Stocks plunged for the second day in a row in response to sweeping tariffs imposed worldwide this week by President Donald Trump. The tariffs will impact almost all U.S. imports.
And Friday China fought back by announcing a reciprocal 34% tariff on all U.S. imports. NPR reports other countries are also likely to retaliate.
J.P. Morgan told Reuters Friday that it now believes there’s a 60% chance of a recession.
Meanwhile, U.S. Congressman Eric Burlison is defending the tariffs. That’s despite the fact that in Springfield Friday morning he told KSMU he believes the ideal scenario is to have no tariffs.
"But that is not the ideal scenario. We are being tariffed by other countries to a significant amount, and we've allowed it to happen for decades," he said, "and I think that Trump acknowledges that we have got a trade deficit, and part and parcel of that is that we've allowed other countries to tariff us when we are not reciprocating."
While economists are warning of higher prices for consumers, Burlison said he doesn’t believe it will be as bad as some are thinking it will be.
"I'm not going to sugarcoat it and say this is not going to be without any pain, but I think that it won't be what everyone's talking about," he said. "It's not going to be, the sky is falling. It will have impact on the price of some goods, but in America we have such an abundance of choices in the goods that we buy that when you see the price of one product go up, the price of other products are going to go down."
Missouri State University Economics Professor Dr. David Mitchell told KSMU Thursday he expects prices to go up, and low-income people will feel that impact the most. He believes the tariffs raised the risk of a recession “significantly.”
Even U.S. allies were hit with new tariffs. Burlison said they’re sending the message that “even though we love you, it’s time to be fair.”
