The first few weeks of the second Trump administration were a whirlwind of counterproductive, illogical trade policies.
Trump returned to the White House with a promise to raise tariffs on his first day in office. That morphed into a threat to tax all imports from Mexico and Canada (two nations with which Trump negotiated a new trade deal during his first term) on February 1. When that date arrived, Trump backed down. Meanwhile, he slapped a new 10 percent tariff on all goods imported from China and followed that with a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. On March 3, the president reversed course again and moved forward with blanket tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada. Trump also began the process of implementing what he calls "reciprocal tariffs" on all imports, with specific rates to be determined later this year.
That was just the first six weeks. By the time you read this, a global trade war could be in full swing—or Trump may have extracted whatever vague concessions he's seeking with this chaotic attack on the peaceful exchange of goods.
