Summary
Donald Trump abruptly reversed his tariff policy Wednesday, announcing a return to a 10% baseline tariff on most countries and a steep 125% rate on China.
His administration appeared blindsided, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unable to explain the move and press secretary Karoline Leavitt resorting to combative rhetoric.
The shift likely responds to mounting criticism from conservative allies and market instability marked by a debt sell-off.
Despite confusion and lack of clarity, officials tried to play up Trump’s unpredictability as strategic leverage rather than a sign of disarray.
I just heard NPR, a more consistent and reliable source, state that the US would be one of the worst off GDP wise if the tariffs were to stick. Volatility is the goal right now. They’re pumping and dumping and also trying to distract from all the civil and human rights violations.
A bit of speculation on my part, but I’ve been hearing it was actually the Japanese selling off US bonds that eventually made the Trump admin panic and stop the tariffs. I guess the power of God and Anime saved us from this bullshit for the most part. Perhaps this was one of the things discussed between China, Japan, and Korea?
Nothings been saved yet, this is just a pause. There’s pretty good evidence (although circumstantial) that this was just for a last minute pump and dump, and that once they’ve finished extracting more money from the market he’ll resume tanking it.