Attention to the Unseen

The Wall Street Journal reports: Rob Citrone couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The 60-year-old hedge-fund manager watched from his Orlando, Fla., home as President Trump walked into the White House’s Rose Garden and announced his sweeping plan to impose tariffs on the rest of the world. Citrone knew more levies on imported goods were coming—the White House had stuck to this message for months—and so he’d placed a series of wagers against U.S., European and Chinese stocks, betting they…

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Victoria Guida writes: President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff regime will completely transform America’s economic relationship with the rest of the world, all in the name of revitalizing domestic manufacturing. And yet, many businesses won’t be rushing to shift their supply chains to U.S. shores. For all the detail in Trump’s Wednesday announcement, his endgame is still shrouded in confusion. That’s lethal for long-term investment, making confident planning all but impossible. “If you want stuff being put in the ground, you…

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Politico reports: French President Emmanuel Macron wants EU businesses to stop investing in America in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s massive tariffs. “It is important that future investments, the investments announced over the last few weeks, should be put on hold for some time until we have clarified things with the United States of America,” Macron said on Thursday as he hosted a meeting with representatives of the sectors impacted and the government at the Elysée palace. “What message…

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NBC News reports: Global markets reacted sharply and swiftly after President Donald Trump revealed his much-anticipated tariff plans Wednesday, with investors fleeing U.S. stock indexes and companies that rely on global supply chains seeing their stocks plummet. S&P 500 futures, which indicate where it will likely open on Thursday, plunged 3.5%. Nasdaq 100 futures sold off by more than 4.3%, and Dow futures slid about 1,000 points or 2.3%. Those indices just endured their worst quarter in years in large…

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Investor’s Business Daily reports: A day after auto stocks broadly declined, the sector lost more ground Friday. The threat that President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all foreign-made vehicles could “send the auto industry into pure chaos,” and boost the average price of cars between $5,000 and $15,500, according to an analyst. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives on Friday said, after talking to auto industry players from around the world over the prior 24 hours, that the tariffs will add…

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MarketWatch reports: Consumers and businesses have grown very anxious about President Donald Trump’s trade wars — and they have increasing doubts about the future of the economy if the White House stays on the current path. The latest signal of angst: The long-running survey of consumer confidence fell to a more than four-year low of 92.9 this month, from 100.1 in February, the Conference Board said Tuesday. That’s the fourth decline in a row and the lowest reading since January…

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The Wall Street Journal reports: Keith Moffat was born in Canada, lives in the Netherlands and has an Irish passport. But until recently, his stock portfolio was (almost) all-American. At one point, around 90% of Moffat’s investments were in U.S. stocks. He sold all of his American holdings in the past few weeks and piled into exchange-traded funds that hold shares of European and other international companies, alongside European defense stocks. Moffat said the U.S. market is overpriced. But President…

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CNBC reports: FedEx lowered its full-year profit and revenue forecasts on Thursday, as the parcel delivery firm battles stubbornly soft demand and uncertainty in the U.S. industrial economy as President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on trading partners. “Our revised earnings outlook reflects continued weakness and uncertainty in the U.S. industrial economy, which is constraining demand for our business-to-business services,” Chief Financial Officer John Dietrich said in a statement. FedEx shares fell 5.3% to $232.29 in after-hours trade, while rival United…

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The New York Times reports: As President Trump imposes tariffs on products from countries around the world, foreign governments are answering back with tariffs of their own. China has targeted corn farmers and carmakers. Canada has put tariffs on poultry plants and air-conditioning manufacturers, while Europe will hit American steel mills and slaughter houses. The retaliatory tariffs are an attempt to put pressure on the president to relent. And they have been carefully designed to hit Mr. Trump where it…

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CNN reports: President Donald Trump’s tariff policies are slowing economic growth in the United States and around the world while sending prices higher again, creating a toxic stew for the global economy that could grow even worse if tensions escalate, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said Monday. The quarterly report is the first sweeping attempt by global economists to document and forecast the damage from Trump’s policies to the economies of America and its trading partners. The OECD…

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Politico reports: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a successful hedge fund manager straight out of central casting, has quickly become one of the administration’s strongest advocates for policies that are upending global trade and roiling financial markets. The deliberate, wonkish Wall Street veteran who once called for the gradual implementation of new trade barriers has transformed into a bullhorn for President Donald Trump’s MAGA 2.0 agenda, making it clear that short-term market reactions are secondary to administration priorities such as sweeping…

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The Washington Post reports: International travelers concerned about President Donald Trump’s trade policies and bellicose rhetoric have been canceling trips to the United States, depriving the U.S. tourism industry of billions of dollars at a time when the economy has started to appear wobbly. Canadians are skipping trips to Disney World and music festivals. Europeans are eschewing U.S. national parks, and Chinese travelers are vacationing in Australia instead. International travel to the United States is expected to slide by 5…

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Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux writes: Equities markets roared in anticipation of the deregulation, tax cuts and fiscal restraint the second Trump administration promised. But the tariff war with Mexico and Canada has destroyed that optimism and wiped out the increase in the value of American equities that had accrued since November. On April 2, President Trump plans to take his protectionist policies global. If he does, it will be the beginning of the end of the trading system…

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