So Much for That Tariff Shock
(Oliver Contreras via Getty Images)
Lesson learned: Washington plays by different rules now.
My breakfast today consisted of crow, with a side of humble pie. I’m on a restricted diet, because I’ve just been exposed as a prisoner of my pre-Trump Washington expectations. On Monday, I wrote of an impending “sudden shock” from the president’s threatened 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico.
To summarize the comments section: “This did not age well.” I did not anticipate that, within two days, he would pause the tariffs for 30 days, citing promised improvements on border control from both countries.
For those of us in the explaining biz, the usual response to such a predicament is something like: “But my essential point remains correct.” That won’t fly at The Free Press. Instead, here’s some transparent lesson learning.
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