
16/07/2025
The dearth of deals to date has fed the narrative that “Trump Always Chickens Out,” the so-called TACO trade, that he overplays his hand, and that his trade war is going badly. This narrative misconstrues Trump’s goals, overstates the importance of deals and breeds complacency about his willingness to raise tariffs.
The president wants tariffs, the higher the better. Whether that is achieved unilaterally or via deals is secondary.