Donald Trump insists US 'going to boom' from tariffs despite stock market plunge

Donald Trump has claimed the United States will "boom" from tariffs which many economists fear will cause chaos.

The defended announced on Wednesday which have caused shockwaves around stock markets day and there are fears that the world economy could spin into crisis. "I think it's going very well," he said. "It was an operation, like when a patient gets operated on. And it's a big thing, I said this would exactly be the way it is."

He continued: "The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country's going to boom and the rest of the wants to see is there any way we can make a deal.

"They've taken advantage of us for many, many years. Many years we've been on the wrong side of the ball and I tell you what, I think it's going to be unbelievable." And he added: "You'll see how it’s going to turn out - our country's going to boom."

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He made his latest comments to press on the White House Lawn, before departing Washington on board Marine One, heading to Joint Base Andrews. There, Air Force One is taking the president to Miami for LIV Golf's first domestic event of the season. Trump will later attend a special dinner at the Trump National Doral Club and from there return to his home at Mar-a-Lago.

Meanwhile, has accused the US of “bullying” and the said it was ready to retaliate, with French officials suggesting measures to hit American big tech companies. Yet the calls for making a deal from the EU, the UK and Japan indicated a lack of appetite for escalating trade tensions with the world’s biggest economy and fear that slapping tariffs on US goods will only make things worse.

Trump said on Wednesday that the import taxes, ranging from 10% to 49%, would do to US trading partners what they have long done to his country. He maintains they will draw factories and jobs back to the United States. “Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years,” he said. “But it is not going to happen anymore.”

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun called for trade talks and said that “there are no winners in trade wars and tariff wars, and protectionism is not a way out ... It is clear to everyone that more and more countries are opposing the US’ unilateral bullying actions, such as imposing tariffs.”

China, which is a key exporter to the US of everything from kitchenware to clothing, has already announced a raft of retaliatory measures set to raise prices for American consumers.

UK economic growth could be up to 0.5 percentage points lower than expected in the coming years due to the tariff plan, economists have warned. In his “liberation day” announcement, Trump slapped a 10% tariff on US imports of UK goods, as he hit out at “exorbitant” VAT rates.

Experts stressed that the UK has avoided a “direct blow” but will still face a “significant” impact with other countries facing significantly higher tariffs. Thomas Pugh, economist at RSM UK, said: “The direct impact on the UK is likely to be in the 0.2% to 0.5% of GDP range over the next few years combining both the impact of the 10% flat tariff and the 25% tariff on automotives.

“The impact will be bigger once the hit to the US and European economies becomes clearer and is taken into account. Given we expect growth of 1% this year and 1.5% next year, it implies another year of stagnation at best.”

Pantheon Macroeconomics’ Rob Wood suggested the economic impact would be less heavy but indicated it could result in more cuts to interest rates. “Surging uncertainty ahead of President Trump’s tax salvo had already been weighing on growth and the UK got away relatively lightly with a 10% tariff,” he said.

“For now we shave our 2025 growth forecast to 0.9%, from 1.1% previously. Markets are right to price in more UK rate cuts in 2025 – 2.4 more cuts now expected, compared to 2.0 three days ago – given that we have seen growth damaging tariffs and little retaliation, which would boost near-term inflation and create more of a stagflationary supply shock outside the US.”