China Says U.S. Should Revoke Tariffs; Trump Approval Rating Drops - podcast episode cover

China Says U.S. Should Revoke Tariffs; Trump Approval Rating Drops

Apr 24, 202517 min
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China Says U.S. Should Revoke Tariffs; Trump Approval Rating DropsOn today's podcast:
1) China demanded that the US revoke all unilateral tariffs and said there were no talks on reaching a trade deal, maintaining a a tough stance despite President Donald Trump’s easing of criticism of the country
2) The Trump administration is considering whether to reduce certain tariffs targeting the auto industry that carmaker executives have warned would deal a severe blow to profits and jobs.
3) The New York Times is reporting President Trump’s approval rating has sunk to about 45 percent, down from 52 percent one week after he took office.

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Transcript

Speaker 1

Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

Speaker 2

Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager and I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today.

Speaker 3

Can we begin with the latest developments in the trade war. This morning, China demanded that the US revoke all unilateral tariffs. Spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce says there are no talks on reaching a trade deal. This comes less than twenty four hours after President Trump said he would be willing to substantially pair back tariffs on China.

Speaker 4

We're dealing with a lot of countries right now, and it could be with China. But maybe we'll make a special, you know, a deal, and we'll see what it will be. Right now, it's one hundred and forty five percent.

Speaker 5

That's very high. It got there because of the fentanyl.

Speaker 4

They're sending massive amounts of fentanyl into our country.

Speaker 3

President Trump said he could announce tariff rates for countries, including China, over the next two to three weeks.

Speaker 2

Well Nathan stocks are coming off back to back gains after President Trump eased off on two of his frequent punching bags, China and Jerome Powell, and sources say Trump turned down his aggressive rhetoric a day after meeting with executives from Walmart, Home Depot and Target, who said important taxes could disrupt supply chains and raise the prices of goods. Meanwhile, Citadel founder Ken Griffiths said the trade war has disrupted the ability of business leaders to focus on long term growth.

Speaker 6

All of us were really looking forward to four years of having a chance to really grow our businesses, and unfortunately the trade war, which has devolved into a nonsensical place, means that we're spending time now thinking about supply chains, thinking about strategically how we're going to source goods around the world. And I'll tell you what's not going to happen, because people are not going to raise the build manufactured in America.

Speaker 2

Citadel founder Ken Griffin made the comments at the Semaphore World Economy Summit.

Speaker 7

Thank Karen.

Speaker 3

The Trump administration and is considering whether to reduce certain tariffs targeting the auto industry. We get the very latest on that now with Bloomberg's John Tucker.

Speaker 8

John and Nathan Discussions or underway after auto executives where in taris would deal as severe blow to profits and jobs. Sources tell us one proposal would spare automobiles and parts already subject to taris from facing additional duties from steel and aluminum imports. Another option being studied would fully exempt to auto parts that comply with the US Mexico Canada Trade Pact. But President Trump's tarrent policies often changed quickly,

so nobody knows for sure. In the Oval Office he as today, Trump was asked if he's considering changes to auto terrace and indicated he was not well, also suggesting he might even increase levies on the Canadian auto sector. And meantime, President Trump plans to mark one hundred days in office by visiting the carmaking hub of Macomb County, Michigan that's home to facilities tied to General Motors and Stilantis in New York. I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio.

Speaker 2

All right, John, thank you. Well. There's at least one company saying tariffs will benefit its business going forward. Whirlpool says the long term impact of tariffs will benefit its position in the US home appliance market. We spoke with Whirlpool CEO Mark Bitzer.

Speaker 9

No matter how you look at it, we're structuring a net winner of a tariff now, there's always two sides of equation. In a short term, there are some what I would call manageable headwinds in the form of higher component costs. We also saw quite a bit of loading by competitors into the industry. But the long term, in particular one mid term particular, once week tariffs fully kick in, we are net winner in this environment.

