The President of the United States lashed out yesterday, Tuesday, with more force and rage than ever against Spain and the Government of Pedro Sánchez, threatening to “break all deals” or “relations”—depending on how his expression is translated—with Spain. “We want nothing to do with Spain,” he stated, even speaking of a possible “embargo” against an ally he described as “terrible” and “hostile” following Sánchez’s decision not to allow the…
Link Securities | US President Donald Trump announced on Friday the signing of an executive order that would impose a 10% global tariff on all countries under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. The next day, he changed his mind and said he would raise it to 15%. The decision came after it was revealed that the Supreme Court had ruled that his use of the International Emergency…
Alicia Gª Herrero (Natixis) | If the aim of the 30 October meeting between United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, in Busan, South Korea, was to ease trade tensions, it can be judged as just about achieved. US ‘fentanyl tariffs’ on China were halved to 10%, bringing US tariff levels on imports from China closer to those applied to other Asian economies.In return, China agreed to…
JP Marín Arrese | The markets are betting on Taco, the acronym coined by Robert Armstrong to assert that ‘Trump always chickens out’. It appears to work for the time being, at least as far as trade is concerned. Upon entering office, Trump threatened to wage an attrition war on Canada and Mexico, leading them to utter misery. Later on, he scaled back such bellicose plans to mere increases in…
Bankinter | A document/letter from the US government has been leaked, inviting all countries to submit their “best tariff offer” today, June 4, to complete the deals as soon as possible. So far, the US has only concluded a deal with the UK. Then, according to the letter (it is not known which countries have received it), the US government will respond within days with the tariff measures it believes…
Banca March | In less than 100 days, Trump has imposed the highest tariffs of the last 100 years, increasing the average rate from 2.5% to 24%. Last Wednesday night, he announced a base global tariff of 10%, which came into effect on Saturday. For those countries with a trade deficit, a higher rate applies, which will begin next April 9th. This is the case for the EU, which from…
Banca March | On Wednesday, the US president signed an order instructing the Department of Commerce to carry out an investigation under Section 232. This same mechanism was used in 2017 to establish tariffs on steel and aluminium after a year-long analysis and, therefore, it could require a similar period in this case. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the action will also look at products containing copper and stressed…
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has announced that he has reached an agreement with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to begin “negotiations immediately” with the aim of ending the war in Ukraine. In the hours following the announcement, members of the Trump Administration have outlined some of the conditions for this agreement, which would involve overlooking Ukraine’s claims on Crimea, and even on the Russian-speaking territories already…
Juan Pedro Marín Arrese | The sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China do not stem out of protectionism. In Trump’s mind they simply amount to massive destruction weapons aimed at waging wars without casualties. He aims to submit and bully every nation on earth be it a friend or a foe. For all we know that difference doesn’t really matter. The longstanding close alliance between the US and its…
Norbolsa | The US president again spoke of his intention to set global tariffs to protect the country’s economy, stating that he is not going to do so immediately, but that he sees the tariff level clearly above 2.5%. This level has been put in the mouth of Treasury Secretary Bessent, although Trump does not believe that this is what Bessent supports and he himself sees a clearly higher tariff….