Trump Tariff Derangement Is Really Bad for Your Health

Critics keep waiting for their ‘aha’ moment when tariffs cause an economic catastrophe, but it never comes.

AP/Evan Vucci
President Trump holds a signed executive order during an event to announce new tariffs at the Rose Garden of the White House, April 2, 2025. AP/Evan Vucci

All sorts of people keep waiting for this “aha” Trump tariff derangement syndrome moment, where the world explodes into catastrophe tomorrow, August 1, when the reciprocal trade deadline kicks in.

They thought they had it in April — but the “aha” catastrophe moment never came.

Even the New York Times headlined that President Trump is winning the global trade war.

But actually, there is no global trade war.

It’s not 1930. There’s no 60 percent Smoot-Hawley tariff, and there’s no retaliation coming from our foreign trading partners. Completely different from the 1930s.

And, actually, when Mr. Trump first unveiled his reciprocal tariffs, virtually all the important foreign countries flocked to make a deal with him; they ignored Communist China.

Why is that? Because America’s the greatest country in the world. With the best economy.

And nobody trusts the Chinese to do anything, much less honor a trade deal.

What’s more, Mr. Trump and his team have already made a number of deals with the United Kingdom, the European Union, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea.

Talks with Mexico are constructive and will be extended.

We can’t be sure, but it’s likely that the China talks will be extended.

In general, Mr. Trump is charging a very modest 15 percent or 20 percent fee as the price for doing business with the greatest economy in the world.

That modest fee could generate something like $400 billion a year in tariff revenues.

And here’s his new wrinkle: vast foreign direct investment into America

For example, $600 billion from the EU, and perhaps another $600 billion from Japan. Maybe $750 billion from EU energy purchases. Think clean burning LNG produced by America’s first in the world energy industry.

Direct investment pledges of as much as $5 trillion or $6 trillion coming from governments and companies all around the world — including the Middle East. And even in Asia — with South Korea putting up $350 billion.

We’ll learn more about how this direct investment is going to work, but the point is — the stimulus from all of that vastly outweighs any fiscal drag from the mostly moderate reciprocal tariff rates.

That’s Mr. Trump’s brand-new wrinkle. And it’s a very clever ploy.

Meanwhile, foreign trade barriers are coming down.

And plentiful tax incentives are encouraging onshoring for America.

The business side of the American economy is already starting to show a bit of a Trump boom. Especially for business equipment and data centers.

The second quarter inflation rate came in at only 2 percent. So the much-heralded tariff inflation has simply not materialized.

Trump tariff derangement is really bad for your health.

From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business Network.


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