Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of March 13, 2018

Article Excerpt

Donald Trump did what we expected this past week, but added some ingenious twists. Last week we said, “the world-wide tariffs that Trump says he has in mind [25% on steel and 10% on aluminum] may simply be opening bids that aim at getting better terms out of Canada and Mexico in NAFTA talks.” He did as we expected, but went one better: he exempted Canada and Mexico from the new tariffs, at least while NAFTA talks are underway. To stay exempt, Canada and Mexico have to give in on some NAFTA changes that they have so far resisted. This shifts the optics of the NAFTA/tariffs issue: It’s one thing to get hit unfairly by tariffs, another to lose a tariff exemption due to poor bargaining. If Canada and Mexico lose that exemption, some voters may feel their leaders brought it on themselves. This is a change from his earlier story, that the tariffs would apply to steel or aluminum imports from any…