Where things stand for Trump in global tariff battle

WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of this week's tariff whiplash, President Donald Trump is deciding exactly what he wants out of trade talks with as many as 75 nations in the coming weeks.

Trump is also figuring out next steps with China. He upped his tariffs on Chinese goods to 145% after China placed retaliatory taxes of 84% on imports from the U.S. While his 90-day pause on other tariffs caused the stock market to rally on Wednesday, countries still face a baseline 10% import tax instead of the higher rates announced on April 2.

''There will be a transition cost and transition problems,'' Trump said at Thursday's Cabinet meeting. ''But in the end it's going to be a beautiful thing.''

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told Fox News' ''Fox and Friends" on Thursday that the administration already has ''offers on the table from more than 15 countries.''

Hassett said the next step will be determining exactly what Trump wants out of the negotiations.

''We have a meeting today with all the top principals where we're going to present to the president a list of what we think his priorities might look like," Hassett said. "And I'm sure he's going to, you know, have his own ideas about where to move things.''

Here's a look at where Trump's tariffs showdown stands:

With $28.9 trillion in publicly held debt, the U.S. government can still be beholden to the investors who lend it money. Trump might be willing to run roughshod over political rivals, judges he dislikes and a host of political norms, but the bond market showed that it can temper his plans.

Going into Wednesday, the interest rate on a 10-year U.S. Treasury note was increasing and approaching 4.5%. That meant the U.S. government was having a tough time finding possible buyers for its debt, as market participants were wondering if Trump's tariffs had caused foreign buyers to sour on the U.S. government. Higher interest rates for the government could trigger even higher mortgage rates and auto loans for consumers, among other problems.

Trump on Wednesday said investors were getting ''yippy,'' but after his tariff pause he described the bond market as ''beautiful.''

The tariff drama is far from done

The S&P 500 stock index jumped 9.5% after the pause was announced. But reality crept back in Thursday and the S&P 500 slumped nearly 3.5% as interest rates on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes rose. Sure, Trump was no longer going to put a 20% tariff on goods from the European Union, a 24% tariff on Japan or 25% on South Korea. But those nations still have imports taxed at an elevated 10%, Trump's new baseline as trade talks begin. And tariffs went up against China, locking the world's two largest economies in a trade war.

''While we appreciate the pause, the reciprocal tariff of 10% still represents more than double the tariff on imports of leather footwear from countries like Vietnam and Cambodia,'' said Tom Florsheim, CEO of the Weyco Group, a footwear company. ''Even at this level, it means a significant cost increase that will impact consumers.''

Because tariffs are taxes paid by importers, the costs generally get passed along to consumers and businesses in the form of higher prices. The Budget Lab at Yale University estimated Thursday that even with the pause, Trump's current tariff regime would pull down a household's average disposable income by $4,364.

What Trump really, really wants

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said any trade agreements will be ''bespoke'' deals, rather than some overarching pact among a group of countries. Trump has laid out a series of grievances and goals regarding tariffs, but Canadian and European counterparts have said the actual asks from administration officials have been vague so far.

Trump has said he wants to eliminate the $1.2 trillion trade deficit, which means he no longer wants the U.S. to import more goods than it exports to other nations. He also wants revenues from tariffs to offset his income tax cut plans. The president has also said he wants the tariffs to bring back factory jobs and raise workers' wages.

His goals might not necessarily be in line with what other nations want.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted on X that she's ''consistently advocated for a zero-for-zero tariff agreement between the European Union and the United States.''

Lori Wallach, director of the Rethink Trade program at the American Economic Liberties Project, said Trump needs to be more publicly forthright about what he wants out of trade talks and tariffs.

''Absent transparency about what is being demanded, we could end up with the worst of all outcomes — a bunch of bad special interest deals, all of the economic damage caused by tariff uncertainty and no trade rebalancing, U.S. manufacturing capacity or goods jobs,'' she said.

A trade war with China could cause mutual pain

The White House clarified that the 125% tariffs that Trump announced Wednesday against China were actually 145%, once his previous 20% fentanyl tariffs were included.

Census Bureau data show the U.S. ran a $295 billion trade deficit last year with China. Because U.S. consumers and businesses are such a major customer of Chinese manufacturers, Bessent has said that gives the U.S. an edge in terms of inflicting pain on that nation's economy through tariffs. Of course, China has also spent several years preparing for a trade war.

Trump at his Cabinet meeting expressed hope that he could get an agreement with China, though he didn't offer any specifics on what he was seeking.

''Well, we'll see what happens with China,'' Trump said. ''I would love to be able to work a deal.''

Wendong Zhang, an economist at Cornell University, said the Chinese economy might suffer a steeper hit to its gross domestic product than the U.S., but it's ''likely to stick to its guns'' due to internal public support and the ability to increase consumption domestically on goods that might no longer be going to the U.S.