Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and Team,
David Rosenberg wrote a very insightful opinion piece in the Globe & Mail on Friday, April 4, entitled “Trump’s ‘reciprocal tariffs’ are a con – and investors are now waking up to his bigger ambitions”.
The title may cause readers to assume it’s ‘political’, but it is not. Rather, it’s a careful analysis of what the White House is up to, and this short excerpt from the article explains what it really is:
“These are not really “tariffs” that are being imposed. These are actions aimed at completely eliminating the U.S. bilateral trade deficit with every country. That is why the “tariff” is really not that at all but rather a “ratio” of every country’s trade surplus with the U.S. divided by the exports of that country – it is that number that the White House expects to rid the United States of its trade deficits; not just at an aggregate level, but for every country that runs a trade surplus with America. This is why these numbers, 10 per cent, 17 per cent, 20 per cent, or 25 per cent, are so huge. They are ratios.”
I can’t resist, however, to be a little bit ‘political’. It’s unfortunate that Trump, Lutnick, Vance, et al will probably never see the article!
Rosenberg certainly stripped away the clothes of these would-be emperors.
The article is behind a paywall, but I urge 5i members to try to get a copy of Friday’s Globe. This will enable them to determine the real reason why many of their stocks and ETFs have recently ‘tanked’. 5i have our backs and they hopefully will continue to alert us about volatility and the potential for further losses to our portfolios caused by this insane ‘policy’.
David Rosenberg wrote a very insightful opinion piece in the Globe & Mail on Friday, April 4, entitled “Trump’s ‘reciprocal tariffs’ are a con – and investors are now waking up to his bigger ambitions”.
The title may cause readers to assume it’s ‘political’, but it is not. Rather, it’s a careful analysis of what the White House is up to, and this short excerpt from the article explains what it really is:
“These are not really “tariffs” that are being imposed. These are actions aimed at completely eliminating the U.S. bilateral trade deficit with every country. That is why the “tariff” is really not that at all but rather a “ratio” of every country’s trade surplus with the U.S. divided by the exports of that country – it is that number that the White House expects to rid the United States of its trade deficits; not just at an aggregate level, but for every country that runs a trade surplus with America. This is why these numbers, 10 per cent, 17 per cent, 20 per cent, or 25 per cent, are so huge. They are ratios.”
I can’t resist, however, to be a little bit ‘political’. It’s unfortunate that Trump, Lutnick, Vance, et al will probably never see the article!
Rosenberg certainly stripped away the clothes of these would-be emperors.
The article is behind a paywall, but I urge 5i members to try to get a copy of Friday’s Globe. This will enable them to determine the real reason why many of their stocks and ETFs have recently ‘tanked’. 5i have our backs and they hopefully will continue to alert us about volatility and the potential for further losses to our portfolios caused by this insane ‘policy’.
