Trump's Tariffs Set to Make History and Break a System MAGA Loathes

[Zorro]

His plans have sparked fears of a US recession and a global slowdown, as well as the end of a post-war order.

Nearly 100 years ago, the US enacted a tariff law that set off a global trade war and prolonged and deepened the Great Depression.

Now President Donald Trump is betting the world has changed enough that history won't repeat itself.

He is set this week to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs and other levies on what he has labeled “Liberation Day” — a move expected to cover a broader swath of trade than the infamous 1930 Smoot-Hawley duties that have long served as a cautionary tale about protectionism. It’s part of Trump’s wider project to dismantle the global trading system the US helped build out of that era’s wreckage, on his belief that Americans got a raw deal.

“The world has been ripping off the United States for the last 40 years and more. And all we’re doing is being fair,” Trump said in a weekend interview with NBC News.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-03-31/trump-s-reciprocal-tariffs-risk-us-recession-trade-turmoil?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc0MzQ1OTkxNCwiZXhwIjoxNzQ0MDY0NzE0LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTVTBBQzRUMVVNMFcwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJDNjgyQTUwQzJCRDM0MTFCQTgwQjEwQjZEQjczQzM1MSJ9.iUxzItYyZ6KdEhR53GtzBl4Ne-5RvK405smZTwR4FNw