“TACO” remarks were refuted Trump said “this is not a retreat, but a negotiation”

The Zhitong Finance App learned that US President Trump responded to criticism of the “capricious” tariff policy from the outside world at the White House on Wednesday, particularly in response to the Financial Times columnist's “TACO”, or “Trump Always Withdraws Out (Trump always backs down).”

This statement refers to the strategy Trump has always adopted: first announcing heavy tariffs, causing severe market shocks, then delaying or easing tariff measures, causing the market to rebound. This “thunder, heavy rain, little” approach has raised questions from the outside world about the coherence and execution of its policies.

In an interview, Trump denied that he had “backed down” and emphasized that this was part of his negotiation strategy. Using the EU as an example, he pointed out that after he announced the imposition of 50% import tariffs on the EU, it was announced that implementation would be delayed within two days, and the EU side immediately showed a willingness to begin negotiations.

“After I took action, they said, 'You can negotiate anytime you want'.” Trump said, “You call this retreat? This is a negotiation!”

Trump also counterattacked questioning reporters, calling the question “very unfriendly.”

Just last Friday, Trump announced a 50% high tariff on the European Union starting June 1, causing the stock market to drop sharply. Two days later, on Sunday, he also said that at the request of European Commission President von der Leyen, he decided to postpone the implementation date of the tariffs until July 9. Immediately, major indices of US stocks rebounded across the board on Tuesday, and market performance once again turned optimistic.

Trump believes that these tariff threats are the key to starting trade negotiations. “Sadly, now even if I had a more reasonable agreement with them, they would say 'oh, he backed down again', which is ridiculous.”

In fact, this isn't the first time Trump has abruptly withdrawn his announced tariff policy. On April 2 of this year, he announced the imposition of “reciprocal tariffs” on almost all countries in the world, with tariffs as high as 30% or more in individual countries. However, after intense market turmoil a week later, he suddenly announced that all tariffs would be reduced to 10% for a period of 90 days, causing US stocks to experience one of the biggest one-day rebounds in history.

Supporters believe that Trump's approach is to “use war pressure” to create pressure and seek more favorable conditions through threats; while critics believe that this inconsistent policy seriously damages market confidence and makes international partners confused about America's position.

In the latest minutes released by the Federal Reserve today, officials warned that the loss of America's safe-haven status due to the global trade war initiated by Trump could have a “long-term” impact on the US economy. According to the minutes, some interest rate makers are concerned about the decline in the prices of US Treasury bonds, stocks, and the US dollar within a few weeks after Trump announced full tariffs on trading partners. “These participants indicated that this continuing shift in correlation, or the weakening of the status of US assets as safe havens, could have a long-term impact on the economy,” the minutes said. The FOMC meeting in early May was the first meeting after the turmoil that occurred after Trump announced additional tariffs on “Liberation Day” on April 2. Historically, during times of market fluctuations, global investors always flocked to (rather than away from) US assets.