Trump Tariff Tracker, April 24: Markets yo-yo as they parse comments by Trump and Bessent

Trump Tariff Analysis: Trump dials down on firing Powell, Treasury Secretary makes telling remarks about India, World Bank and IMF. All you need to know.

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Apr 24, 2025 01:03 PM IST

US President Donald Trump stands on the North Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo)

Trump Tariff News: Late Tuesday night, US President Donald Trump surprised everyone by stating that he has “no intention of firing” Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell. This was quite a turn-around by the President, after he repeatedly and publicly berated Powell for being late in cutting interest rates. So much so that many started wondering if Trump was serious about taking the unprecedented step of firing Powell.

This has never happened, and for a good reason: The independence of the US Fed, which runs US monetary policy, is the central reason why investors the world over place their trust in the US dollar. The independence of the US Fed is the essential guarantee that the US dollar will not be allowed to lose value (read suffer inflation).

So Wednesday started on this cheery note and the stock markets zoomed ahead, trying to make up for losses. To be sure, even after ending in the green, most benchmark indices in the US are anywhere between 7% to 14% below where they were at the start of 2025.

Reforming IMF and World Bank

The stock market rally did not sustain as the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave a searing speech about how the Bretton Woods twins — the IMF and the World Bank — seem to have lost their way over the years.

On the IMF, Bessent said: “…the IMF has suffered from mission creep. The IMF was once unwavering in its mission of promoting global monetary cooperation and financial stability. Now it devotes disproportionate time and resources to work on climate change, gender, and social issues.”

On the World Bank, he said: “The Bank should no longer expect blank checks for vapid, buzzword-centric marketing accompanied by half-hearted commitments to reform. As the Bank returns to its core mission, it must use its resources as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

There was also a distinct sense that the US, being the most influential force behind IMF and WB, could weaponise the two institutions to take a harder stance against China. For instance, Bessent said that “In line with its core mandate, the IMF needs to call out countries like China that have pursued globally distortive policies and opaque currency practices for many decades.”

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A little later in the speech with reference to the World Bank, Bessent said: “Treating China—the second-largest economy in the world—as a “developing country” is absurd.”

Wait for Q3 (July to September) for clarity on Trump tariffs

Reuters reports that Bessent said that ‘the third quarter of this year is a “reasonable estimate” for achieving clarity on the ultimate level of Trump’s tariffs, and said he was not concerned about the IMF’s steep US growth downgrade by nearly a full percentage point to 1.8% for 2025, a cut due largely to Trump’s tariffs, retaliation and the uncertainty that they are causing.’

To be sure, Bessent also clarified that existing levels of tariffs that the US and China have imposed on each other amount to an embargo and that they would have to come down before a trade deal can be worked out. At the time, Bessent ruled out US unilaterally cutting tariffs on China.

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Bessent also added that India is “pretty close” to an agreement with the US.

Udit Misra

Udit Misra is Senior Associate Editor at The Indian Express. Misra has reported on the Indian economy and policy landscape for the past two decades. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics and is a Chevening South Asia Journalism Fellow from the University of Westminster. Misra is known for explanatory journalism and is a trusted voice among readers not just for simplifying complex economic concepts but also making sense of economic news both in India and abroad. Professional Focus He writes three regular columns for the publication. ExplainSpeaking: A weekly explanatory column that answers the most important questions surrounding the economic and policy developments. GDP (Graphs, Data, Perspectives): Another weekly column that uses interesting charts and data to provide perspective on an issue dominating the news during the week. Book, Line & Thinker: A fortnightly column that for reviewing books, both new and old. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) His recent work focuses heavily on the weakening Indian Rupee, the global impact of U.S. economic policy under Donald Trump, and long-term domestic growth projections: Currency and Macroeconomics: "GDP: Anatomy of rupee weakness against the dollar" (Dec 19, 2025) — Investigating why the Rupee remains weak despite India's status as a fast-growing economy. "GDP: Amid the rupee's fall, how investors are shunning the Indian economy" (Dec 5, 2025). "Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2025: How the winners explained economic growth" (Oct 13, 2025). Global Geopolitics and Trade: "Has the US already lost to China? Trump's policies and the shifting global order" (Dec 8, 2025). "The Great Sanctions Hack: Why economic sanctions don't work the way we expect" (Nov 23, 2025) — Based on former RBI Governor Urjit Patel's new book. "ExplainSpeaking: How Trump's tariffs have run into an affordability crisis" (Nov 20, 2025). Domestic Policy and Data: "GDP: New labour codes and opportunity for India's weakest states" (Nov 28, 2025). "ExplainSpeaking | Piyush Goyal says India will be a $30 trillion economy in 25 years: Decoding the projections" (Oct 30, 2025) — A critical look at the feasibility of high-growth targets. "GDP: Examining latest GST collections, and where different states stand" (Nov 7, 2025). International Economic Comparisons: "GDP: What ails Germany, world's third-largest economy, and how it could grow" (Nov 14, 2025). "On the loss of Europe's competitive edge" (Oct 17, 2025). Signature Style Udit Misra is known his calm, data-driven, explanation-first economics journalism. He avoids ideological posturing, and writes with the aim of raising the standard of public discourse by providing readers with clarity and understanding of the ground realities. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @ieuditmisra ... Read More

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