In the first two weeks of his tenure, President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico, said repeatedly that there was nothing the two countries could do to avoid the tariffs, and then…announced that the tariffs would not be imposed after all (for at least 30 days).
But even trade wars that don't happen have costs.
More to the point: The economic uncertainty created by Trump's tariff threats has already warped markets and harmed the economy in ways large and small.