Trump's Tariffs: Chaos, Confusion & Consequences

On with Kara Swisher

New York Magazine

News Commentary, News, Society & Culture

4.2 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

President Trump's chaotic rollout and partial rollback of tariffs has roiled financial markets and confused many allies, both domestically and internationally. Although he temporarily calmed bond markets by announcing a 90-day pause on his misleadingly labeled "reciprocal tariffs," the uncertainty he created continues. Meanwhile, China has responded to the 145% tariffs on their imported goods by imposing retaliatory tariffs on American products and halting exports of rare earth minerals. To help us makes sense of the mess, Kara talks to three experts: Raj Bhala is a professor at the University of Kansas School of Law and one of the foremost scholars on international trade law. He is also the author of Trade War: Causes, Conduct, and Consequences of Sino-American Confrontation. Bill Cohan is an M&A banker-turned-financial journalist and a co-founder of Puck. He’s the author of a number of books, including Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon. Catherine Rampell is a nationally syndicated columnist at The Washington Post who specializes in economics, politics, and public policy. She’s a special correspondent for PBS Newshour and she will soon anchor and co-host of MSNBC’s The Weekend. This episode was recorded on Wednesday April 9th. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's my new studio, which I have no books behind me or anything.
0:03.0	The red chair.
0:03.5	Yes, it is.
0:04.1	It's back.
0:04.6	It's on.
0:21.2	For this, I've got. For this episode, I've gathered three incredibly sharp thinkers from the worlds of trade,
0:26.4	economics, and finance to talk about what else President Trump's tariff blitz. In just a few days,
0:32.5	Trump has managed to confuse almost everyone with a series of head-scratching pronouncements on tariffs
0:37.0	that have made the
0:37.7	market seesaw. On April 2nd, Trump's so-called Liberation Day, which a lot of people have been
0:43.0	calling Obliteration Day, he announced what he called reciprocal tariffs, and which were not,
0:48.7	on about 90 countries. That included a 34% tariff on Chinese goods and caused a sell-off in the bond markets.
0:56.6	On Wednesday, Trump paused his tariffs for 90 days, but increased tariffs on Chinese imports by
1:01.8	125%. On Thursday, the White House clarified that those tariffs were on top of an existing 20%
1:09.5	tariffs bringing the total tax on Chinese imports
1:12.0	to 145%, and then on Friday, China announced it was slapping a tariff of 125% on American goods.
1:21.0	It's a mess all caused by Donald Trump. So we're now officially in a trade war, but luckily
1:26.6	we've got a great trio of experts to
1:28.7	help us digest it all. Raj Bala is a professor at the University of Kansas School of Law and an
1:34.6	expert in international trade law, and also the author of Trade War, Causes Conduct and Consequences
1:40.8	of Sino-American Confrontation. Bill Cohen is a former M&A banker turned
1:46.1	financial journalist and a co-founder of Puck. He's the author of a number of books, including
	...

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