Tariff update

 NY Times - Although Mr. Trump’s tariffs were clearly telegraphed for months, they were broader than many analysts expected. The president’s top economic aides, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have defended the use of tariffs, but have suggested that they would be used as a tool for negotiations or that they should be phased in gradually to allow businesses time to adjust.

“The tariff gun will always be loaded and on the table but rarely discharged,” Mr. Bessent wrote in a letter to partners of his hedge fund Key Square Group last year.

But Mr. Trump did not hesitate to use tariffs as a weapon against America’s largest trading partners, imposing sweeping levies that will hit everything from auto parts to avocados. Economists said the pain of an escalating trade war could come in the form of slower economic growth and higher prices.

“The resulting surge in U.S. inflation from these tariffs and other future measures is going to come even faster and be larger than we initially expected,” said Paul Ashworth, the senior economist for North America at Capital Economics.

The Hill -  The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board published a punchy Saturday op-ed listing all the flawed reasons for President Trump’s tariff plan, citing a declining trend in trade and manufacturing

“Tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China are SIGNED!” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields posted on the social platform X. “This bold move holds these countries accountable for stopping illegal immigration and the flow of dangerous drugs like fentanyl.”

“Leaving China aside, Mr. Trump’s justification for this economic assault on the neighbors makes no sense,” the board wrote. 

Writers challenged the idea that exorbitant pricing for imports and exports would urge neighboring governments to stem the flow of illicit drugs....

The board denied the notion that increasing the cost of business deals between borders would lead to an improved economy.  “Mr. Trump sometimes sounds as if the U.S. shouldn’t import anything at all, that America can be a perfectly closed economy making everything at home. This is called autarky, and it isn’t the world we live in, or one that we should want to live in, as Mr. Trump may soon find out,” they outlined.