More than 50 countries have directly contacted the White House to initiate trade talks following US President Donald Trump’s imposition of wide-ranging punitive tariffs, administration officials have said, Al Jazeera reports.
The tariffs, which caused a nearly $6 trillion drop in US stock values last week and battered global markets, have drawn worldwide attention and sparked fears of a potential economic downturn. But the Trump administration has downplayed that and potential further catastrophic economic fallout.
In a series of Sunday-morning talk show interviews, Trump’s top economic advisers defended the tariffs, describing them as a strategic move to strengthen the US position in global trade.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed that more than 50 nations had begun negotiations with the US since the tariffs were announced on Wednesday, but did not disclose the countries involved.
Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs came into effect on Saturday.
The initial 10 percent “baseline” tariff took effect at US seaports, airports and customs warehouses, ushering in Trump’s full rejection of the post-World War II system of mutually agreed tariff rates.
