Here’s a tweet from Donald Trump on Friday: “The Tariff is about stopping drugs as well as illegals!”
Here are the results of his recent tariff rants, according to the Associated Press: Kohl’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom and Dillard’s dropped to 52-week lows. General Motors was down 4% to open. American Axle was down 4%. Auto parts suppliers Autoliv and Visteon were down 5%. Constellation Brands, a beverage supplier, was down 7%.
Retailers Industry Leaders Association Vice President of International Trade Hun Quach was quoted in Time as saying, “Threatening tariffs on Mexican imports while simultaneously seeking support in Congress for a trade deal aimed at keeping trade barriers low with Mexico is a confusing and counterproductive strategy.”
American consumers will pay the price for these tariffs.
The bill is already being paid by U.S. citizens in the drop in value in their stock portfolios, IRAs, pension funds and 401(k)s. The Dow Jones average is down 6.7% in the past three weeks. Using that as a rough proxy, think of the hundreds of billions of dollars lost from American savings. Other U.S. manufacturers and exporters will suffer, as well.
National Pork Producers Council President David Herring told Successful Farming, “American pork producers cannot afford retaliatory tariffs from its largest export market, tariffs which Mexico will surely implement.”
How will the administration or its mouthpiece Huckleberry Sanders spin this one, or do we already have the answer: “stopping drugs and illegals”?
I expect to see Trump in front of a microphone soon taking credit for this stock market miracle.
Chris Dorton
Silverthorne