Written by President, Jamie Murray, CFA
The trade war has gone global. It appears that Trump is following the same playbook with his overseas contemporaries as he did with his North American ones. Step 1 is creating a fake national emergency to enact executive legislative powers (Canada & fentanyl, Europe/Asia & trade deficits). Step 2 is proposing egregiously high tariff rates. Step 3 is delaying at the eleventh hour, as we just witnessed with a 90-day implementation pause on all countries… except China. This aligns with the view we expressed in our note to clients on April 4, 2025, as we believe the U.S. will need and want support from allies to isolate China.
