Trump’s Economy: Brute Force and Favor-Trading

The most overused phrase since Donald Trump chose billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as his Treasury secretary nominee is “sigh of relief.” As the theory goes, Bessent would command respect from the markets, steering the next administration toward the usual conservative agenda of tax cuts and deregulation, and away from anything disruptive.

That sigh lasted all of one day. The president-elect, in a familiar declaration of policy by way of a post on social media, announced his intention to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, and a 10 percent one on China, specifically to impede an “invasion” of migrants and drugs into the U.S. This would affect around $1 trillion in annual imports from America’s three largest trading partners, spawn retaliation, do little to prevent border crossings that are already muted and typically dependent on job availability, and of course, raise prices on many goods and services.