President Donald Trump said voters should have expected him to impose reciprocal tariffs on the world when they chose to back him in last year’s presidential election.
“Well, they did sign up for it, actually. And this is what I campaigned on,” Trump said of the tariffs during an interview with ABC News which aired Tuesday.
“We’ve been abused by other countries at levels that nobody’s ever seen before,” Trump said.
On April 2, Trump announced sweeping tariffs on more than 180 countries. A 10% baseline rate took effect on April 5. A higher set of tariffs which varied by country went into effect on April 9 before Trump announced a 90-day pause on the same day.
Trump’s on-and-off again tariff announcements sparked a massive market sell-off, and was also criticized by economists and business leaders.
Trump, however, said his tariffs on America’s trading partners are a necessary measure.
“I could have left it that way, and at some point there would have been an implosion like nobody’s ever seen. But I said, ‘No, we have to fix it,'” Trump told ABC News. “I have wanted to do this for many years.”
Trump has defended his tariff policy on multiple occasions. On April 20, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that business leaders who are against his tariffs do not appreciate what he is doing for them.
“THE BUSINESSMEN WHO CRITICIZE TARIFFS ARE BAD AT BUSINESS, BUT REALLY BAD AT POLITICS,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Easter Sunday.
“THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND OR REALIZE THAT I AM THE GREATEST FRIEND THAT AMERICAN CAPITALISM HAS EVER HAD!” Trump continued.
Christopher Tsai, the president and and chief investment officer of the investment management firm Tsai Capital, told Business Insider that businesses will likely not have enough time to adjust to Trump’s tariffs, even with the announced 90-day pause.
Tsai said the tariffs could hurt America’s small and medium-sized businesses, and tip the country into a recession. Small and medium-sized businesses make up around 44% of the US GDP, per the US Chamber of Commerce.
“This is a lot more than numbers. People’s jobs are at stake and businesses that have been thriving and contributing to the economy for years are all of a sudden in an extremely different situation. That’s worrisome to me,” Tsai said.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from BI.
