It was supposed to be 90 days. After the markets started trashing the liberation day taxes, the fool who raised them announced a 90 day break so that negotiations could take place. Now, just over a month later, he gets bored, or Ron Vara gets a word in when Bessant isn’t around, and arbitrarily raises import tariffs from the EU to 50%.
All the old favourites were there. Made up figures. Attempts to divide the EU. Whining that the EU was set up to screw the USA. And still no idea of what the USA is supposed to achieve in any deal.
Markets were in turmoil of course. The dollar also fell as a result, although Bessant helpfully told us all it wasn’t the dollar that was falling, merely that all other currencies were rising. Scott my boy, you’re supposed to be the brains of the outfit, but I think we should have a talk about these things.
If past experience is anything to go by, this will cause a lot of short term pain. Then there will be a triumphal announcement of some amazing deal, before quietly climbing down on basically everything. Only the insiders around him shorting the markets are winners in his corrupt system.
This is the cost of having a ruler who has massive power but zero understanding of anything. The whole of the US establishment seems to be quite content with the random damage he is causing.
Leave a Reply