Trump tariffs: Watch White House brief media as 104% China tariffs loom

The U.S. tariff rate on Chinese imports will shoot up to 104% at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday, a White House official confirmed to CNBC.

Trump on Monday had threatened to raise existing tariffs on China by 50% on Wednesday unless Beijing dropped its retaliatory duties on U.S. goods by Tuesday.

That same day, Trump said he specified that China faced a deadline of “12 o’clock” to remove its tariffs.

Beijing vowed that it would not scrap its 34% retaliatory tariffs.

— Kevin Breuninger

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis told U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer he is “skeptical” that Trump’s tariff strategy will work and not alienate voters.

The North Carolina lawmaker pressed Greer at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on who would be held responsible if the strategy fails.

“Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves to be wrong? Tillis asked Greer.

“I’m just trying to figure out if they’re going to feel good about this,” said Tillis.

“I wish you well, but I am skeptical.”

— Erin Doherty

Elon Musk, the de facto head of DOGE and a top advisor to Trump, personally appealed to the president to reverse his tariff plan over the weekend, The Washington Post reported.

“The attempted intervention, confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private talks, has not brought success so far,” The Post noted.

The report came a Musk continued a days-old feuding with Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro, who is an ardent supporter of the tariffs.

“Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false,” Musk wrote on X, his social media site.

The report carried the bylines of four reporters, all of whom cover technology. One of the reporters, Faiz Siddiqui, covers X and Tesla, whose CEO is Musk.

— Dan Mangan

A quartet of congressmen are introducing a bipartisan bill that would rein in Trump’s tariff powers by giving Congress a final say over whether his duties can remain in effect.

The House legislation, dubbed The Trade Review Act of 2025, requires Trump to give Congress 48 hours’ notice before imposing or increasing tariffs, along with an explanation and an impact assessment.

The duties will only last 60 days, unless Congress passes a joint resolution to extend them, the bill states. The legislature also allows Congress to end a tariff early via joint resolution.

The bill was introduced by Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.

It mirrors a Senate bill previously introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

The Trump administration has said that the president will veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

— Kevin Breuninger

Sen. Ron Wyden, Ore., says Trump’s tariffs have turned the U.S. economy “from the envy of the world to a laughingstock in less time than it took to finish March Madness.”

The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee said he doesn’t “see any strategy” behind Trump’s tariffs.

It’s “classic Donald Trump,” said Wyden during a hearing with Trump’s trade representative, Jamieson Greer.

— Erin Doherty

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer cited the ongoing feud between Navarro and Musk as he argued for the president to “immediately reverse his reckless trade war.”

“The chaos within the Trump administration was shown a few minutes ago when Elon Musk called Peter Navarro, the chief architect of these tariffs, a moron,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor.

“That’s Musk’s word. He called him a moron,” Schumer said, “Their plan is so crazy, so controversial, that this administration cannot get its act together with them, calling names about each other, to–against one one another, about this tariff plan.”

“Donald Trump should immediately reverse his reckless trade war,” said Schumer. “He should halt his tariff tax at once, and he should start focusing more on America’s actual trade adversaries like China, instead of picking a fight with the entire world and causing chaos and steering us towards a recession in the process.”

— Dan Mangan

National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett says that the Trump administration is “managing a massive number of requests for negotiations” from countries seeking to be spared from aggressive new U.S. tariffs.

“It is challenging to go through them,” Hassett said in a Fox News interview.

“There are so many to go through that we’re actually getting ready to present a plan for [Trump] on who and when” to speak with, Hassett said.

— Kevin Breuninger

Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast on the internet, says the chocolate bars he sells through his company, Feastables, will be cheaper to make under Trump’s new tariffs.

“Ironically, because of all the new tariffs it is now way cheaper to make our chocolate bars we sell globally NOT in America because other countries don’t have a 20%+ tariff on our cogs,” Donaldson posted.

Donaldson is the most followed creator on YouTube, with more than 380 million subscribers.

He founded the chocolate company in 2022 and has built it into a global brand. Chocolate from the company is produced in Peru and the United States and is sold in 20 countries.

–Zach Vallese

Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said his nation is prepared to negotiate with the U.S. on tariffs and other trade issues.

“Regarding the negotiation content, whether it is reducing tariffs or investment procurement, especially the non-tariff trade barriers that the U.S. is concerned about, we have prepared various plans,” Chia-lung told reporters.

