Trump winks at gentler tariffs, boosting markets

U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have so far taken the shape of country-specific, sweepingly reciprocal, targeted at sectors and applicable only to countries with a certain trade relationship with another.

He has also been “flexible” in implementing them — as he remarked Friday on the possibility of doing so — granting last-minute pauses, exceptions to goods under trade agreements and potential reprieves even for across-the-board tariffs.

Markets rallied Monday, driven by Trump’s hint that countries could get a “break” from reciprocal tariffs. But it’s unlikely to be a sustained upward trend, given the wild swings in the types, and the unpredictable executions, of Trump tariffs.

Strategists often look at technical trends in stocks’ movements, such as their 200-day moving average, in an attempt to divine their future. It might be more fruitful, in this political epoch, to shift that scrutiny to Trump, who has alternately caused markets to pop — and plunge — with one pronouncement.

New Trump tariffs, again
U.S. President Donald Trump said at a Cabinet meeting earlier on Monday he will soon announce tariffs targeting automobiles, pharmaceuticals and other industries, and, at a White House event later the same day, added the lumber and semiconductor industries to his list. Trump also said Monday the U.S. will impose 25% tariffs on countries that buy oil and gas from Venezuela.

Possible ‘breaks’ for tariffs
Even as Trump said he would impose tariffs on industries, at a White House event Monday, he said he “may give a lot of countries breaks” on the reciprocal tariffs, which are set to take effect April 2. When pressed for clarification on whether sectoral tariffs will also start that day, Trump initially said, “Yeah, it’s going to be everything,” before adding, “but not all tariffs are included that day.”

U.S. stocks shoot up
U.S. stocks jumped Monday on relief that Trump tariffs might not be as severe as expected.  The S&P 500 gained 1.76%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.42% and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 2.27%. Tesla shares popped 11.9%, their best day since Nov. 6, 2024. Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed about 0.5% as yields on the 5-year government bond hit 1.165%, the highest since October 2008, according to LSEG data. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell over 2%.

Samsung Electronics co-CEO dies
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that its 63-year-old co-CEO Han Jong-hee has died of a heart attack. Han headed Samsung’s digital appliances division and its device experience unit, which includes mobile phones and home appliances. The company said Jun Young-hyun — who was appointed co-CEO in November last year — will become the sole CEO.

[PRO] Markets set to rebound: Goldman
With the S&P 500 dropping four weeks out of the previous five, and uncertainty still swirling around Trump’s tariff plans, the mood in the market is glum. Goldman Sachs, however, thinks that it’s precisely because of the downcast sentiment that the market is poised for a contrarian rebound — and the investment bank has data from its indicator to back up that assertion.

The U.S. is not prepared to win an economic war against China-built containerships, farmers and ocean carriers warn

U.S. farmers and global ocean carriers are warning of severe economic damage from proposals being considered by the U.S. government to hit containerships made in China with steep fines when they call on U.S. ports. 

The goal of bringing more shipbuilding back to the U.S. is at odds with reality in the global ocean trade market, they say, where virtually all container traffic will soon be carried on ships built in China.

“The ports of Halifax, Montreal, Prince Rupert, and Vancouver would be receiving more containers as ocean carriers reduce the number of U.S. port calls,” Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea‑Intelligence, told CNBC. “This would be at the detriment of smaller ports like Jacksonville, Tampa, Oakland,” among others, he added.