President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again threat of major tariffs on the United States’ closest allies, Canada and Mexico, have earned the thumbs down from freight officials and financial interests.
Trump’s directive by tariff – “WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!)” – wore thin on freight and financial experts longing for stability in markets and crucial consistency from an inconsistent lame-duck president.
Even the hard-right conservative editorial page of the Wall Street Journal – usually a reliable barometer of right-wing world – slammed Trump’s latest tariff threats by entitling an editorial on the subject: “The Dumbest Trade War Fallout Begins.”
Markets yo-yo’d after Trump first announced tariffs between 10 and 25 percent on Mexico and Canada – our Nos. 1 and 3 largest trading partners – before backing down during a 30-day cooling off period. It’s Trump’s second round with tariffs, after trying them on assorted countries from 2018-19 in his first term.
“Potential tariff policy continues to be a moving target,” Derek Leathers, chairman and CEO of Werner Enterprises, a major truckload carrier that gets 10% of its revenue from Mexico traffic, said on an earnings call. “It’s “difficult to comment specifically on depth and duration as information is changing in real time.”
Trump’s tariffs against China, which he ordered to begin on Feb. 4, are an additional 10% duty on the value of the goods.