August 1 is tariff D-Day now...or is it?

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
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https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/trump-tariffs-deadline-august-trade-war-e916eb77?mod=hp_lead_pos1

Trump Pushes Global Trade War Back to the Top of His Agenda

President rolls out new deadline, rates and letters

By Gavin Bade and Brian Schwartz, The Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2025

President Trump reignited his global trade war Monday (7/7/25), renewing his threat to hit partners with punishing tariffs even as he announced a three-week extension to negotiate deals.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would sign an executive order extending the date when his so-called reciprocal tariffs would take effect, previously scheduled to expire at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday [in 2 days]. Additionally, Trump sent letters to a handful of nations outlining tariff rates they would pay if they didn’t strike trade deals with the U.S. by Aug. 1…

…Japan’s new 25% rate…Myanmar’s rate would be 40% on Aug. 1, down from 44%, while Laos’s would fall to 40% from 48%. Kazakhstan’s rate would fall from 27% to 25%.

Malaysia’s new rate would rise to 25% from the 24% announced on Liberation Day, just like Japan’s, while South Africa’s rate would stay constant at 30%, as would South Korea’s at 25%. The administration didn’t explain why some rates changed.

The reciprocal tariffs wouldn’t be applied to products that are covered under Trump’s separate national-security tariffs, a White House official said. So far, the president has applied 50% national-security tariffs on steel and aluminum, and 25% on automobiles. Similar tariffs for semiconductors, lumber, critical minerals and copper are being studied by the Commerce Department. … [end quote]

Will tariffs actually be imposed on August 1? Or is this just another head-fake to get deals?

Wendy

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Do we think there might be insiders who can profit from Trump’s flip flops on tariffs?

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Some might say TACO. Some say it’s just kayfabe.
It’s what a Presidential Administration modeled after World Wide Wrestling looks and sounds like.

Summon the strait jacket, and rubber room, it’s gonna get even crazier in the next 3 1/2 years.

All of this kayfabe can’t be good for business, how do you plan around this ? But hey, 50% tariff tax on copper, who knows what the tariff tax on lumber is. Seems like a great time to build a house. Or build a factory #sarcasm

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According to an article I posted on another thread, the narrative now is that the letters communicating diktat are “deals”, so “himself” can take another victory lap as “the best deal-maker the world has ever seen”.

Steve

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Worse yet, it’s enabled all the similar goons, what a fine mess to clean up someday… Its setting nearly every field back at least a decade while allowing just plain nastiness in word 7 deed… Sickening… The building industry, science research, and even travel has gone backward… We may have wanted to travel overseas again, but now, not happening…

I remember traveling into Canada at the time of GWB, at the border crossing, the Canadian agent, covering his shoulder patch, not only welcomed us but we got into a fairly long political discussion on recent events of that time, until the line behind our RV was backing up several vehicles so we had to go…Good guy… On the way home, different entry point, just the opposite, our US agents treated us as though we were suspected of something, no friendly Welcome Home, just rigid inspection, dog checking for drugs. etc… Irritating.. Sad, really…

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