Name? Donald J. Trump
Westphalian identity? U.S. American
Age? 78
Why is he in the news? The last Daily Update was published 2 ½ years ago by yours truly. Since then, there has been an unending barrage of news; a series of unfortunate events, if you will. Therefore, in order to ease our readers back into the Dailies, let’s talk about the one-month delay of a 50% tariff on EU goods, graciously bestowed by President Donald Trump after a call from EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen.
Why do we care? The delay was granted after Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on EU goods just last Friday, on top of the EU already facing a 25% tariff on steel, aluminium, and cars and a 10% tariff on all other goods. In 2023, the EU exported €822 billion in goods and services to the USA. A 50% surcharge would kneecap European competitiveness in American markets, where European business supports +5 million jobs.
Why should you care? Unless carefully crafted, tariffs are a lose-lose situation. If you live on this planet (looking at you, arctic penguins), new tariffs will affect you. At least in the medium term, Trump’s tariffs mean higher prices for the American consumer and weakened markets abroad. Additionally, Trump’s tariff flip-flopping spooks markets, making it harder to plan for future growth. This delay for the EU tariffs alone caused a sigh of relief from the entire European equity market.
Who else cares? Chinese Premier Xi Jinping took a different approach to the Trump tariffs. When Trump threatened Chinese goods, Xi called Trump’s bluff and doubled down, raising tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%. Last month the spat culminated in 145% tariffs on Chinese goods, until Trump himself capitulated to lower tariffs all the way to 30% (Xi lowered tariffs to 10% himself).
Any further comments? Hot RAIA tip: stock up on that Hermès Birkin bag today!
