Thursday, April 10, 2025

Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Hold Off Tariffs, Stocks Soar

Yesterday, after the stocks and bond markets showed considerable "volatility" (newspeak for wiggling around with no sense of direction), the Trump administration announced that the new reciprocal tariffs on countries other than China were to be suspended for 90 days for negotiations, with the 10% base tariff remaining. Stocks responded with an immediate jump of roughly 3000 points on the Dow and similar jumps on the other indices. Was this part of a grand strategery on part of the Trump team, or the result of them caving to economic pressures? I don't know, and neither do the people who will tell you one way or the other. It does put a lot of pressure on China, because they need to sell to their biggest market, and we don't sell that much to China. Stacy McCain notes Dow Jones Gains Nearly 3,000 Points After Trump Deports Gay Makeup Artist, just to show the disconnect between cause and effect. The Peacock crows Dow surges 2,900 points, S&P 500 posts biggest gain since 2008 on Trump tariff reversal: Live updates and  Trump temporarily drops tariffs to 10% for most countries, hits China harder with 125%. At NYPo, Trump announces 90-day tariff pause for most countries, raises China rate to 125% — as he blasts ‘yippy’ critics, boasts stock rebound ‘gotta be a record. Driscoll at Insty, DEVELOPING: "Trump pauses tariff hikes for 90 days against most countries, raises China rate to 125%. UPDATE: Dow surges 2,900 points, S&P 500 posts biggest gain since 2008 on Trump tariff reversal: Live updates." Ace, Trump Builds the China Tariff Wall Ten Feet Higher While Announcing a "Pause" on Tariffs for Other Countries; Markets Soar, "Trump announced he would "pause" higher reciprocal tariffs on many countries while sticking firm to a 10% "universal tariff" on all foreign goods. James Madison informs me that the higher tariffs are only paused for countries that didn't retaliate" and S&P Posts Its Biggest One-Day Gain In History as Markets Rally, Plus: Is China "In a Box"? Sundance at CTH has President Trump Raises Chinese Tariff Rate to 125%, Triggers 90-Day Pause and Baseline 10% For all Other Nations, hosts Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Providing Clarity and Details Surrounding 90-Day Pause, Baseline 10% Tariffs and Chinese Tariffs at 125% and Kevin O’Leary Wants President Trump to Increase Tariffs on China to 400%. At Althouse, "The fallout from the trade disruption will hurt the United States, which relies on China for all sorts of manufactured goods, but will do more damage to China..."   Leslie Eastman at LI reports China Responds to US tariffs with Export Controls on Critical Rare Earth Minerals, "Between Trump’s recent executive order on mining and all our own mineral deposits, we are posed for the American Gold Rush of the New Millennium….this time on the critical minerals China is trying to hoard." Leah Barkoukis at TownHall thinks Bessent Had the Perfect Response to China Raising Tariffs on US Goods. The Hollywood Reporter reports China Mulling Ban on Hollywood Film Releases in Response to Trump Tariffs (Report).  VodkaPundit says Trump Is the Bull in China's ShopBatya Ungar-Sargon @bungarsargon, "The Americans who have the least are willing to say, maybe I don't need that extra piece of crap from China if it means my children will have a future. Meanwhile, people who will never not be rich are unwilling to sacrifice a single penny for the future of this country." BowTiedMara @BowTiedMara, " URGENT Panama breaks with China and aligns itself with the US: Mulino abandons the Silk Road, resumes military exercises with Washington, and joins forces with Hegseth to secure the Canal, curb migration, and contain the communist advance in the region." At Insty, Cynical Publius9, 2025 @CynicalPublius, "Anyone who believes that Trump's 90-day tariff suspension was a knee jerk reaction to the drop in the capital markets must necessarily also believe that Trump was totally surprised by that drop and did not fully anticipate it. If you believe Trump did not know how the capital" Steve @SteveSellsMD, "Bingo. He, Bessent, Lutnick and Navarro clearly modeled out the various scenarios."

