President Trump's Trade War Is Here: Here's How Investors Can Benefit
Tariff concerns have already unwound the S&P 500's post-election gains.
Well, that didn't take long.
In just a matter of weeks, President Donald Trump's tariff threats have gone from what many believed to be just saber-rattling to a full-blown trade war with the United States' closest trading partners: Canada, Mexico, and China.
Last Tuesday, the Trump administration imposed 25% import taxes on all goods from Mexico, 25% tariffs on non-energy goods from Canada with a 10% rate on energy products. It raised the tariff on all goods from China from the 10% rate it assessed a month ago to 20%. This week, a 25% tariff is supposed to go into effect on all aluminum and steel imports, and the president has talked up other tariffs, including on agricultural products and foreign cars, and plans to reciprocate tariffs that the U.S. is charged from other countries. A few days later, Trump temporarily paused some of the tariffs against Mexico and Canada until April 2.
