Trump says he may give 'a lot of countries breaks' ahead of reciprocal tariff rollout

US President Donald Trump has signaled he is considering imposing a lower tariff rate on "a lot of countries" as he prepares to introduce what he is calling "reciprocal tariffs" on nations worldwide next week.

The president continued to bill his looming action as a way to increase American wealth, which he suggested has been stolen by foreign countries. Trump said that imposing the duties would incentivize them to lower their financial barriers, but said his administration may end up charging some countries less than they charge on US exports.

"I may give a lot of countries breaks, but it's reciprocal. But, we might be even nicer than that. You know, we've been very nice to a lot of countries for a long time, but I call it Liberation Day. April 2 is Liberation Day," Trump said, referring to his deadline.

"We may take less than what they're charging because they've charged us so much, I don't think they could take it. In other words, they've charged us so much that I'm embarrassed to charge them what they've charged us, but it'll be substantial, and you'll be hearing about that on April 2," he added.

Trump's rollout of his reciprocal tariffs plan has sent global markets sharply lower amid concerns that it could send the US economy into a recession. He said Friday that "there will be flexibility" on his reciprocal tariffs plan after he seemed unlikely to allow exemptions, granting markets a much-needed boost.

All three major US stock indexes posted gains following Trump's comments Monday with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite up over 2% in late-day trading.