Speaker 2

And world pool of CEO Mark Bitzer maintained the refrigerator makers full year forecast.

Speaker 3

Well, Karen, Controversies over tariffs could be taking a slice out of President Trump's approval rating. The New York Times is reporting the rating has sunk to about forty five percent. That's down from fifty two percent one week after the president took office.

Speaker 2

Well, now, Nathan, let's get the latest on the war in Ukraine. Russia launched a barrage of missiles and drones on eight regions over including the capital Kief. At least nine people were killed more than seventy others hurt. The latest assault came hours after President Trump accused Ukrainian leader of Vladimir Zelenski of prolonging the war.

Speaker 5

I think we have a deal with Russia.

Speaker 4

We have to get a deal with Zelensky, and I hope that Selenski. I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelenski. So far it's been harder. But that's okay.

Speaker 5

It's so right.

Speaker 2

President Trump spoke from the Oval Office as heard on Bloomberg, and President Zelenski is in South Africa but now says he'll cut that visit short and return to Kiev following this latest attack.

Speaker 3

And back in this country. Karen Harvard University is indicating it wants to move quickly on its legal fight with the Trump administration over more than two billion dollars in federal funds. The university is telling a federal judge it will not ask for a temporary to block the government's funding freeze. Instead, its plans to seek a quick judgment on its central claim that the administration is threatening its

independence and free speech. The White House froze two point two billion dollars in research grants this month after Harvard refused to overhe Hall its governance, hiring and diversity practices.

Speaker 2

Well, Nathan, let's turn back to the markets now and check out some stocks that are on the move this morning. Shares of IBM, they're down almost eight percent. The company said the government's cost cutting actions led Myightinlon must Department of Government Efficiency are having an effect. About fifteen of IBM's contracts with the federal government have been canceled or paused, amounting to about one hundred million dollars in future payments.

Speaker 3

And we're watching shares of Chipotle in the pre market as well, Karen. They are down four percent. The fast food chain lowered it's full your outlook after quarterly sales declined for the first time in almost five years.

Speaker 2

On the flip side, shares of Texas Instruments they are up more than five percent. The biggest maker of analog semiconductors gave a better than anticipated forecast for the current period after demand for industrial and automotive components improved.

Speaker 3

And staying in tech, Karen, After the bell, we hear from one of the magnificent seven Google parent alphabet reports, and we get a preview from Bloomberg's Tom Busby.

Speaker 10

Key to Alphabets Q one results is growth and it's Google Cloud unit, which will show whether the boom and AI technology and the company's investments in AI infrastructure are paying off. Despite being an also ran to Amazon and Microsoft. Investors also looking to see what the company says about the mounting regulatory pressures from the EU and the US

about alleged monopolies in search and ad tech. Bloomberg consensus calls for total revenue of just over eighty nine billion dollars on earnings per share of two dollars and one cent. Tom busby Bloomberg Radio, and.

Speaker 2

It's time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. And for that we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr.

Speaker 7

Michael, Good morning, Good morning Karen. Many people lined up to see Pope Francis lying in state at Saint Peter's Basilica. The Vatican decided to keep the doors open pretty much all night. In the first eight and a half hours of public viewing, the Vaticans said more than twenty thousand people had paid their last respect yesterday. Some had waited six.

Speaker 9

Hours because of the respect that I hug for here, the great person he was, It's worth the wait.

Speaker 11

Walking in there, it was so silent, but you could feel how much people really cared about him and how much love there was for this man.

Speaker 7

Francis, who died Monday after a stroke is lying in a simple wooden coffin. Parts of New Jersey remain on fire. Wildfire continues to burn in Ocean County. The fire is expected to keep growing in size before rain is forecast on Friday. It has burned nearly twenty square miles and thousands at one point had to be evacuated. State Environmental Protection Assistant Commissioner John Cecil says the fire is forty percent contained.

Speaker 11

We had one commercial structure that was destroyed. There were a couple of smaller cabins that appears that were impacted in some vehicles.

