April 1 is April Fools’ Day. Trump is set to unveil his reciprocal tariffs the following day. While he never discussed them during the campaign, they are the centerpiece of his tariff scheme and are intended to be permanent, albeit with occasional adjustments purely at his whim. What happens after that? Will Trump tell America that this tariff scheme will cause significant short-term pain? Will he give us a coherent justification for the tariffs? Will he assure businesses that the tariffs won’t be changed arbitrarily, thus providing them with the ability to make informed decisions about the future? Or will he simply blow off the impacts and demand that we trust him?
If you think he’s going to be open and honest about his plans and their impact, you’re the April fool.