“As long as the negotiation time and method are confirmed, we can negotiate with the United States at any time,” he said.

— Dan Mangan

A growing part of Walmart‘s business could make it more resilient against tariffs and a possible recession.

Walmart’s membership program Walmart+ is growing — and the company says it is driving loyalty among customers. Subscribers accounted for nearly half of all spending on Walmart’s website and app in its most recent fiscal year, the company told CNBC.

That gives Walmart a few advantages if Trump’s tariffs raise its input costs or trigger an economic downturn. As the memberships are highly profitable, they give Walmart room to keep prices of groceries and other staples low even if the company’s expenses increase.

Walmart+ is gaining ground at a good time for Walmart. The retailer gave a financial outlook that disappointed Wall Street in February — even before Trump announced the steep duties on key U.S. trade partners.

— Jacob Pramuk and Melissa Repko

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky tore into the zero-sum view of trade that Trump has repeatedly espoused in defense of his sweeping tariff plans.

“It’s based on a fallacy” that “somehow, in a trade, someone must lose,” Paul said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

The idea that “someone’s taking advantage of you, and China is ripping you off or Japan is ripping you off — it’s absolutely a fallacy,” he said.

“Every trade that occurs in the marketplace is mutually beneficial,” said the like-minded son of the staunchly libertarian former congressman Ron Paul. “If you have a free society and I want to trade with you, if you want to sell me your coat and I give you $200 for it, we both agree to it and we’re both happy.”

“The trade is always a win-win.”

— Kevin Breuninger

California Rep. Ro Khanna says Trump’s tariffs have been hitting his district in Silicon Valley hard, especially with delayed IPOs and mergers.

“I’m hearing that these are some of the most self-destructive, wealth-destroying policies that any modern president has had,” Khanna said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

The Democrat said the tariffs have hurt not just the tech companies, but also the manufacturers.

Khanna also singled out Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, calling Lutnick’s claim that tariffs would lead to more iPhone production false.

“I know Lutnick loves 19th-century policies, but he should understand 21st-century production,” Khanna said.

Khanna’s suggestion for Trump? “Bring in new people on an economic team, assure the country you’re never going to do blanket tariffs again, that was a mistake, and that you’re going to look at things sector by sector.”

– Laya Neelakandan

Businesses and consumers want certainty as Trump’s steep tariffs loom, says Levi Strauss CEO Michelle Gass.

“The number one thing that everybody’s wrestling with right now, ourselves, the industry and most importantly, the consumer, everybody is wrestling with the uncertainty that’s out there. We need some clarity,” she said on CNBC’s “Mad Money.”

The denim retailer reported first-quarter results earlier today, and maintained its earnings and sales outlook for the year. Levi’s did not include the effects of the new duties in its guidance.

Any price hikes the company makes to offset the tariffs would be “surgical,” she said on the company’s earnings call.

Levi’s manufactures some of its products in countries like Cambodia and Vietnam, which will face 49% and 46% tariffs, respectively, under Trump’s plan.

— Jacob Pramuk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is sharply escalating his attacks on top Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro as he defends his car company and chafes against the administration’s tariff plans.

“Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks,” Musk, Trump’s top campaign donor, wrote on X, the social media platform he owns.

“Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false,” Musk wrote in another post.

Musk was responding to Navarro’s contention in a CNBC interview on Monday that Musk is not a car manufacturer but a car “assembler” whose vehicles are made of many parts sourced from overseas.

Days earlier, Musk in a since-deleted X post said Navarro “ain’t built s—.” In a separate post, Musk questioned Navarro’s credentials, writing, “A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing.”

Musk currently works for Trump as head of the White House DOGE initiative. As Trump commits to his staunchly protectionist agenda, Musk has recently signaled his support for free-trade policies.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shrugged off questions about Musk’s attacks on his colleague.

“Whatever,” Leavitt told CNBC’s Eamon Javers. “We are the most transparent administration in history expressing our disagreements in public.”

— Kevin Breuninger and Eamon Javers

Cambodia is being hit with the biggest single nation tariff rate of all, at 49%.

This has major implications for its factories, now in a fight to survive the next few months if the tariffs are implemented, as retail partners freeze orders.

Its one million workers, many of whom are women at the low-end of the global income distribution pie, are facing financial ruin.

But a U.S. trade group that represents retailers reliant on Cambodia says factories now based in Cambodia will “absolutely not” be coming back to the U.S.