Ultimately tariffs are a high stakes carrot or stick negotiation, a style Foggy Bottom and the rest of the globalists have zero concept of-- but the business world thrives on. Liz Stauffer at LI worries The Media is Calling the Shots in the Tariff War, "The media is sensationalizing the escalation in hostilities between China and the U.S. while ignoring the 70 countries that have already lined up to negotiate with us." Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, Chris Matthews: Isn't It Good, Canadian Wood? Cutie Pavlich at TownHall, There's an Update on Tariff Negotiations. From Da Fetched, House Democrat Breaks Ranks to Support Trump’s Tariff Plan. John Kass asks Wall Street Panicans and Democrat Fearmongers: What Do We Owe America’s Children? Diogenes Middle Finger discusses Traversing Narrow Channels.

Matt Margolis at PJM is amused White House Uses Reporters' Pronouns, Just Not the Way They Intended. Fox, Trump press secretary doesn't engage with reporters using pronouns in emails, says they deny reality. "'As a matter of policy, we do not respond to reporters with pronouns in their bios,' Leavitt told a New York Times reporter." Ace, White House Stops Responding to "Journalists" With Pronouns In Their Email Signature Lines. "This is a solid heuristic for weeding out the nonsense. Nonsense pronouns means nonsense questions and nonsense hit pieces." I like it! It's a way to discriminate against liberals without saying you're discriminating against liberals. 

zerohedge @zerohedge, "*TRUMP SIGNS ACTION DIRECTING AGENCIES TO SUNSET OLD REGULATIONS." UPI whines HHS, EPA launch review of fluoride in drinking waterRapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47, "@POTUS signs an Executive Order to end the Obama-Biden war on water pressure and Make America's Showers Great Again." Rick Moran at PJM says Finally! DoD Courts Service Members Wrongfully Discharged for Not Getting the COVID Jab.

Sundance reports Fannie Mae Fires Over 100 Federal Agency Employees for Facilitating Housing Loan Fraud. Sarah Anderson at PJM hears Rubio Expose the Leftist Agenda and Corruption of USAID Programs "So the far left decided these are things that we think are good and it also became cultural imperialism. We began to use foreign aid not as a way to make America stronger, safer, more prosperous, but as a way to impose – impose – the domestic political agenda of the left onto foreign countries. And it became a vehicle for that," and Rubio: 'We're Not Doing Idiotic Things Anymore' At Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog, Democrats Deploy Disability Dodge. "Dozens of administrative law judges grant disability payments to almost everyone who appears before them, overriding Social Security staff who determined the people were not entitled to payments, a Daily Wire analysis found." Matt Vespa, Wait, We Outsourced the 'Crown Jewel' of Global Warming Research to Crackpot Climate Consultants?

At Town Hall, Cutie Pavlich thinks Bondi's Reaction to Recent Supreme Court Victory Is Going to Trigger the Left Even More and 'Becca Down reports the House Votes on Taking Action Against Rogue Judges. Jen O'Connell at RedState, On a Party-Line Vote, the House Passes the 'No Rogue Rulings Act' to Curb Activist Judges   Ace observes Federal Judges Block Deportations... Again, "The Supreme Court decision stated that Trump could deport aliens under the Alien Enemies Act... but all people being held by the government have the right to file habeas corpus petitions questioning the basis for their detention. So now would-be deportees are filing habeas writs, and judges are staying their deportation until the hearing." 

Cam Edwards at Bearing Arms claims Donald Trump Makes Big Change at ATF as Patel Exits Agency, "Trump naming Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll as the ATF's new Acting Director, effective today." Dan Greenfield at Front Page is happy that the Trump Admin to Shut Down DOJ Arm Behind Ferguson Riots "Goodbye Community Relations Service." Bloomberg whines Justice Department Limits Employee Engagement in ABA Events on their time. Josh Blackmun at the Volokh Report reports the Seventh Circuit Judicial Council Dismisses Misconduct Complaint Against Judge Vaden. "Oh, and by the way, the complainant is a prisoner who had a "role in firebombing and vandalizing Jewish houses of worship. . . I remain troubled how the judicial ethics process can be weaponized. This case was another episode of lawfare against the judiciary. . ""


More later? Meanwhile there are plenty of good links at the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 04.09.25 (Afternoon Edition)

The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: An Almost Perfect Week up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain on time and under budget.

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