‘Tariff Man' Is Back for More ‘Liberation'
In letters to Japan's Prime Minister and South Korea's President, Mr. Trump huffs and puffs again about bilateral trade deficits, which he mistakenly thinks are a sign of foreign exploitation. 'We must move away from these longterm, and very persistent, Trade Deficits,' he says. Hence the new 25% tariffs, starting Aug. 1. This nearly matches Mr. Trump's paused 'Liberation Day' duties on the two countries, except Japan was supposed to get only 24%. Later in the day he sent tariff letters to a dozen other, less economically significant, countries.
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