Trade Wars That Never Happen Still Have Costs
In the first two weeks of his tenure, President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico, said repeatedly that there was nothing the two countries could do to avoid the tariffs, and then…announced that the tariffs would not be imposed after all (for at least 30 days).
But even trade wars that don’t happen have costs.
More to the point: The economic uncertainty created by Trump’s tariff threats has already warped markets and harmed the economy in ways large and small.
“We have had to suspend every [capital expenditure] project we have for the next 24 months until we better understand the trade situation,” Randy Carr told Bloomberg. Carr is CEO of World Emblem, the Florida-based business that is the world’s largest manufacturer of emblems and patches. The company has also suspended plans to hire new employees. The disruptions, Carr says, are “reminiscent of the adjustments we had to make during Covid-19.”
The uncertainty created by Trump’s will-he/won’t-he tariff strategy is not as bad as the tariffs themselves would be, of course. Following through with tariffs on all impo
Article from Reason.com
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