Front Burner

What did Trump just do to the economy?

Donald Trump's 90-day pause on his "Liberation Day" tariffs has markets and pundits alike struggling to make sense of the U.S. president's economic strategy and its potential impacts.
A stock trader has his hand on his head as he sits in front of multiple computer screens showing market information.
A trader at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, April 7. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on much of what he calls "reciprocal tariffs" barely a week after first imposing them — while also implementing a 10 per cent tariff across the board on most countries, and a whopping 145 per cent tariff on China.

Markets first soared at the news, then went back into freefall. Members of Trump's cabinet claimed this was the strategy all along. The chaos even brought the stability of U.S. government bonds into question.

Justin Wolfers, a professor of economics at the University of Michigan, unpacks what's really going on here, and why Trump's past dealings with Canada could provide some insight into how it will all shake out.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

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