Speaker 7

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Meanwhile, there are air quality alerts near the fire that will include New York City. Testimony will resume today in Harvey Weinstein's retrial on rape and sexual assault charges. Opening statements began yesterday, including a newly added third claim from a

former model, Kaja Sokola. The disgraced movie local is charged with forcing oral sex on her in two thousand and six, but she also accused him in a civil lawsuit of groping her against her will four years earlier, when she was sixteen. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty of the charges. New York Stop Court throughout Weinstein's twenty twenty conviction after the previous trial judge allowed prejudicial testimony about allegations separate

from the case. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, who is the number two Democrat and the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will be leaving Congress at the end of his term in twenty twenty six. Durbin made the announcement in a social media video.

Speaker 4

The people of Illinois have honored me with this responsibility longer than anyone elected to the Senate in our state's history.

Speaker 5

I'm truly grateful.

Speaker 7

Global News twenty four hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now Michael Barr, and this is Bloomberg Karen.

Speaker 2

All right, Michael Barr, thank you. Time now for the Bloombergy sports update. Here's John Stanshawer. John, good morning, Good morning, Ken, Karen. The Mets are amazing.

Speaker 12

They keep getting great pitching, They keep winning at City Field. Even after the Philly scored in the top of the tenth inning, Mets came back in the bottom. Another big hit for Pete Alonzo is league leading twenty sixth RBI tied the game. Alonzo was then at second base. Darling Marte hasn't done much this season, was at the plate with two outs.

Speaker 7

And Martin Bucks wanted.

Speaker 11

The center field comes on, so Stevens's to plates.

Speaker 5

Seventh straight for New York the hell.

Speaker 7

Yes and why the call?

Speaker 12

The Mets won four to three to complete the second best home stand in team history. They won seven and zero, and in eighteen and seven, the Mets have MLB's best record. The Yankees avoided getting swept in a three game series in Cleveland that still hasn't happens since nineteen seventy Yanks one to five to one behind Carlos Rodon, who went seventies. Both the Mets and the Yanks today have their first

day off in two weeks at Fenway. Seattleby at the Red Sox eight to five, and DC Nationals again beat the Orioles four to three. Home teams won in the NBA playoffs. Celtics played without the injury Jason Tatum, who got thirty six points from Jalen Brown one oh nine to one hundred over Orlando. Cleveland made twenty two to three pointers in a one twenty one, one twelve win over Miami both teams up two games to none. Houston beat Golden State one O nine ninety four. That series

tied at one, as are the Knicks and Pistons. With Game three tonight in Detroit. The Knicks simply need to score more than ninety eight points in the game two loss, the fewest points they scored in the game all season. The NFL Draft is in Green Bay, Round one tonight, with Tennessee expected to kick things off by taking quarterback cam Ward. The Giants have the third pick, the Patriots the fourth the Jets. The seventh Hall of Famer Steve McMichael has passed away. He was sixty seven. He suffered

from als. McMichael played thirteen season on the defensive wine in Chicago. In nineteen eighty five, he was a big part of the Bears only Super Bowl winning team. John Stanshawerd Bloomberg Sports Care.

Speaker 1

NAKA Coast to Coast on Bloomberg Radio, nationwide on Sirius XM, and around the world on Bloomberg dot Com and the Bloomberg Business app. This is Bloomberg Daybreak.

Speaker 3

Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. But back and forth continues at the White House over tariffs and trade after slapping China with duties totaling one hundred and forty five percent, President Trump now says he's looking forward to a deal.

Speaker 5

We're going to have a great deals.

Speaker 4

And by the way, if we don't have a deal with a company or a country, we're going to set the tariff. We just set the tariff for something that we think that will happen.

Speaker 5

I'd say over the next couple of weeks. When you say, I think so over the next two three weeks.

