Key Points
- More than 50 nations have reached out to start trade talks with the US, according to Trump administration officials.
- Donald Trump's tariff announcement last week has jolted economies around the world.
- Trump advisers said there is "no reason" to anticipate an economic recession.
More than 50 nations have reached out to the White House to start trade talks since United States President Donald Trump rolled out sweeping new tariffs, top officials said as they defended levies that wiped out nearly US$6 trillion ($10 trillion) in value from US stocks last week and downplayed the economic fallout.
On Sunday morning (local time) talk shows, Trump's top economic advisers sought to portray the tariffs as a savvy repositioning of the US in the global trade order.
They also tried to minimise the economic shocks from last week's rollout, ahead of Monday's expected bumpy opening of Asian stock markets.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said more than 50 nations had started negotiations with the US since last Wednesday's announcement, putting Trump in a position of power.
Neither Bessent nor the other officials named the countries or offered details about the talks.
But simultaneously negotiating with multiple countries could pose a logistical challenge for the Trump administration and prolong economic uncertainty.
"He's created maximum leverage for himself," Bessent said on NBC News' Meet the Press.
Bessent downplayed the stock market drop and said there was "no reason" to anticipate a recession based on the tariffs, citing stronger-than-anticipated US jobs growth.
Trump jolted economies around the world after he announced broad tariffs on US imports, triggering retaliatory levies from China and sparking fears of a global trade war and recession.
JPMorgan economists now estimate the tariffs will result in full-year US gross domestic product declining by 0.3 per cent, down from an earlier estimate of 1.3 per cent growth, and that the unemployment rate will climb to 5.3 per cent from 4.2 per cent now.
As investors braced for the opening of stock markets in Asia, Trump spent the weekend in Florida, playing golf and posting a video of his swing to social media.
US customs agents started collecting Trump's unilateral 10 per cent tariff on all imports from many countries over the weekend.
Higher "reciprocal" tariff rates of 11 per cent to 50 per cent on individual countries are due to take effect on Wednesday at 2pm AEST.
World financial markets were impacted by Donald Trump's tariff announcement. Source: AAP / Justin Lane
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te on Sunday offered zero tariffs as the basis for talks with the US, pledging to remove trade barriers and saying Taiwanese companies will raise their US investments.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would seek a reprieve from a 17 per cent tariff on the country's goods during a planned meeting with Trump on Monday.
An Indian government official told Reuters news agency the country does not plan to retaliate against a 26 per cent tariff and said talks were underway with the US over a possible deal.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — a Trump ally — pledged on Sunday to shield businesses that suffered damage from a planned 20 per cent tariff on goods from the European Union.
Italian wine producers and US importers at a wine fair in Verona said on Sunday business had already slowed and feared more lasting damage.
