Trump's Tariffs: US Economy Remains Surprisingly Resilient, at Least for Now

Chaotic and unpredictable, keeping up with Donald Trump's volatile trade war – never mind his presidency – can be tough.

- Richard Partington

Chaotic and unpredictable, keeping up with Donald Trump's volatile trade war – never mind his presidency – can be tough. Back in April, after his "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, the talk was of the president crashing the global economy. Then, after a Wall Street backlash, the world learned the acronym "Taco," which stands for "Trump always chickens out." Now things are heating up again.

The president's decision to hit US trading partners – including Canada, Brazil, India, and Taiwan – with new tariffs after his self-imposed August 1 deadline certainly reignites a threat to the world economy. Dozens of countries have been left reeling, and US consumers are expected to pay a heavy price. However, there is a sense that things could have been worse. Nowhere more clearly is this reflected than on Wall Street.

Despite the chaos of the president's trade war, the stock market remains close to record levels. After the latest escalation on Friday, and some worrying US jobs numbers, share prices took a hit, sliding by about 1%. But this is a setback rather than a rout.