Trump hints at ‘flexibility’ on reciprocal tariffs while balking at more ‘exceptions’
- President Donald Trump suggested he would be open to tariff "flexibility," but doesn’t seem too keen on granting more exceptions to specific industries. Trump’s comments helped Wall Street rebound to finish with narrow gains after indexes initially sold off Friday morning.
President Donald Trump resisted the idea of granting more tariff relief but appeared open to reciprocal tariff “flexibility.”
At the Oval Office on Friday, Trump was asked about granting industries exemptions to his tariffs.
“People are coming to me and talking about tariffs, and a lot of people are asking me if they could have exceptions,” he replied. “And once you do that for one, you have to do that for all.”
During the first couple months in office, Trump has most notably implemented a 20% tariff on Chinese goods as well as on-again, off-again 25% duties on goods from Canada and Mexico but granted the auto industry a one-month exemption on vehicles that comply with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
Additionally, Trump has levied a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum while threatening duties on microchips, and pharma imports into the U.S. He also threatened to impose a 25% duty on all goods imported from the European Union.
“I gave the American car companies a break because it would have been unfair if I didn’t,” Trump said, adding that he didn’t change his mind on tariffs.
The tariff on the auto industry will go back into effect early next month.
“I don’t change. But the word flexibility is an important word,” Trump said. “Sometimes it’s flexibility. So there’ll be flexibility, but basically it’s reciprocal.”
The White House did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for elaboration on Trump’s use of the word “flexibility.”
Trump affirmed the self-proclaimed “liberation day” on April 2, when he will impose reciprocal tariffs on countries that have assigned tariffs on U.S. goods as well as value-added taxes and other non-tariff trade barriers.
While market volatility over tariff concerns has ravaged Wall Street in recent weeks, stocks rallied after Trump’s comments, bouncing back from a morning selloff. After falling as much as 1.6% Friday, the S&P 500 finished 0.08% higher on the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.08% and 0.52%, respectively.
Additionally, Trump announced Friday he plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but has not indicated when.
China has levied retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agriculture imports in response to the 20% all-encompassing tariff Trump placed on the country.
“I’ll be speaking to President Xi, have a great relationship with him. We’re going to have a very good relationship, but we have a trillion-dollar deficit,” Trump said.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com