With investors already nervous about the prospect of President Trump slapping the next round of tariffs on Chinese goods as soon as Monday (US stock futures, which have so far internalized these trade tensions with surprising equanimity, were down slightly in early trade), President Trump boasted on Twitter that his trade war has produced only positive results, including boosting jobs and revenues while “cost increases” have been negligible (even though we could name more than a few CEOs who would beg to differ).
According to Trump, “tariffs have put the U.S. in a very strong bargaining position, with Billions of Dollars, and Jobs, flowing into our Country – and yet cost increases have thus far been almost unnoticeable. If countries will not make fair deals with us, they will be ‘Tariffed!'”
Tariffs have put the U.S. in a very strong bargaining position, with Billions of Dollars, and Jobs, flowing into our Country – and yet cost increases have thus far been almost unnoticeable. If countries will not make fair deals with us, they will be “Tariffed!”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 17, 2018
Dow future crept lower following Trump’s latest tweetstorm, which also featured rants about Obama’s ineffectual economic policies…
“A lot of small & medium size enterprises are registering very good profit, sometimes record profits-there stocks are doing very well, low income workers are getting big raises. There are an awful lot of good things going on that weren’t during Pres. Obama’s Watch.” Peter Morici
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 17, 2018
…While the president asserted that the US steel industry is already benefiting from Trump’s tariffs on aluminum and steel.
Our Steel Industry is the talk of the World. It has been given new life, and is thriving. Billions of Dollars is being spent on new plants all around the country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 17, 2018
Remember, as President Trump prepares to slap tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese goods entering the US (tariffs that, as Deutsche Bank recently pointed out, will likely have a material impact on US supply chains and consumers, particularly when China retaliates)…
…This will become the most important chart in the world as President Trump has repeatedly cited the divergence of US stocks from ex-US as evidence that he is winning the trade war.
And as a reminder, here’s a handy timeline of the trade dispute.
