The Market’s Focus Returns to Tariffs

Commentary

Last week’s news was dominated by the Trump tariffs, including letters sent to countries disclosing their August 1st tariff schedules. Japan and South Korea have been hit with 25% tariffs, so both of these major trading partners want to negotiate a more favorable trade deal before August 1st. Since Japan and South Korea have auto plants in the U.S., they can onshore more manufacturing, so it will be interesting to see if they can cut a more favorable deal with the Trump Administration during the next two weeks.