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Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump is making ready to rev up his commerce struggle once more, whilst he extends a pause on some tariffs till subsequent month.
What simply occurred? Trump introduced new tariff charges on a number of international locations Monday in a slew of kind letters, citing their “unsustainable Commerce Deficits” with the US. The tariffs — together with on Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and quite a few others — would take impact August 1.
The White Home additionally stated that beforehand introduced “reciprocal” tariffs, which had been set to take impact this week, could be suspended till August 1.
What’s the context? Trump introduced draconian tariffs on many international locations in April, solely to pause them per week later after monetary markets cratered. He left in place a ten p.c “world tariff,” in addition to tariffs on China (since lowered from their triple-digit highs).
Why is Trump doing this now? When Trump paused his tariffs in April, he stated he would use the following 90 days to strike commerce offers. However virtually 90 days later, comparatively few offers have been reached. Trump could now hope to drive the difficulty with renewed threats of financial ache.
Will any of those tariffs really take impact? Trump’s commerce coverage has been mercurial, to explain it generously, and it’s even unclear how he’s deciding on new tariff charges. Beforehand, a drastic dip within the markets managed to spook him into backing down, and the markets reacted negatively to his Monday announcement — but it surely’s unclear what we must always count on at this level.
There’s additionally a pending court docket case over the legality of Trump’s tariffs, which he has imposed utilizing emergency authority, however don’t count on a fast decision there, as a ruling by the US Courtroom of Worldwide Commerce blocking the tariffs is at the moment on maintain.
And with that, it’s time to sign off…
The Toledo Mud Hens, a minor league baseball group affiliated with the Detroit Tigers, have a brand new mascot: Webley the kitten, who was rescued from the group’s stadium final week and has been adopted by a group worker. You’ll be able to — and will! — examine his adventures right here.
