The Trump Tariff Playbook: Why the Bears Got it Wrong

  • Seven months into 2025, and President Donald Trump's ‘Liberation Day' is the story of the year on Wall Street thus far. On April 2nd, Trump signed an executive order imposing ‘reciprocal tariffs' on America's trading partners, with a minimum 10% tariff on all US imports. Although Donald Trump had talked about how the United States has been getting ripped off on trade for more than three decades, Wall Street investors were caught off guard by the magnitude and aggressiveness of Trump's tariff plan.