Instead, they will seek out alternative manufacturing locations in lower tariff regimes.

Read the full story: Cambodia, hit with Trump’s steepest tariffs, ‘absolutely not’ sending factories back to U.S., says trade group

— Lori Ann LaRocco

Trump says China “wants to make a deal” as his deadline for steep new tariffs draws near, but adds that Beijing has not yet reached out to the United States.

“They don’t know how to get it started. We are waiting for their call. It will happen!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump also held what he described as a “great call” with South Korea’s acting president, Han Duck-soo.

“We have the confines and probability of a great DEAL for both countries.”

— Kevin Breuninger

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says China is playing with a “losing hand” in the escalating tariff back-and-forth between the two countries.

“I think it was a big mistake, this Chinese escalation, because they’re playing with a pair of twos,” Bessent said on “Squawk Box.”

Other countries appear to be more willing to negotiate than China, he said.

“If they come to the table with solid proposals, I think we can end up with some good deals,” he said, “and part of the calculus of that may be that some part of the tariffs stay on.”

Last night, members of the administration discussed which countries to prioritize for trade talks, he added.

— Jesse Pound

Founder and CEO of Citadel Ken Griffin is taking aim at Trump’s tariffs, calling them a a “huge policy mistake” that will hurt middle-class Americans.

“I am really afraid of us abdicating our role of leadership for the free world,” Griffin said at an event for the 100th anniversary of the University of Miami, per Bloomberg.

“That’s the path we’re on,” the GOP donor adds.

— Erin Doherty

Stephane Boujnah, CEO of Euronext, says the recent market selloff is not a sign of panic, but simply a rotation of assets.

“Since this began, money is leaving the United States to be reinvested in Europe,” Boujnah said in an interview with France Inter radio today.

Investors, he said, are struggling to navigate Trump’s unpredictability, which is making the U.S. “unrecognizable.”

“We are mourning the United States that we knew … which was very similar in values and institutions to Europe,” he said. “Now it looks more like an emerging country.”

Euronext operates markets in various European cities, including Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, Brussels and Dublin.

— Chloe Taylor

Historical allies the U.S. and European Union should have zero tariffs between them, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen urged amid the bloc’s ongoing efforts to mitigate the impact of 20% White House duties it was slapped with last week.

“Engaging in a global trade war is the surest way to achieve a global recession,” Valtonen she said during a press conference, in comments reported by Reuters. “But of course the European Union now has to react to what the U.S. has put forward,

The EU has previously expressed willingness to take steps against Washington if negotiations fail, but it has yet to specify the nature and extent of these potential countermeasures.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Trump will sign energy-related Executive Orders this afternoon, and deliver a speech to House Republicans this evening, according to the White House schedule.

— Christina Wilkie

Von der Leyen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang held “constructive” talks today that touch on a possible mechanism for trade diversion in the wake of sweeping levies announced by the world’s first economy.

“In response to the widespread disruption caused by the US tariffs, President von der Leyen stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of world’s largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field,” according to an EU readout, which added that von der Leyen called for a “negotiated resolution to the current situation” that avoids escalation.

“The leaders discussed setting up a mechanism for tracking possible trade diversion and ensuring any developments are duly addressed,” the readout said.

Speculation has been mounting whether Trump’s protectionist agenda will push U.S. trade partners toward China in a bid to redress commercial relations.

The conversation between the Beijing administration and the EU chief takes place after Washington last Wednesday slapped China and the EU with reciprocal tariffs of 34% and 20%, respectively. Beijing has already retaliated with its own 34% levies on the U.S., which is now threatening further countermeasures.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The newly confirmed U.S. Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, will testify before the Senate Finance Committee today at a hearing on “The President’s 2025 Trade Policy Agenda.”

Greer’s testimony will offer the Senate one of its first opportunities to question a Trump administration official about the president’s trade and tariff policy since Trump unveiled the sweeping new tariff regime.

The hearing will begin at 10:00 a.m. ET, and CNBC.com will stream the hearing on our liveblog.

— Christina Wilkie

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit China and Vietnam later this week, as Europe prepares to absorb the impacts of a new 20% tariff rate.

Sanchez is scheduled to visit Hanoi on Wednesday, the same day the new Trump tariff rates go into effect. Then he will go to Beijing, according to his office.

The visit underscores the pressure on EU bloc countries like Spain to reassess their trade relationships in the wake of Trump’s tariffs.

— Christina Wilkie