Editorial: Trump's tariff pause presents an opportunity

Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Apr 11, 2025

Published in Op Eds

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Donald Trump’s ever-evolving trade policy veered in another direction on Wednesday when the president announced he was pausing certain tariffs on many countries — but not China — for 90 days. Financial markets, which have cratered since Trump imposed his duties on U.S. trading partners last week, bolted upward. The Dow jumped nearly 3,000 points.

“The initial market response speaks for itself,” Daniel Skelly of Morgan Stanley told The New York Times, “but for now, this is just a step in the right direction.”

The president’s actions appear to be a response to the market bloodbath — a discomfiting development for many Trump supporters who depend on union pension funds or 401(k) retirement accounts. Trump admitted that “people were getting a little queasy” as investors began dumping U.S. government bonds, an unusual occurrence, The Washington Post reported.

But the markets took immediate notice when Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning, “More than 75 Countries have called to negotiate a solution … and have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form.” As a consequence, “I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately.”

It remains to be seen whether the administration is simply delaying any potential economic shock or whether Trump and his team use the next three months to aggressively negotiate trade deals with the dozens of nations that the White House insists are eager to come to the table. The latter would be the smartest course, calming jittery investors and giving U.S. companies more certainty over how to plan for the months and years ahead.

Trump should also consider a proposal offered by economists Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore in The Wall Street Journal: Call the bluff of Western nations that protect many of their own producers but expect virtually unfettered access to the American market.

“Trump should give a globally televised address announcing to the world that the U.S. is ready to drop its tariffs and industry subsidies to zero tomorrow on any nation that does the same,” the men wrote in a Tuesday op-ed for the Journal. “This would be the ultimate reciprocal tariff policy. President Trump and the U.S. would regain the moral high ground in trade disputes. It would be enlightening to see which supposedly ‘free trade’ nations accept Trump’s challenge.”

Trump took a prudent step on Wednesday. He and advisers should now come to terms with willing nations on trade deals or they risk a repeat of serious economic disruption three months down the road.