The latest development in Crazytown, as John Kelly used to refer to the first Trump White House, is that Donald was somehow persuaded to put a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs — except for China. He’s really got it going with China these days and all they’re doing in Bejing is shaking their heads while laughing. Somebody advised Trump to do what was sane. Here’s a brief sketch of the situation.
President Trump paused the sweeping reciprocal tariffs the U.S. imposed on dozens of countries this week, saying dozens had reached out to negotiate new trade deals.
Why it matters:Â It’s the relief global markets and dozens of U.S. allies wanted, as fears of a global crisis mounted.
Catch up quick:Â Economists said the tariffs could cause a severe global recession, and major investors warned of even worse, up to a possible “economic nuclear winter.”
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Trump announced the tariffs April 2 — a 10% base global tariff as of April 5, and sharply higher reciprocal tariffs on around 60 nations as of April 9.
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The magnitude of the tariffs caught markets off guard, and led some major Wall Street banks and economists to outright predict an almost immediate recession.
So somebody got through to Donald. Was it Elon? Hard to say because after the spectacular loss in Wisconsin last week, Elon has been somewhat in the dog house. But despite that, Musk has been vociferous about what an idiot, a “retard” to use his words, Peter Navarro is. Navarro is the father of Trump’s tariff lunacy. And Navarro assures us that he has expert guidance in all this, namely one Ron Vara, who is an expert on these matters. There is only one small catch, though: Vara doesn’t exist. He’s a fictional character made up from the letters of Navarro’s last name. Rachel Maddow blew the whistle on this a few days ago.
That is the state of financial global engagement these days. We have an ex convict who makes up fictional experts and who then quotes the non existent experts as being in favor of Trump’s trade war. It is nuts. And it’s so nuts that we find ourselves on the same side of the issue with Elon Musk, of all people, who points out that Navarro is as dumb as a box of rocks. Yes, he is, but who is dumber? Navarro, or the man that hired Navarro and listens to him? I vote for the latter.
For the moment things are leveling out. The stock market is slightly up today and the reciprocal tariffs have been paused. But the 84% tariff that China has imposed is going to hurt. We’re not out of the woods yet.
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I wonder what all the blue-collar workers, who thought tariffs would bring back manufacturing jobs to the US, think about their Dear Leader now.
Give the wonderful Rachel full credit for not actually spitting nails on air.
Somebody got through to him, but I ‘d be very surprised if it was Navarro. That would be like Navarro admitting he was wrong, to Emperor Trump, which is a confession that he gave him bad advice. That would be herd for anybody, but unthinkable for an egomaniac like Navarro.
Nor do I think it was Elon, for the reasons you say, plus it would look like “special pleading.” asking Trump for help at not a really good time to ask. I suspect it was any number of Wall Street big shots, billionaires, screaming bloody murder.