My monitor’s red LEDs have never worked harder than they did in the final days of last week. No, my screen isn’t broken– but global trade just might be.
If you’ve been off-grid (or hanging out with penguins on a remote island), here’s what happened: President Donald J. Trump declared “Liberation Day,” slapping sweeping tariffs on nearly every country. It was like Oprah shouting, “You get one! And you get one!”– except instead of car keys, every country’s exports got slapped with customs bills.
Now, tariffs aren’t inherently bad. They’re tools meant to protect local industries. When used temporarily and strategically, they give domestic players room to grow. But without a plan to rebuild an entire manufacturing ecosystem, U.S. tariffs are like putting extra weights on your competition at the gym so you can finally outlift them– without actually building your own muscles– and then flexing like you earned it.
The other problem? It wasn’t clear what the U.S. even wanted in return. The justification wasn’t really about tariffs– it was about trade deficits. That’s like walking into a jewellery store, buying a diamond ring and demanding the shopkeeper buy your homemade pineapple tarts to make things “fair.” That’s… not how trade works.
When U.S. markets opened the next day, stocks of big tech, financial institutions and retailers were bleeding red. Soon, Asian and European markets followed. I half-expected to get infrared poisoning from staring at my monitor for too long.
The U.S. slapping down unilateral tariffs is like inviting everyone to a potluck– then midway through dinner, standing up and announcing a cover charge based on how much everyone else ate compared to you. “Oh, you had two helpings of lasagna? That’ll be $20. I only had salad.”
Imagine showing up with homemade cookies, only to be told they’re now subject to a snack tariff because the host’s casserole wasn’t popular enough. At some point, guests will either bring less, leave early, or throw their own potluck without you. Possibly with better food.
How long will this last? Nobody knows. But history has a funny way of evening things out. If the U.S. builds a wall around its economy, the world won’t wait– it’ll simply move on. New trade pacts will form. New channels will open. New markets will emerge.
One way or another, the tide will find a way to flow.