Chaos and Corruption Weekly Digest: Week 12

President Trump’s move to impose harsh tariffs on nearly all goods imported into the United States triggered massive stock market crashes across the globe – an intentionally manufactured economic crisis that he openly bragged about before doing a sudden about-face days later.

The tariffs imposed on countries April 2 under what Trump called “Liberation Day” resulted in the largest decline in the global stock market since the 2020 crash, which was brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and triggered concerns about a global trade war and recession.

Trump’s executive order imposed a minimum 10% tariff on all U.S. imports, with limited exceptions, and levied tariffs ranging from 11% to 50% in imports from 57 specific nations and entities.

After days of volatility in U.S. stock markets, Trump suddenly reversed course on April 9 and announced a 90-day suspension of the higher tariffs on every country except China, which has responded to Trump’s tariffs by raising its own tariffs on U.S. imports.

Trump first said he was increasing the tariffs on Chinese goods to 125%, but the White House later clarified that the actual figure is 145%. In response, China raised its own tariffs – first from 84% to 125%, and then to 145% to match the U.S.

Hours before announcing a pause on the higher tariffs, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that “This is a great time to buy!” The comment spurred accusations of insider trading and attempts to manipulate the market.

It was just the latest example of the chaos being sewn by this administration, which continued to move forward with plans to gut federal agencies and bust our unions.