Folks, I know we saw this coming, but I don't think any of us expected it would happen this quickly.
All of our speculation that Trump couldn't keep his tariffs in his pants for more than a single fucking week may have felt a little extra, but it evidently wasn't unfounded.
Trump says he'll impose tariffs on all remaining Chinese goods.
President Donald Trump abruptly escalated his trade war with China, announcing that he would impose a 10% tariff on $300 billion in Chinese imports that aren’t yet subject to U.S. duties after setbacks in negotiations with Beijing.
The new tariff will be imposed beginning Sept. 1, he said in a tweet. Another $250 billion in Chinese goods are already subject to a 25% U.S. tariff.
U.S. stocks pared gains on the news, while yields on 10-year Treasuries fell to the lowest since 2016.
Trump's trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin just returned from face-to-face trade talks in China less 24 hours ago, for crying out loud.
It hasn't been reported yet, but I infer that their first meeting with Trump upon returning from China is what led to Trump's surprise announcement that he's imposing tariffs on an additional $300 billion in Chinese goods.
American and Chinese officials described their talks as "constructive" but they apparently weren't constructive enough for Trump. Or maybe they were and that's not the real reason he's doing this. Who knows? Trump is a whimsical creature.
I recently speculated that Trump could use the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates as an excuse to escalate his trade war and it may not be a coincidence that the Fed cut interest rates just yesterday.
Whatever the case may be, we're in the shit now. The market tanked immediately after Trump's announcement.