Trump Starts Trade War: Steel Tariffs Drag Jack Daniels, Hogs Into Absurd Transatlantic Tit-For-Tat

So everyone knows Trump’s trade war idea is misguided.

I mean sure, he’ll be able to extract some halfway plausible talking points in defense of his increasingly aggressive trade stance from the few ostensibly smart people around him to the extent he’s managed to turn them into sycophants, but rolling back decades of progress on international trade and globalization is a fool’s errand.

Nobody thinks this is conducive to long-term prosperity. It’s just like his tax cuts and fiscal stimulus – myopic and indicative of an approach that’s self-centered as it’s aimed solely at bolstering his image at the expense of pretty much everything else.

 

On Thursday morning, Jerome Powell managed to deliver a more nuanced testimony on Capitol Hill than what came out of his mouth on Tuesday and his “success” at waffling on the economy and inflation looked like it might be enough to bolster equities.

And then the tariff headlines hit. This wasn’t unexpected (per se), but it’s pretty clear that everyone thought Trump was going to hold off on an actual announcement. Instead we got this:

  • TRUMP: WILL PUT 25% TARIFF ON IMPORTED STEEL, 10% ON ALUMINUM

Then, in short order, FAZ reported that the EU is now pushing back with proposed tariffs on Harleys and Jack Daniels. And yes, I’m serious.

So, stocks took a dive:

ES

Cue the VIX:

VIX

As Bloomberg notes, “since 1pm ET, underperforming sectors in S&P500 include semiconductors, autos and transport stocks, pushing S&P500 cash to ~1% lower on the day.”

Apparently, Cohn tried to stop this:

Oh, and not only is the ink not dry, it’s not even on the page apparently:

The Canadians aren’t amused. “Trump’s announcement that he’ll tax steel and aluminum imports will trigger a global trade war,” Jean Simard, the head of a Canadian aluminum industry association said. “The president has just initiated an all-out trade war, because over and beyond impacting directly the tariffed countries, what it makes happen is that other markets in the world are going to have to do the same to protect their own markets,” Simard continued, adding that “Europe has to protect the continent from redirected metal that would flood the market there because America is not an open market anymore. So you’re going to see barriers go up in Europe”

And auto dealers aren’t pleased either:

So yeah, you’re getting Trump’d.

If you’re wondering whether this might have an impact on inflation, the answer is “yes”, but I can’t imagine that the Fed wouldn’t look through that, despite this comment from Dudley today:

If tariffs go up, it will, at the margin, tend to put more upward pressure on prices, and those upward pressure on prices will have to be considered by the monetary authority.

Just to be as unequivocal as possible here: this moron is not good for your portfolio despite what you may have heard. You cannot paper over stupidity with bombast forever.

Eventually, dumb shit is recognized for what it is.

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12 thoughts on “Trump Starts Trade War: Steel Tariffs Drag Jack Daniels, Hogs Into Absurd Transatlantic Tit-For-Tat

  1. This thick headed ignorant bastard eats drinks sleeps money — too bad he is so stupid about it — he should put as much determination in what the youth are saying and doing as they ARE THE FUTURE. And he will soon be History as the Worst President Ever – in every textbook in every school at any level, forever.

    This old half dead buzzard lives every day to fight and cause upheaval because he then sees his name on Fox News as some self-imagined hero. His happiest times are when he is hurting people, calling them childish names, showing everyone “how tough” he thinks he is (hahaha!) and spreading his lies.

    I’m waiting for the day we read about his arrest for Conspiracy, Collusion and even Treason.

  2. Peter Navarro is on the loose and no longer under the grip of Cohn. With Hicks gone, Jared powerless, and Mueller moving in for the kill, I expect even weirder shit to happen. Now would be a good time to move out of Seoul.

    1. I think I hear that famous creepy “shark” music getting closer to the assface clown … and he is deathly afraid of sharks – well at least his porn star said he was.

    1. Even if this weasel inherits the Throne, he won’t last long — IF he makes it to the end of the “term” he will never be elected. There is a list of his lies that will come to haunt him soon enough. Even trump hates him.

  3. So in a vain attempt to protect the US Steel industry and what 150k jobs tops?? and hold back globalisation, he starts a trade war, wipes billions off the stock market – 1.5% off everyone’s pension in a day. He really is a master deal maker.

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