Speaker 3

That was the President speaking from the Oval Office. Has heard on Bloomberg But this morning, China is saying there are no talks on a trade deal and that the US should revoke all unilateral tariffs for the very latest spear joined Bloomberg News senior editor Bill Ferries and Bill, this latest rhetoric out of Beijing is coming after President Trump said he planned to be very nice with China.

Does it seem like the pendulum is swinging when it comes to the rhetoric around trade between these two superpowers? Good morning, Good morning.

Speaker 11

I think absolutely, it does look like the rhetoric is kind of shifting here. President Trump kind I think offering a fig leaf here, olive branch to China to try to perhaps get negotiations that really haven't begun started here. For a while, he was saying he just wanted to hear from Xi Jinping and get a call. There's been no call. China has kind of stuck to its gun so far and is now saying that the US needs to dial back all of its unilateral tariffs as basically

a precursor to getting talks going. And interestingly enough, that comes with a lot of Shi Jinping's economic aids actually in Washington this week for all of those IMF World Bank meetings that are going on.

Speaker 3

How long can China hold out around a deal with the US given the economic challenges that the country has been facing for really a couple of years now.

Speaker 11

Yeah, they've had their own issues, a real estate crisis, kind of a lack of domestic consumption. They seem to be willing to let things continue to unfold, and I think they're betting that Donald Trump hits his pain point before Shi Jinping does. There may be some opportunities for lower level staff to engage in some informal talks. I mean, there's still time for things to happen in Washington, but right now, you know, I think Beijing is trying to

take a longer view. They do have the ability to unleash domestic stimulus to try to kind of overcome some of the barriers that are popping up from the lack of trade that's taking place. But I think Donald Trump's comments also signal, you know, a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, in the sense that one hundred and forty five percent tariffs are probably what we're not going to be staring at indefinitely.

Speaker 3

Yeah, and while these talks continue, bill or at least this rhetoric goes around, we're getting some more insight, aren't we into what the president's potential pain point might have been that they could have led him to sort of dial back this rhetoric around not just China but Fed Chair Powell.

Speaker 5

Yeah.

Speaker 11

Absolutely. I mean, you know, the week started with the markets again taking a beating over the comments about both Powell and the lack of agreement with China and other countries. We've seen him dialing back to the rhetoric on both of That is interesting. Some of that came after he met with the heads of companies like Walmart, Home Depot

and Target. Obviously, just like bread and butter retailers in the American economy who have been warning that the China tariffs and really the lack of trade taking place between the two countries was going to be a big problem, and that potentially you could be in a situation with the empty store shelves in a few months after stores worked through the work through their inventories. That seems to

have had an impact. We also think that he's continuing to hear from a lot of people on Wall Street, channeling perhaps through Scott Bessett, Howard Lutnik, people with really strong white or Wall Street ties.

Speaker 3

Just thirty seconds left, Bill, But while the president's diling back with China, it's really fascinating to see him sort of ramping up the rhetoric and the pressure on Ukraine's president as Ukraine continues to come under fire from Russia.

Speaker 11

Yeah, Donald Trump's saying that he thinks Zelenski has been a barrier to peace so far. He's been harder to deal with than Putin. The Zelensky and the Ukrainians coming back saying, listen, we agreed to a ceasefire forty four days ago. It hasn't happened. Russia hasn't complied Russia overnight, sending more than seventy missiles of various types and a dwarm drone swarm into Ukraine.

Speaker 2

This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond.

Speaker 3

Look for us on your podcast feed by six am Eastern each morning, on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen.

Speaker 2

You can also listen live each morning starting at five am Wall Street Time on Bloomberg eleven three to zero in New York, Bloomberg in ninety nine to one in Washington, Bloomberg ninety two nine in Boston, and nationwide on serious XM Channel one twenty one.

Speaker 3

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Speaker 2

And don't forget to subscribe to Bloomberg News Now. It's the latest news whenever you want it in five minutes or less. Search Bloomberg News Now and your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long.

Speaker 3

I'm Karen Moscow and I'm Nathan Hager. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg day Ray

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