US stocks briefly turned green on Monday after speculation of a 90-day pause in the new US tariff policy that is set to fully roll out on Wednesday. Stocks then resumed the ongoing, historic sell-off.
The speculation, based on part of an interview with White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, led to intense market action before the White House denied the interpretation.
President Trump and his top advisers dug in over the weekend, with the president suggesting that equity markets may need to “take medicine” and posting that the new tariffs are “already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold.”
Trump also reiterated that the impetus behind the tariff policy is trade deficits: “I spoke to a lot of leaders … from all over the world. … I said ‘we’re not going to have deficits with your country’ … to me a deficit is a loss. We’re going to have surpluses or, at worst,…
