all this?

Do you wanna just stay in a HYSA for at least part of your portfolio or a money market or something?

Any eyes on what you may want to buy if you indeed reallocated into cash, but want to use on buying a specific dipped mutual fund or stock?

A myriad of warnings, this must one of them, all over the news, blogs, social media about the economic damage tariffs will cause and still the “HODL, DCA, Lump Sum” crowd insist if you went to cash you were gambling, you were lucky, you took a wild guess, you must think you know more than the analysts. One guy said to me that I must think I’m the Oracle of Omaha for going into cash. I’m actually pissed at myself for leaving 10% of my positions behind. You didn’t have to be a genius to see where this was going. If it took a genius then so many would not be selling and the sellers would not be outnumbering the buyers. Which side of the equasiin are you on?

https://fortune.com/2025/04/04/bill-gross-bonds-warns-investors-stock-market-verizon-altria-cash/?utm_source=salesforce&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fortune-500-digest&tpcc=NL_Marketing