2025-02-11
6 分钟Hi, this is Charlotte Howard, one of the hosts of Checks and Balance, our US podcast.
Welcome to Editor's Picks.
Here's an article we recommend from the latest edition of The Economist.
We hope you enjoy it.
If deal-making means threatening catastrophe in order to win small gains,
then Donald Trump is the master of the art.
Having threatened Canada and Mexico with 25% tariffs,
which would have imperiled the car-making that criss-crosses North America's borders,
he granted them both a 30-day reprieve on February 3.
In return, he got a modest boost to their help securing America's frontiers,
including from 10,000 extra Mexican troops, plus the reiteration of some old promises.
Was the dumbest trade war in history also the shortest?
Investors seem to think so.
For months, they saw Mr Trump's threats as negotiating ploys.
Then as tariffs loomed, the S&P 500 index of American stocks fell by 3%.
But since the first deal with Mexico,
they have recovered their poise and more than half their losses.
Unfortunately, that looks like complacency.
It would be a mistake to conclude Mr Trump's trade aggression is a tactical distraction.
More probably, it is only just getting started.