President's "Weave" Turns to "Swerve"

The President's discursive policymaking prowess was on full display this week.    Mr. Trump began holding firm on the "reciprocal" tariffs he proclaimed the week before, until relentless selling in the treasury market convinced Secretaries Bessent and Lutnick to sit him down and thumb out a reversal.

The 90 day reprieve gives the President and his team an opportunity to negotiate 50 to 75 bilateral trade agreements with former allies and trading partners.  Remaining are the 25 percent autos and parts tariffs, the 25 percent taiffs on imports from Canada and Mexico not covered by the USMCA and the ten percent universal tariffs.

What can't be ignored is the immolation of trading relations with the world's second largest economy and largest single importer of American agricultural goods.    In response to US duties in excess of 125 percent on goods from China, Beijing levied 125 percent tariffs on imports form the US.

"At the current tariff level, there is no market acceptance for US goods exported to China," stated the Chinese Ministry of Finance.   

USTR keeps game face

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told U.S. senators on Tuesday that the administration would not change tactics on tariffs in the near term and that some pain for businesses would be necessary.  Mr. Greer assured the panel that no exclusions will be created for the President's tariffs.

The following day found Mr. Greer in front to the House Ways and Means Committee recycling his testimony of the day before when Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nevada) called him out.  "WTF, who's in charge?" as news the President had paused the tariffs came over the wire.  "The President of the United States is in charge," answered Mr. Greer.

Speaking on CNBC,  Secretary Bessent said the President will personally be involved in the negotiations to review tariffs country by country.  

Like his introduction to the cruel mistress that is the bond market, Mr. Trump may not find the details or practical solutions to his liking.  His tariffs do not address the root causes of the trade deficit: China’s excess savings and America’s fiscal profligacy.  

Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates to Reflect Trading Partner Retaliation and Alignment

Amendment to Reciprocal Tariffs and Updated Duties as Applied to Low-Value Imports from the People’s Republic of China

So much for no exclusions:

On April 12, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (“EO”) Clarification of Exceptions Under Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025, as Amended, which expanded the list of Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”) codes exempted from the reciprocal tariffs that were announced on April 2, 2025. The exemptions apply retroactively to goods entered for consumption on or after 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 5, 2025. The newly added exemptions cover specific categories of products, including smartphones, computers, chips, and other electronic goods

[CBP Description CSMS # 64724565 ]

Here is a brief description of the commodities classified under the specified Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes:

8471: Automatic data processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, machines for transcribing data onto data media in coded form, and machines for processing such data.

8473.30: Parts and accessories of the machines of heading 8471, specifically parts and accessories of automatic data processing machines.

8486: Machines and apparatus of a kind used solely or principally for the manufacture of semiconductor boules or wafers, semiconductor devices, electronic integrated circuits, or flat panel displays.

8517.13.00: Smartphones.

8517.62.00: Machines for the reception, conversion, and transmission or regeneration of voice, images, or other data, including switching and routing apparatus.

8523.51.00: Solid-state non-volatile storage devices for the recording of sound or other phenomena.

8524: Records, tapes, and other recorded media for sound or other similarly recorded phenomena.

8528.52.00: Monitors and projectors, not incorporating television reception apparatus, capable of directly connecting to and designed for use with an automatic data processing machine.

8541.10.00: Diodes, other than light-emitting diodes.

8541.21.00: Transistors, with a dissipation rate of less than 1 W.

8541.29.00: Other transistors, not specified elsewhere.

8541.30.00: Thyristors, diacs, and triacs.

8541.49.10: Other photosensitive semiconductor devices, including photovoltaic cells, assembled in modules or made up into panels.

8541.49.70: Other photosensitive semiconductor devices, including photovoltaic cells, not assembled in modules or made up into panels.

8541.49.80: Other photosensitive semiconductor devices, not specified elsewhere.

8541.49.95: Other photosensitive semiconductor devices, not elsewhere specified or included.

8541.51.00: Gallium arsenide light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

8541.59.00: Other light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

8541.90.00: Parts of diodes, transistors, and similar semiconductor devices; photosensitive semiconductor devices, including photovoltaic cells; light-emitting diodes; mounted piezoelectric crystals.

8542: Electronic integrated circuits and microassemblies.