It’s Back to the Tariff Wars

After spending some time dealing with Iran and the Middle East, President Trump is focused once again on tariffs — and it seems like he’s making up for lost time.

On Wednesday, “President Trump sent tariff letters to many countries informing them of their new reciprocal tariff rates, which will take effect on August 1.” Among the lucky recipients of these letters were Japan (25% tariffs), Korea (25%), South Africa (30%), and Thailand (36%).

Trump also announced a new 50% tariff on U.S. copper imports and a 50% duty on goods from Brazil, both to start on August 1 too.

And he didn’t forget about America's friends up north. Late yesterday, as reported by CNN, President Trump “threatened a 35% tariff on goods imported from Canada, a dramatic escalation in an on-again, off-again trade war with America’s northern neighbor and one of its most important trading partners. And, in a separate NBC News interview, he suggested blanket tariffs on other US trading partners will jump, as well.”

What else is there left to say? There is no sense in analyzing the implications of all these changes because, as we’ve seen throughout the past 6 months, the moment you finish the analysis, these tariffs will be increased, reduced, eliminated, or who knows what else.

If he hadn’t said it already, and he were alive today, this whole tariff mess would have inspired Edward R. Murrow to sign off this week with his now-famous remark: “Good night, and good luck.”

Source: Talking Logistics

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