President Donald Trump backed away from his plan to impose heavy tariffs on most of the world on Wednesday, as signs of economic stress in the U.S. grew. While the move caused stock markets to rally, it didn’t stop critics from blasting Trump for creating major economic uncertainty.
Trump’s pause on tariffs, lasting just 90 days, didn’t fix the situation entirely. The president increased tariffs on China to 125 percent and kept a 10 percent tariff across the board. This left many wondering about the long-term effects.
Conservative writer Noah Rothman of National Review argued that Congress should regain control of tariffs, especially in light of Trump’s unpredictable decisions.
“Congress must act,” Rothman said. “The last two weeks have shown that leaving trade policy in the hands of any president, much less one this mercurial, will still depress domestic and foreign investment. Rs will breathe a sigh of relief that they are saved from having to act like Article 1, but the new status quo is still intolerable.”
Rothman’s colleague, Charles C.W. Cooke, agreed. “Now would be a good moment for Congress to take back its absolute power over tariffs,” Cooke wrote.
Tommy Veitor, host of Pod Save America, slammed Trump supporters who were praising the president for a “genius” move. “These are the dumbest… people on the planet,” he said. “This idiotic tariff policy tanked the market nearly 20%, and now they want to act like Trump blinking and recouping only one third of that loss is some genius move.”
Pundit Matthew Yglesias raised concerns about the uncertainty still looming over the economy. “Halting the tariffs seems better than going forward with them, but again how on earth are you expecting anyone to invest in any new manufacturing if there’s no telling what policy will be tomorrow?” he asked.
Felipe Campante, an economist at Johns Hopkins University who grew up in Brazil, compared Trump’s leadership to the instability he saw in Latin America. “Nothing has prepared you to live under Trump 2 as much as growing up in 1980s/90s Latin America,” he wrote. “It was exactly like that! The sudden announcements changing everything, the overwhelming uncertainty, the sheer vertigo and whiplash. Plus, the sense that democracy is fragile and could collapse…”
Political scientist Brian Klaas summed it up with a joke: “The penguins won.” He was referring to Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on a remote island home to mostly penguins.
