On March 6, U.S. President Trump postponed until April 2 the 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and some imports from Canada. Around midday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau a “numb skull” and warned that this would lead to higher U.S. tariffs while Trudeau said Canadian officials were talking with U.S. counterparts about easing the tariff on some sectors.
In response to these developments, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed more than 10% off its closing high, while the Nasdaq slid 2.62% and the Dow Jones Industrials roughly 1% while the S&P 500 dropped 1.8%. And U.S. Treasury yields ticked higher for the third straight session.
Further developments undoubtedly will occur the rest of this week (and beyond?).
Conclusion. For this blogger (a U.S. citizen), these developments further raise the issue of the eptitude, knowledge and judgment of Mr. Trump.
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Berwick & Lang, U.S. Delays Tariffs on Some Mexican, Canadian Goods; Stocks Decline, W.S.J. (Mar. 6, 2025); Ip, Trump’s Golden Age Begins With a Brutal Trade War, W.S.J. (Mar. 6, 2025); Trump Administration Live Updates: In reversal, Most New Tariffs on Mexico and Canada are Suspended, N.Y. Times (Mar. 6, 2025); Rennison, Tariff uncertainty leads to another unsteady day for Wall Street, N.Y. Times (Mar. 6, 2025); Assoc. Press, Trump changes course and delays some tariffs on Mexico and Canada, StarTribune (Mar. 6, 2025).
