> “This was his strategy all along,” Bessent said at the White House, where officials, including him, had denied for days that the tariffs would be suspended.
And why should we believe them? If it was the strategy, you could have made the tariff announcement into an acrostic or something.
Hypothetically, assume for the moment Bessent is telling the truth. Now let's try to pencil in what the administration's reasoning might be. Here's my best guess at how the conversation in the White House went:
Advisor A: So we're all agreed then. 10% tariffs across the board is our strategy, except China, because Xi is a special boy.
Advisor B: If we announce that, everyone will freak out. There will be rage and panic.
Advisor A: That's where the tactics come in. We announce greater tariffs first, according to this super sketchy formula my intern cooked up with ChatGPT.
Advisor C: That's not what we agreed!
Advisor B: How will that stop the rage and panic?
Advisor A: It's tactics not strategy. We walk it back just before it hits. People will be too busy being relieved to be raged and panicked about 10%. We get the policy we want; the people / markets / etc. will only freak out for a few days and then go back to normal.
Trump: I like it. (Opens Resolute desk drawer.) Here's a signed copy of the Art of the Deal.
Advisor A: Thank you sir! I will cherish it for the rest of my days.
Again, the above is my guess as to what happened, under the (perhaps questionable) assumption that Bessent is telling the truth. ("How likely is this assumption?" is a question orthogonal to the point I'm trying to make, and therefore, out-of-scope for this post.)
And why should we believe them? If it was the strategy, you could have made the tariff announcement into an acrostic or something.