More than 50 countries have approached the White House to start trade negotiations, according to a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. The announcement comes as the global economy faces mounting pressure following Trump’s sweeping new tariffs.

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Speaking on ABC News' This Week, Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council, pushed back against claims that the tariffs were part of a larger plan to trigger market chaos and influence the US Federal Reserve.

"I got a report from the USTR last night (the office of the US trade representative) that more than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation. But they are doing that because they understand that they bear a lot of the tariff," Hassett said. 

Also read: 'Makes no economic sense': Trump’s tariff math is 'based on an error' and it could cost the US economy dearly - Here's how

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"And so I don’t think you will see a big effect on the consumer in the US because I do think that the reason why we have a persistent, long run trade deficit is these people have very inelastic supply," he added.

Who all has reached out to Trump?

Meanwhile, Indonesia and Taiwan said on Sunday they won’t impose retaliatory tariffs while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to Washington to meet Trump to try to get the president to lower his tariffs.

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As per media reports, Vietnam requested a delay of “at least 45 days” to tariffs due to be imposed on Wednesday. India also does not plan to impose retaliatory tariffs and is negotiating with the Trump team, as per reports.

Also read: ‘Blame China’s AI, not Trump’: US Treasury Secretary claims DeepSeek responsible for tanking stock market, not tariffs

“No political coercion,” Hassett insists

Hassett firmly denied that Trump’s recent trade measures were designed to crash markets and pressure the Fed into cutting interest rates. "There would be no political coercion of the central bank," he said.

In a separate interview, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that he sees "no reason" to expect a recession as a result of Trump's tariffs.

“I think we could see from the jobs number on Friday that was well above expectations that we are moving forward," he said in an interview with NBC.

He also played down the recent stock market dip after the tariffs announcement, calling it a "short-term" reaction.

"This is an adjustment process," he said. "What we saw with President Reagan, when he brought down the great inflation and we got past the Carter malaise, that there was some choppiness at that time, but he held the course, and we're going to hold the course," he added.

Also read: Vietnam first to fall in face of Trump tariffs. Will other countries follow?

(With inputs from agencies)