TARIFFS 2

US officials: Trump has been flooded with requests for trade talks Brooke Rollins said countries are “burning” up the phone lines to talk trade. Trump administration officials on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s massive tariff action last week, saying it has triggered a flood of requests for negotiations from countries hit by the sweeping new duties. “We’ve got 50 countries that are burning the phone lines into the White House up,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And probably the president’s cell phone as well, and probably [Commerce Secretary] Howard Lutnick as well. And I’ve heard from some as well.” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” also said he had heard Saturday night from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that “that more than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation.” Neither Rollins nor Hassett specified which countries had reached out. Trump’s decision last week to impose a baseline tariff of at least 10 percent on nearly every country, and duties ranging up to 50 percent on about 60 trading partners that the Trump administration believes treats the United States most unfairly in trade, triggered a massive stock market sell-off and increased fears of a recession caused by higher costs for consumer, increased uncertainty for businesses and foreign trade retaliation. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/06/trump-tariffs-request-trade-talks-00275510