Liberation Day. April 2, 2025. The Trump administration announced reciprocal tariffs on nearly ninety nations across the globe. The stock market tanked, impacted nations retaliated, businesses canceled their guidance to Wall Street, and the mainstream media began to try to talk the nation into a recession.
Many wondered just what Trump was trying to achieve. Now, to be fair, the Trump administration sent mixed messages about the purpose of the tariffs. Some said the tariffs were designed to drive manufacturing investment in the United States, indicating that the tariffs were here to stay. Others claimed that the tariffs were a means to force other nations to drop their tariffs on the United States. While others said that the tariffs were meant to force all nations to drop tariffs on American goods, reduce their trade surplus with the United States, and to cease all non-tariff barriers to free trade.
The confusion as to the purpose of the tariffs created doubt about the off-ramp and Trump’s end game.
This uncertainty contributed to a significant market selloff, with the S&P 500 shedding over $5.8 trillion in value by April 8.
Then, on April 9, President Trump dropped new tariff rates on imports from the majority of the United States’ trading partners to 10% for 90 days, allowing for trade negotiations to take place. Trump also announced that he was raising the tariffs on goods imported from China to 125%, “effective immediately.”
The market’s reaction was swift and positive. The S&P rose more than 9.5%, its biggest one-day gain since World War II. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 7.9%, its biggest percentage gain since March 2020. The Nasdaq Composite rose 12.2%, its largest one-day increase since January 2001. Approximately 30 billion shares traded hands, making it the heaviest volume day on Wall Street in history.
Amid the market surge, one key development received little attention: Trump designated U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to lead the trade negotiations to resolve the tariff issues.
Trump is showing excellent leadership skills with the decision to allow Bessent to lead the negotiations instead of trying to lead them himself. Bessent is level-headed and a serious negotiator. He understands markets and the benefits of free trade. More importantly, it keeps the nuclear option of negotiating with Trump in the administration’s back pocket. Bessent can say, “you had better find a way to get a deal done with me, or you will have to negotiate directly with the president, and he will reinstate the tariffs during the negotiations.”
The tariff war of 2025 is barely a week old, and President Trump is poised to win but he needs to be disciplined enough to take the win.
Secretary Bessent needs to be able to reach agreements in principle with the nation’s trading partners, extending the tariff freeze with any nation that drops their tariffs on the United States and agrees to negotiate in good faith to reduce other non-tariff trade barriers. These agreements are complex and thousands of pages long. Trump and the administration must be willing to use the carrot with the same vigor as they have used the stick.
The win for Trump and his team will come if Secretary Bessent can announce agreements in principle with a number of trading partners in the next week, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam, for example. The tariff freeze with these countries must be extended indefinitely, as long as active negotiations are on-going.
This will signal to our trading partners, and more importantly, the market, that the United States is serious about getting deals done. The stock market will rise, interest rates will come down, and, most importantly, consumers will have the confidence to spend, avoiding a recession.
Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal” was written decades ago, but the principles he espoused in the 1980’s still apply today.
* * *
Jim Nelles is a Navy veteran and supply chain consultant based in Chicago. His articles have appeared in the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Foxnews.com, and the Daily Wire. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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[[{“value”:”
Liberation Day. April 2, 2025. The Trump administration announced reciprocal tariffs on nearly ninety nations across the globe. The stock market tanked, impacted nations retaliated, businesses canceled their guidance to Wall Street, and the mainstream media began to try to talk the nation into a recession.
Many wondered just what Trump was trying to achieve. Now, to be fair, the Trump administration sent mixed messages about the purpose of the tariffs. Some said the tariffs were designed to drive manufacturing investment in the United States, indicating that the tariffs were here to stay. Others claimed that the tariffs were a means to force other nations to drop their tariffs on the United States. While others said that the tariffs were meant to force all nations to drop tariffs on American goods, reduce their trade surplus with the United States, and to cease all non-tariff barriers to free trade.
The confusion as to the purpose of the tariffs created doubt about the off-ramp and Trump’s end game.
This uncertainty contributed to a significant market selloff, with the S&P 500 shedding over $5.8 trillion in value by April 8.
Then, on April 9, President Trump dropped new tariff rates on imports from the majority of the United States’ trading partners to 10% for 90 days, allowing for trade negotiations to take place. Trump also announced that he was raising the tariffs on goods imported from China to 125%, “effective immediately.”
The market’s reaction was swift and positive. The S&P rose more than 9.5%, its biggest one-day gain since World War II. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 7.9%, its biggest percentage gain since March 2020. The Nasdaq Composite rose 12.2%, its largest one-day increase since January 2001. Approximately 30 billion shares traded hands, making it the heaviest volume day on Wall Street in history.
Amid the market surge, one key development received little attention: Trump designated U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to lead the trade negotiations to resolve the tariff issues.
Trump is showing excellent leadership skills with the decision to allow Bessent to lead the negotiations instead of trying to lead them himself. Bessent is level-headed and a serious negotiator. He understands markets and the benefits of free trade. More importantly, it keeps the nuclear option of negotiating with Trump in the administration’s back pocket. Bessent can say, “you had better find a way to get a deal done with me, or you will have to negotiate directly with the president, and he will reinstate the tariffs during the negotiations.”
The tariff war of 2025 is barely a week old, and President Trump is poised to win but he needs to be disciplined enough to take the win.
Secretary Bessent needs to be able to reach agreements in principle with the nation’s trading partners, extending the tariff freeze with any nation that drops their tariffs on the United States and agrees to negotiate in good faith to reduce other non-tariff trade barriers. These agreements are complex and thousands of pages long. Trump and the administration must be willing to use the carrot with the same vigor as they have used the stick.
The win for Trump and his team will come if Secretary Bessent can announce agreements in principle with a number of trading partners in the next week, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam, for example. The tariff freeze with these countries must be extended indefinitely, as long as active negotiations are on-going.
This will signal to our trading partners, and more importantly, the market, that the United States is serious about getting deals done. The stock market will rise, interest rates will come down, and, most importantly, consumers will have the confidence to spend, avoiding a recession.
Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal” was written decades ago, but the principles he espoused in the 1980’s still apply today.
* * *
Jim Nelles is a Navy veteran and supply chain consultant based in Chicago. His articles have appeared in the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Foxnews.com, and the Daily Wire. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
“}]]
