Summary
Trump had to reverse his aggressive tariff rhetoric after CEOs from Walmart, Target, and Home Depot warned of empty shelves and higher prices due to supply chain disruptions.
Investors reacted negatively to his threats against Fed Chair Jerome Powell, prompting a market sell-off.
Trump backtracked, expressing optimism on a China trade deal and now denying plans to fire Powell.
Global markets remain volatile, and the IMF cited Trump’s trade war as a “major negative shock” to global growth.
He bas been, which is the wild part. He’s not saying “oh this was a bad idea, whoops” but he is adding all kinds of exceptions all the time as major corporations tell him how awful they are. Terrified of being seen as weak, so many tariffs will remain but it is really funny watching them scramble to pretend like they aren’t the absolute worst at their jobs.
Is there any evidence that a single cent of Trump’s tariffs has yet been collected by the US government?
I remember reading that, in at least one case, collecting them is difficult to the point where ports aren’t bothering. And that’s difficult on the admin side, they’re just so insane about it that the relevant authorities aren’t even really sure what’s going on or how to deal with it.
Another method of control: exceptions to whoever has the biggest bribes, personal favors and enrichment. Tariffs for everyone else