White House denies that Trump is considering 90-day tariff pause: Live updates

Billionaire Richard Branson is warning that the U.S. “will face ruin for years to come” if the Trump administration does not immediately “change course” on its tariff policies.

“The US government can still turn things around, but it must act in the next few hours,” the Virgin Group co-founder wrote on X.

“This is the moment to own up to a colossal mistake and change course. Otherwise, America will face ruin for years to come,” he wrote.

— Kevin Breuninger

The White House dismissed a wire headline that said Trump is considering pausing new tariffs for 90 days.

“Fake news,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNBC’s Eamon Javers after a headline that cited Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council.

Trump himself posted on social media a video of Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo saying, “Rates are plummeting, oil prices are plummeting, deregulation is happening.”

“President Trump is not going to bend,” Bartiromo said in the video.

– Dan Mangan

Trump writes that it’s “not sustainable” for the U.S. to “lose $1.9 trillion on trade” in a post just now on Truth Social.

Trump’s post includes a video of him talking to reporters, in which he also says that the U.S. can’t lose money on trade “and also spend a lot of money on NATO in order to protect European nations.”

— Erin Doherty

Tesla shares are trading around 20% lower than they were when Lutnick urged people to “Buy Tesla” last month.

Lutnick touted Tesla, whose CEO is the Trump administration DOGE chief Elon Musk, in a March 19 interview on Fox News.

“It’s unbelievable that this guy’s stock is so cheap,” Lutnick said. “It’ll never be this cheap again.”

As it turns out, it would be.

— Dan Mangan

Canada filed a dispute with the the World Trade Organization concerning Trump’s 25% tariffs on automobiles and automobile parts imported from Canada into the U.S.

Canada requested WTO dispute consultations with the U.S. concerning the new levies, the global trade organization said. The WTO says the request for consultations formally initiates a dispute in the organization.

Consultations will give the parties an opportunity to discuss the matter without proceeding further with litigation. After 60 days, if consultations have failed to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel, according to the WTO.

Canada claims the measures are inconsistent with the U.S.’ obligations under various provisions of the “General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade” of 1994.

— Michael Wayland

People who voted for Trump are more likely to own stock than those who voted for Kamala Harris in November’s election — and they also tend to have more money tied up in the market.

CNBC’s All-American Economic Survey in December found that 51% of Trump voters have stock market investments, compared to 46% of Harris voters.

And of those Trump voters, 53% had investments worth more than $50,000, while just 45% of Harris voters had that much money tied up in stock.

— Dan Mangan

Top White House trade advisor Peter Navarro is shrugging off Elon Musk’s swipe at his qualifications, while suggesting there is daylight between the Tesla CEO’s trade views and those of the Trump administration.

Navarro told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that he has not spoken to Musk since he tweeted that Navarro “ain’t built s—.”

Musk appeared to delete that post.

But Musk kept up another post that said “a PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing,” a shot at Navarro’s alma mater.

“I’ll probably see him today in the Oval. It’s no big deal,” Navarro told CNBC when asked about Musk’s comments.

Navarro praised Musk’s work with DOGE on slashing government spending.

However, he then took a swipe at the billionaire.

“When it comes to tariffs and trade,” Navarro said, Musk “is a car manufacturer — but he’s not a car manufacturer, he’s a car assembler.”

Navarro noted that parts of the Tesla cars assembled at its Texas plant are from overseas.

“What we want, and the difference in our thinking and Elon’s on this, is that we want the tires made in Akron, we want the transmissions made in Indianapolis,” he said.

— Kevin Breuninger

“Countries from all over the World are talking to us,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, and “tough but fair parameters are being set.”

Trump spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba earlier in the day, and “he is sending a top team to negotiate.”

“They have treated the U.S. very poorly on Trade. They don’t take our cars, but we take MILLIONS of theirs,” Trump says in the post, adding, “it all has to change, but especially with CHINA!!!”

— Erin Doherty

Europe will establish a new import surveillance task force, as it looks to diversify its trade portfolio in the wake of Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

“Further diversifying our trade relations is very critical for us, because this broadens the market opportunities and is crucial for our companies,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press briefing.

“So we will focus like a laser beam on the 83% of global trade that is beyond the United States, vast opportunities, and this is why we’re deepening our relations with our trading partners.”

Von der Leyen mentioned existing deals with Mexico and Switzerland, and potential deals with India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Europe stands ready to respond to Trump’s aggressive tariff agenda with counter measures if necessary, she said, but the region still stands “ready to negotiate” with the U.S. if possible.

— April Roach

Top White House trade advisor Peter Navarro is pushing back on concerns that Trump’s plan to restore U.S. manufacturing through tariffs will take years to bear fruit, if it works at all.

