
In the first week of April, markets were thrown into chaos as President Trump's tariff announcements reverberated through global financial markets. Stocks tumbled, the dollar fell, and even the world’s safest assets—gold and U.S. Treasury bonds—were hard hit. Investors were incredulous as Trump’s “Liberation Day” charts revealed steep worldwide tariffs on friends, foes, and uninhabited islands with equal disregard for consequences. This felt like a game of bluff. Except Trump insisted he wouldn’t fold.
For a few days it felt like the financial world was teetering and might even collapse, even as White House advisors hinted that a grand strategy would soon be revealed. Maybe so, but there was apparently no forethought given to the market’s extremely volatile and negative reaction. Within a few days, Trump did an about-face and announced a 90-day pause on the new tariffs. (Except for China, where tariffs would be even more punitive.) Markets rallied, with investors hoping the worst was over.