Trump's 10 Tariff Twists: From Threats to Backtracks While Wall Street Dives into 'TACO Trades'

Trade tariffs were a key pledge during President Donald Trump's campaign, and they remained a prominent aspect of his administration during his second term. However, after more than five months, several promised tariff announcements have yet to be implemented.

While Trump has imposed a number of sweeping tariffs that have been driving up costs for American businesses and consumers buying goods from overseas, he has threatened far more tariffs than he has carried through on.

This has led to an atmosphere of doubt that has made some companies hesitant. lay off workers and delay investments as well as resulting in fluctuations in the equity markets Financial analysts often refer to Trump’s inconsistent actions as being on again, off again. TACO trade or the TACO theory — An abbreviation standing for "Trump Always Backs Down." (When asked about this saying by a journalist, Trump deemed the inquiry as "offensive" and remarked, "That’s referred to as negotiating.")

Below are 10 instances where Trump has made tariff threats and subsequently retreated from them during his presidency. It’s worth noting that in certain situations, such as with proposed tariffs against Colombia, the administration managed to secure policy concessions in different domains following their threatening stance. However, many of these tariff threats were ultimately abandoned without leading to significant outcomes elsewhere.

E.U. tariffs

In one of his latest tariff moves, Trump threatened last Friday to impose a 50% tariff on goods shipped into the United States from the European Union, saying the European countries weren’t taking ongoing trade talks seriously enough.

Trump stated that the tariff would come into force on June 1, however, just two days afterward, he delayed it Until July 9, following his conversation with European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Trump stated that she requested the postponement.

Trump had threatened Europe with a 20% tariff as part of his "reciprocal" tariffs announced April 2. But hours after those tariffs were scheduled to go into effect, Trump reduced tariffs on Europe and most other countries to 10% for 90 days to give his administration time to work out individual trade deals. The tariff on European imports remains at 10%.

Wine tariff

Aside from the wider tariffs on the E.U., Trump announced March 13 on social media that he would impose a 200% tariff on wine imported into the United States from the E.U. after the E.U. threatened a 50% tariff on American whiskey. That threat came in response to Trump’s earlier tariffs on European steel and aluminum.

The tit-for-tat over alcohol never came to fruition, with European officials saying a week later that they would delay the threatened whiskey tariff until mid-April, pending negotiations with the United States. There have been no tariffs on European wines aside from Trump’s blanket 10% tariff on all imports.

Canada and Mexico tariffs

Early in his presidency, among Donald Trump's initial moves regarding tariffs was targeting two neighboring countries: Canada and Mexico. Within just a few weeks after taking office, he issued an executive order to impose a 25% tariff on imports coming from these nations, arguing that they were not sufficiently preventing the influx of fentanyl over their borders.

In response, Canada and Mexico announced their own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, and Canadians began to boycott American brands.

The day prior to the implementation of the tariffs, Trump declared a 30-day postponement. This delay came as a response to measures that Canada and Mexico had indicated they would take at their borders. However, several of these actions had already begun before Trump initially unveiled his tariff plans.

After the completion of the 30-day suspension period, Trump declared on March 4 that the 25% duties on Canadian imports would be enforced. However, just two days following his imposition of these duties on both Canada and Mexico, he decided to suspend them once more until April 2 for most products. On April 2, when Trump expanded the tariff application to almost every country, exceptions were made for Canada and Mexico.

Despite the back-and-forth, there are no tariffs on most goods from Canada and Mexico that fall under the North American trade deal signed during Trump’s first term.

Tariff on films

Trump stated on May 4 via social media that he was directing his administration To begin imposing a 100% tariff "on every single Movie entering our country that is made in foreign lands," without providing specifics regarding when or how this would be implemented.

Several hours afterward, the White House stated that no definitive choices had been finalized and that the administration was still "weighing various possibilities." By midday, Trump announced he would be meeting with sector representatives to ensure their satisfaction with his strategy. Since posting on social media initially, the administration has not undertaken any further actions.

Reciprocal tariffs

Trump announced a variety of tariffs on nearly every country in the world as part of his so-called reciprocal tariffs in an event dubbed “liberation day.” Trump said it would “forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed and the day that we began to make America wealthy again.”

These tariffs varied between a minimum of 10% and a maximum of 49%.

On April 9, when those tariffs were scheduled to take effect, Trump announced a pause until July 2 to allow for negotiations of separate trade agreements with over 90 nations that had contacted his administration. Meanwhile, he stated that during this period, an across-the-board 10% tariff would be imposed on almost every country.

Following the suspension of the "reciprocal" tariff measures, Trump disclosed details of an initial trade deal with the United Kingdom.

A trade court ruled Wednesday That Trump overstepped his authority in imposing those tariffs. The Trump administration is currently challenging this decision, and as of now, the tariffs continue to be enforced.

China tariffs

One of President Trump's persistent tactics was imposing tariffs on China—accusing the country frequently of exploiting the U.S. through imbalanced trading methods. By April, these escalating duties surged beyond 145%, prompting companies to stop importing goods from China and delay new orders as a result.

However, right when the final batch of tariff-free goods from China reached U.S. harbors and deliveries from China were expected to decline significantly, Trump announced that he would reduce the tariffs to 10% for a period of 90 days. , allowing U.S. and Chinese officials to start trade talks following an inaugural meeting between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his Chinese counterpart. Trump maintained a distinct 20% tariff concerning the nation's manufacturing of fentanyl components.

The trade court decision on Wednesday overturned both the 10% and the 20% fentanyl tariffs, although these measures still stand temporarily as the appeal process is ongoing.

Tariff on iPhones

A few days following his decision to hike tariffs on China up to a minimum of 145%, Trump established an exemption for iPhones along with certain other electronic products manufactured in China, reducing their tariff rate to 20%.

Nevertheless, Trump persists in advocating for iPhones to be manufactured within the U.S., rather than in less expensive locations such as India, which Apple plans to use more frequently for production. Last Friday, Trump announced that he intends to apply a 25% tariff on all smartphones, including iPhones, irrespective of their country of manufacture beginning at the close of June.

However, high-ranking administration officials appeared to backtrack from Trump’s insistence that iPhones should be manufactured in the U.S., along with scaling down the extent of possible tariffs. Bessent mentioned that what Trump actually sought was for the chips inside the phones, rather than the devices themselves, to be produced domestically.

Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett mentioned a few days afterward that the administration doesn’t want to “harm Apple,” and he referred to the move as “a tiny little tariff on them right now, to try to negotiate down the tariffs.”

Colombia tariff

During his first six days back in office, Trump sparked a brief trade dispute with Colombia that only lasted for under one full business day. After Colombia’s president refused entry to two U.S. military planes transporting immigrants, Trump retaliated by threatening a 25% tariff on Colombian goods. It's worth noting that the United States heavily imports items such as coffee, flowers, and agricultural products from Colombia.

Colombia retaliated by imposing a 25% tariff on goods from the U.S. . However, it quickly indicated that it would permit the flights, and both nations retreated from their threats of initiating a trade war.

Tariff on dolls

Trump said he would impose steep tariffs on toymaker Mattel — even if it moves its overseas production out of China — after its CEO said it was looking to shift more production out of China but didn’t see it moving to the United States.

That's fine; let him leave, and we'll impose a 100% tariff on his toys. As a result, he won't be able to sell even a single toy in the U.S., which is their largest market," Trump stated at the White House on May 8th. Earlier, Trump mentioned that American children would just end up with fewer dolls since the price increase due to these tariffs would make them unaffordable.

Trump has since suggested that the United States is more interested in bringing higher-skilled manufacturing with a national security element to the country rather than lower-cost consumer goods.

To be frank, I'm not interested in producing T-shirts," he stated on Sunday. "And making socks isn’t our aim either; we excel at those tasks elsewhere." He continued, "Our focus is on manufacturing chips, computers, and many other items such as tanks and ships.

Auto tariffs

Trump announced a 25% tariff on all auto imports Starting from April 3rd, this rule will affect every vehicle not manufactured within the United States, potentially covering about fifty percent of total vehicle sales in the nation.

A little over a month afterward, he issued an executive order to reduce certain tariffs, aiming to alleviate worries that these duties might increase the price of vehicles manufactured in the U.S. using components sourced internationally.

Trump later said he would reduce tariffs for cars made in the U.K., such as those by Land Rover and Aston Martin, to 10% under a tentative trade agreement between the United States and the U.K. that officials on both sides continue to negotiate.

The article was initially published here The News Pulse