Donald Trump insists tariff policy ‘doing really well’

Wall Street stocks largely retreated on Friday as major indexes struggled to regain ground after a turbulent week buffeted by Donald Trump’s seesawing on tariffs.

President Donald Trump speaks at a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Washington. (Pool via AP)

President Donald Trump pledged Friday that his tariff policy was working and would benefit the United States and the world, despite China hiking tariffs on US goods to 125 per cent in a deepening trade war.

Traumatized stock markets seesawed, the dollar tumbled and US government bonds faced renewed pressure after Beijing’s retaliation intensified the confrontation between the world’s two biggest economies.

In a message Friday on social media, Trump continued to insist that “we are doing really well on our tariff policy.” “Very exciting for America, and the World!!! It is moving along quickly,” he wrote.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the opening bell on Friday. Picture: AFP

Wall Street indexes opened in the red Friday, local time, but rose shortly thereafter as investors sought to make sense of the latest trade war news, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average all edging up about 2 per cent in the afternoon.

European markets also had a roller-coaster trading day, with Frankfurt closing 0.9 per cent lower and Paris down 0.3 per cent. London rose 0.6 per cent as data showed the UK economy grew far more than expected in February.

“The main driver of the renewed market pressure was an increased focus on the US-China escalation,” said Jim Reid, managing director at Deutsche Bank.

“Neither the US nor China are showing signs of backing down, with President Trump expressing confidence in his tariff plans,” Reid said.

The dollar plunged to its lowest level against the euro in more than three years as investors fled what is typically considered a key haven currency, though it later pared some of its losses.

In a more worrying sign of cracking investor confidence in the US economy, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury bill rose sharply to 4.5 per cent as its price tumbled.

John Higgins, chief markets economist at Capital Economics, said it was a sign of “concern that China might dump its vast holdings of Treasuries” even if that risked losses for Beijing and driving the yuan higher against the dollar.

With Treasuries being sold off, sending their yields higher and making US debt more expensive, there is a fear of a bigger exodus from American assets down the line.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Friday rejected the notion that US Treasuries were no longer a haven.

“If you’re going to invest your money in something, America is still a pretty, pretty good place in this turbulent world,” Dimon said in a conference call after his bank reported hefty first-quarter profits and revenue.