US President Donald Trump has refused to say whether the US economy is facing a recession or price rises in the wake of his administration's changes to tariff threats against some of its closest trading partners. Asked if he was expecting a recession this year, Trump said there was a "period of transition" taking place.

Long-threatened tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump have plunged the country into a trade war abroad — all while on-again, off-again new levies continue to escalate uncertainty. Since taking office less than two months ago,

National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett said in an interview with ABC News' "This Week" that the tariffs are not meant to start a trade war. "What happened was that we launched a drug war, not a trade war, and it was part of the negotiation to get Canada and Mexico to stop shipping fentanyl across our borders," Hassett said.

The 59-year-old political newcomer says he will keep tariffs on US imports "until the Americans show us respect".

The leaders of both Canada and Mexico got on the phone with President Donald Trump this past week to seek solutions after he slapped tariffs on their countries, but China’s president appears unlikely to make a similar call soon.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration imposed across-the-board 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico.