Hounded by Wall Street, Trump tempers his populist rhetoric

Donald Trump has described his trade war as a bold effort to prioritize Main Street concerns, the fulfilment of a promise to an American working class hurt by decades of globalization.

But Wall Street has his ear.

The president softened his hostile rhetoric toward China and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell this week following Monday’s market sell-off and pressure from some of the nation’s most important business interests.

The Chamber of Commerce has been warning the White House that the new trade levies will hammer small businesses that are less capable of reorienting their supply chains or front-loading their inventories, the Chamber’s executive vice president Neil Bradley said.