Editorial: Trump’s tariff pause presents an opportunity

Donald Trump s ever-evolving transaction agenda veered in another direction on Wednesday when the president informed he was pausing certain tariffs on multiple countries but not China for days Financial markets which have cratered since Trump imposed his duties on U S trading partners last week bolted upward The Dow jumped nearly points The initial area response speaks for itself Daniel Skelly of Morgan Stanley advised The New York Times but for now this is just a step in the right direction The president s actions appear to be a response to the region bloodbath a discomfiting improvement for a large number of Trump supporters who depend on union pension funds or k retirement accounts Trump admitted that people were getting a little queasy as investors began dumping U S establishment bonds an rare occurrence The Washington Post revealed But the markets took immediate notice when Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning More than Countries have called to negotiate a method and have not at my strong suggestion retaliated in any way shape or form As a consequence I have authorized a day PAUSE and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period of also effective instantly It remains to be seen whether the administration is only delaying any prospective economic shock or whether Trump and his gang use the next three months to aggressively negotiate bargain deals with the dozens of nations that the White House insists are eager to come to the table The latter would be the smartest unit calming jittery investors and giving U S companies more certainty over how to plan for the months and years ahead Trump should also consider a proposal offered by economists Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore in The Wall Street Journal Call the bluff of Western nations that protect several of their own producers but expect virtually unfettered access to the American area Trump should give a globally televised address announcing to the world that the U S is ready to drop its tariffs and industry subsidies to zero the following day on any nation that does the same the men wrote in a Tuesday op-ed for the Journal This would be the ultimate reciprocal tariff plan President Trump and the U S would regain the moral high ground in contract disputes It would be enlightening to see which supposedly free exchange nations accept Trump s challenge Trump took a prudent step on Wednesday He and advisers should now come to terms with willing nations on bargain deals or they pitfall a repeat of serious economic disruption three months down the road Las Vegas Review-Journal Tribune News System Editorial cartoon by Al Goodwyn Creators Syndicate