By Kenneth Tiven
Trade regulations fall under Congressional authority, but US President Donald Trump has bulldozed past legislative oversight with his erratic, unilateral tariff policies. His moves aren’t about economic strategy, industrial revitalization, or global market stability. They are about power—raw, unchecked, and unmoored from rational governance.
Trump’s tariffs have upended markets, with stocks and commodities plunging due to the confusion and incoherence of his policies. His administration, populated by billionaires and ideologues, has discarded economic fundamentals in favour of reactionary posturing. Inflation is surging, consumers are paying the price, and America’s trading partners are reeling.
“There’s Nothing To Explain”—Paul Krugman
Nobel laureate and Princeton economist Paul Krugman dismissed Trump’s tariff logic as non-existent. “I’m not saying the Trump team’s thinking is unsound. I don’t see any thinking at all,” he wrote. Even the White House’s tariff calculations were debunked as nonsense—seemingly derived from arbitrary math that misrepresents trade deficits.
Market Carnage And Economic Fallout
Trump’s tariffs triggered a market bloodbath:
- US dollar at six-month lows.
- Stocks tumble on Wall Street amid global sell-off.
- Capital Economics slashes S&P 500 forecast.
- China’s credit rating downgraded.
- Oil prices slide on fears of slowing global growth.
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers warned: “Never before has an hour of presidential rhetoric cost so many people so much.” He estimated the economic damage at $30 trillion, translating to $300,000 per family of four. Even former Republican Vice-President Mike Pence called it, “the largest peacetime tax hike in US history.”
The administration’s justifications are riddled with contradictions. Trump hailed his tariffs as a return to 19th-century economic nationalism, conveniently forgetting that protectionist policies fuelled the Great Depression. The numbers he touted—34 percent on China, 20 percent on the EU, 46 percent on Vietnam, and so on—left experts baffled. Financial journalist James Surowiecki called the calculations “extraordinary nonsense.”
A Self-Inflicted Economic Recession
Economist Brad Setser of the Council on Foreign Relations warned that the immediate effect would be recession. “It’s going to raise the price of so many goods that can’t be made in the United States. In the long run, it’s a vision of the US that is very isolated from the world.”
CNN estimated that over Trump’s term, Americans will pay $6 trillion more due to these tariffs. Peter Tchir, head of macro strategy at Academy Securities, called the policy “shockingly high and inexplicable”.
A War On Science: The NIH Purge
Beyond economic devastation, Trump’s administration has gutted America’s medical research infrastructure. A mass purge at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has derailed cancer and Alzheimer’s research, leaving potentially life-saving treatments in limbo.
Journalist Josh Marshall called it one of the worst atrocities of Trump’s presidency: “The US has been a global leader in medical research, and we’re giving it up because Trump wanted to cover up his past support for vaccines and ‘stick it’ to the scientific community.”
Political commentator Tom Sullivan lamented: “Nine years later, the press still tries to report Trump 2.0 as serious policy. His wealthy sycophants nod along as if he isn’t raving about the purity of his essence.”
A New Era Of Economic Authoritarianism
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy warned that Trump’s tariffs aren’t about economic policy—they are about political control: “Industries will need to pledge loyalty to Trump in order to get sanctions relief.”
Trump has long claimed other nations are “laughing at us.” But as he builds an economic disaster of his own making, the joke may ultimately be on him—and on America.
—The writer has worked in senior positions at The Washington Post, NBC, ABC and CNN and also consults for several Indian channels