“Investment can made in auto parts factories that are still there, and it won’t take long,” Navarro said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

He then pointed to the first Trump administration securing protective equipment faster than expected at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“So don’t tell me that America doesn’t have the wherewithal to move things and we can do stuff,” he said.

A CNBC flash survey of CEOs contacted in the wake of Trump’s sweeping tariff rollout last week was far less optimistic: 45% of respondents said that any reshoring would take minimum two years, and more likely three years or more.

— Kevin Breuninger

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says Trump’s tariffs will likely boost prices on both domestic and imported goods, weighing down a U.S. economy that had already been slowing.

Dimon addresses the tariff policy in his annual shareholder letter, which has become closely read.

“Whatever you think of the legitimate reasons for the newly announced tariffs – and, of course, there are some – or the long-term effect, good or bad, there are likely to be important short-term effects,” Dimon writes.

“We are likely to see inflationary outcomes, not only on imported goods but on domestic prices, as input costs rise and demand increases on domestic products.”

“Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,” he adds.

Dimon is the first CEO of a major Wall Street bank to publicly address Trump’s sweeping tariff policy as global markets crash.

His remarks appear to backtrack from earlier comments he made in January, when Dimon said that people should “get over” tariff concerns because they were good for national security. At the time, tariff levels being discussed were far lower than what was unveiled last week.

— Hugh Son

Elon Musk posted a video on X of Milton Friedman advocating for free trade, in one of the strongest examples yet of the billionaire SpaceX founder’s break with Trump on tariffs.

Over the weekend, Musk publicly criticized Trump’s top trade advisor, Peter Navarro.

He also said said he hopes Europe and the U.S. can move “to a zero-tariff situation, effectively creating a free-trade zone,” during a virtual appearance at a meeting of Italy’s far-right League party.

Musk’s comments were at odds with Trump’s hostility towards the European Union, which Trump has targeted with a 20% tariff on exports.

Musk is Trump’s biggest campaign donor and the leader of DOGE, Trump’s massive effort to slash the federal workforce.

Trump recently told Cabinet members that Musk would be leaving his post at DOGE in the coming months.

— Erin Doherty

Markets across the globe continue to crash for a third day as a result of Trump’s tariffs.

Taiwan:

— Adam Jeffrey

Ackman is apologizing for accusing Lutnick of being “indifferent” to a stock market crash because he stands to profit from it.

“It was unfair of me to lash out at @howardlutnick,” writes Ackman.

“I don’t think he is pursuing his self interest. I am sure he is doing the best he can for the country while representing the President as Commerce Secretary. It is not an easy job and we don’t know how the sausage was made.”

The new post comes nine hours after Ackman slung the accusation at Lutnick and his investment banking firm, Cantor Fitzgerald.

“I just figured out why @howardlutnick is indifferent to the stock market and the economy crashing. He and Cantor are long bonds. He profits when our economy implodes,” Ackman wrote Sunday night.

“It’s a bad idea to pick a Secretary of Commerce whose firm is levered long fixed income. It’s an irreconcilable conflict of interest.”

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump is touting the steep drop in oil prices — driven by fears of reduced demand in the increasingly likely event of a recession — as a policy win.

“Oil prices are down, interest rates are down (the slow moving Fed should cut rates!), food prices are down, there is NO INFLATION, and the long time abused USA is bringing in Billions of Dollars a week from the abusing countries on Tariffs that are already in place,” Trump writes in his latest Truth Social post.

“This is despite the fact that the biggest abuser of them all, China, whose markets are crashing, just raised its Tariffs by 34%, on top of its long term ridiculously high Tariffs (Plus!), not acknowledging my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate,” he writes. “They’ve made enough, for decades, taking advantage of the Good OL’ USA!”

Trump also blames America’s past leaders for “allowing this” to happen.

— Christina Wilkie

Trump has two significant public events on his schedule today.

11:00 a.m. ET: Trump will host the World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers at the White House, according to his official schedule.

2:30 p.m. ET: Netanyahu, one of Trump’s closest allies, will participate in a joint press conference with the president at the White House.

The last time Netanyahu visited the White House was in February, as the U.S. worked to finalize the second phase of a cease fire deal in Gaza. It did not hold, however, and Israeli forces have since resumed ground operations in Gaza.

CNBC’s latest CEO survey finds that a majority of the CEOs polled say they now expect a recession before the end of the year. Of those, around half say that a recession, if it happens, will likely be moderate.

One in three of the CEOs say they expect that their companies will be forced to cut jobs in 2025 due to Trump’s tariff policies.

— CNBC Staff