The Cost of Chaos
The Liberation Day pause is better than the Liberation Day policy itself was. But Americans are getting a raw deal one way or another.
Step one: Start a pointless, globe-encompassing trade war, rationalized solely by your own boneheaded innumeracy. Step two: Tank the markets. Step three: Pare the war back to a hot conflict with one of the United States’ most important trading partners and a warm conflict with every other country on Earth. Step four: Watch the market rebound and declare victory. That’s the art of the deal, when it comes to President Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade policies.
This afternoon, Trump announced that the U.S. will pause the imposition of its “Liberation Day” tariff rates for 90 days. The markets surged in response; the president’s supporters cheered. But there’s no victory here, whatever the Dow Jones does and the Trump administration claims. The White House has risked everything, ruined plenty, and gotten nothing. The country’s economy is weakening, and the possibility of a recession remains.
