Topline
U.S. stock futures slumped early on Thursday—with the Dow index dropping by more than 200 points—after President Donald Trump said his administration will soon send letters to other countries unilaterally outlining the tariff rates that will be imposed on them.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media during a guided tour of the John F. Kennedy Center ... More
While attending a show at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday evening, Trump was asked about extending the ongoing 90-day tariff pause—which will expire on July 9—and said: “I would, but I don’t think we’re going to have that necessity.”
The president said the U.S. was negotiating with 15 countries, including Japan and South Korea.
Trump added the U.S. has around “150 plus” trading partners and “at a certain point, we’re just going to send letters out…saying this is the deal, you can take it or leave it.”
“We’re going to be sending letters out in about a week and a half, two weeks, to countries, telling them what the deal is,” he added.
The president touted a proposed agreement with China, which he said was reached yesterday, as a “great deal,” adding, “We’re very happy with it, we have everything we need.”
U.S. stock futures slumped in premarket trading early Thursday, with the benchmark S&P 500 slipping by 0.4% to 6,004 points. The Dow Futures index was the worst hit, dropping by 0.5% to 42,684 points, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Futures fell 0.4% to 21,799 points. Key global indexes were also down, with the pan-European STOXX Europe 50 index dropping by more than 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell by 0.65%. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s benchmark Hang Seng Index was down 1.36% as markets closed on Thursday.
It is unclear if the president will stick with his timeline to send letters to more than 150 trading partners with unilateral tariff offers within two weeks. This isn’t the first time Trump announced a timeframe for setting unilateral tariffs, as he told reporters in mid-May that he would do so “over the next two to three weeks.” At the time, the president had said, “I think we’re going to be very fair. But it’s not possible to meet the number of people that want to see us,” again citing the 150-plus number. The president has also repeatedly flip-flopped on various tariff stances he has taken over the last few months.
U.S. And China Reach Trade Deal Including Loosened Controls On Crucial Rare Earths, Trump Says (Forbes)