Trump has settled on a “Liberation Day” tariff plan, but won’t reveal details

President Trump said that he had settled on a plan for his latest batch of tariffs expected this week but didn’t reveal what he had decided, after his economic team struggled to coalesce around a remade U.S. trade strategy.

When asked about it, Mr Trump said “I’ve settled, yeah,” from the Oval Office on Monday. This comes after multiple changes in the details of Trump’s tariff plan, including the President saying that he will put a 15% tariff on cars not made in the United States.

Most economic analyses say average U.S. families would have to absorb the cost of his tariffs in the form of higher prices and lower incomes. But an undeterred Trump is inviting CEOs to the White House to say they are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in new projects to avoid the import taxes.

It is also possible that the tariffs are short-lived if Trump feels he can cut a deal after imposing them. “I’m certainly open to it, if we can do something,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll get something for it.”

Stocks have gone down in anticipation of the tariffs that will happen on Wednesday, with some economists saying that the tariff wars could increase inflation. But Mr Trump has decided that he is willing to take the risk of instability, and has a plan of action to do this.

With Donald Trump, anything is possible, especially with respect to possible deals. So the whole gamut of possibilities, from a long, brutal trade war that will hurt the whole world, to a very short race war, ended by a deal being made.

All we can do now is brace for impact and wait.