Investors 'Grasping for Any Sign' of Trade Progress: Christopher Smart

Christopher Smart, managing partner at Arbroath Group, said investors are "grasping for any sign" of progress being made by the US to reach trade agreements that would reduce tariffs.

resident Donald Trump suggested another delay to his higher so-called “reciprocal” tariffs was unlikely, raising pressure on nations to negotiate trade deals with his administration.

Asked about the possibility of granting another 90-day pause, Trump cast that scenario as “unlikely,” while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday. Trump also said that he would not drop tariffs on China, the world’s second largest economy, unless Beijing offers “something substantial” in return.

Trump said he believed financial markets were adjusting to his tariff policy, downplaying the volatility that has hit equity and bond markets this month after he announced plans to hit about 60 US trading partners with higher duties.

“When you look at what’s happening, I think so, yeah. I said there’d be a transition,” Trump said about the market reaction. “People haven’t understood it, now they are starting to understand it.”

Pressed on what concessions he’d like to see from Beijing, Trump said that he would like China to open its economy — but that he believed it was a non-starter so was not sure he would pursue it as part of the tariff talks.

“That would be great. That would be a big win. But I’m not even sure I’m going to ask for it, because they don’t want it open, they don’t want it open,” Trump said.

Friday saw a volatile session on Wall Street with stocks trimming most of the day’s advance as traders parsed the president’s conflicting signals about the progress he is making in tariff negotiations. The S&P 500 was still set for its longest winning run since January.

Trump in recent days has offerred mixed messages about the status of talks with China, even as Beijing has denied that negotiations between the world’s two largest economies are taking place.

“We’re meeting with China. We’re doing fine with everybody,” Trump said in an interview with Time Magazine published earlier Friday.

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