Good morning—news of the night is that tariffs on China will be roughly 30% for the next 90 days, down from the 145% they were at previously. That’s a large & meaningful reduction but still leaves tariffs well above where they were before Trump took office.
The obvious question to ask is why. Donald Trump is the one who raised China tariffs to 145% literally last month, he could have just not done that. I think the more likely answer is that there is no plan, and that Trump really wanted to touch the stove until he felt how hot it was.
This situation is also obviously going to be politically intolerable for other countries/companies—a German car still facing 25% tariffs while Chinese tables face 30% is not a condition the Europeans will accept going forward. China tariffs will have to go back up or car/steel ones down.
May 12, 2025 11:18
