Is he crazy or crazy like a fox? Only time will tell…
Trump probably changes his mind on tariffs often because his tariff policy is intentionally flexible and used as a lever for international negotiation, political advantage, and responding to market pressures. This leads to a cycle of announcements, reversals, and new threats, introducing uncertainty for trading partners and global markets.
Of course, many interpret his tactics as either foolish or reckless.
In Trump’s view:
“President Trump refuses to let the United States be taken advantage of and believes that tariffs are necessary to ensure fair trade, protect American workers, and reduce the trade deficit—this is an emergency…. These tariffs seek to address the injustices of global trade, re-shore manufacturing, and drive economic growth for the American people.”1
On the other hand, an article on kiplinger.com well-summarized critics of Trump’s tariffs:
Meanwhile, many economists, former allies, and even some in his own party argue that Trump’s tariff policies will harm the U.S. economy by increasing costs for businesses and consumers, exacerbating inflation, and potentially slowing economic growth.
The New York Times keeps a timeline of Trump’s actions on tariffs. It does, indeed, reveal him as erratic.
Most recently, Trump has been sending out tariff letters to countries with whom he has not yet made deals.2 These letters have covered a wide span of countries across Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe, affecting both major trading partners (like the EU, Canada, Mexico, Japan) and smaller economies. The letters specified new tariff rates and threatened further escalation if retaliatory actions or circumvention was detected.
There is never any telling how things will turn out where Trump is concerned. Some aspects of the economy are slightly up, and some are slightly down, but there is no question the past status quo of the US being taken advantage of by countries all over the world, is a thing of the past.
It will be interesting to see what happens next.
