Just a few months ago, Americans’ optimism about the economy was on the rise. The stock market boomed after Donald Trump won the 2024 election, and measures of business confidence rose. But all the positive sentiment came with an asterisk: It assumed that Trump would not follow through on his campaign promise to dramatically raise tariffs. Yet on Wednesday, Trump unilaterally ended nearly a century of international trade norms by announcing a baseline 10 percent tariff, with rates double or triple that being applied to several major trading partners. This marked a significant escalation over the tariffs he had already pushed through, even as US stocks have tumbled on fears of inflation and recession. Trump, it turns out, wasn’t bluffing. “Tariffs are a tool the president enjoys… He doesn’t have to go through Congress. He can exercise personal power.” If you think about politics traditionally, Trump’s tariffs don’t make… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.
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