Mr. Trump set conditions to fall taxes.

President Trump said that the decision to impose tariffs puts America in a position of control, emphasizing that whether taxes fall or not depends on what partners bring to America. “Every country calls me. That’s the beauty of what we do. We are in a position to take charge of the situation,” President America Donald Trump told reporters on April 3. The statement was made by Mr. Trump one day after he announced countervailing tariff measures against more than 180 trade partners worldwide, shocking the global market and sparking a wave of protests from many countries. Under Trump’s executive order, about half of all economies are subject to a general tariff of 10%, effective April 5. Major U.S. trading partners will face higher rates, up to 50 percent, from April 9, meaning those economies have nearly a week to negotiate with the U.S. government to discuss tariffs. When asked whether he would be willing to negotiate to lower the tax rate, Mr. Trump replied: “It depends. Taxes will only fall if they give us something nice.” It is currently unclear what the “good thing” that Mr. Trump referred to in the negotiations is, but the White House chief affirmed that the tax measure gives America tremendous power in negotiations. “In the past, if we asked those countries for help, they would refuse. Now they will do anything for us,” he said. This view contradicts the statements made earlier by Senior Advisor Peter Navarro and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, when they said that the President of America did not want to reach an agreement on tariffs. The White House also stated that America’s tariff rates on countries should not be seen as the primary factor for negotiations. However, after the market was strongly affected by the countervailing tariff decree, Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he was ready to negotiate with each country. Some analysts are concerned that the market will fall further if Mr. Trump does not ease the tax blow. “We hope that these countervailing tax levels will be negotiated down and that there won’t be a retaliatory trade war like in the 1930s. We expect that the art of negotiation will remain the driving force for the President,” expert Ed Yardeni said. Many officials in the Trump administration had previously expressed some optimistic signals. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged parties not to rush to retaliate, stating that tax strikes against certain countries could be avoided through negotiations. “If you bring the tax rate down to 0, we will also bring it down to 0,” Mr. Bessent said back in February.