‘Something Must Have Made Him Mad!’ CNBC Anchor Breaks New Trump Threat That ‘Knocks Stock Market Off Balance’
CNBC anchor Joe Kernen broke the news that President Donald Trump dropped a new tariff threat on Canada, and asked CNBC Washington Correspondent Megan Cassella if she knew “what made him mad.”
Trump’s habit of whiplashing between issuing massive tariff threats and backing off of them spawned the derisive Wall Street acronym TACO — “Trump Always Chickens Out” — to describe a “TACO trade” strategy to outsmart Trump’s chaotic market-roiling tariff policies.
The president threw another grenade Thursday night when he posted a letter announcing a new 35% tariff on Canada — one that won’t go into effect until August 1.
On Friday’s edition of CNBC’s Squawk Box, Kernen wearily reported the news, and Casella noted that White House sources told her the “decision is not final.”
Kernen noted the dip in futures was a relatively small one — and predicted “time will tell” once the deadline arrives:
JOE KERNEN: And Trump announcing tariffs on imports from Canada of 35%. Something must have made him mad! I don’t know what the latest is. Maybe Megan knows. They start on August 1st.
Megan Casella joins us now from Washington. Any particular thing or just, you know, slow-walking the whole process? What– did anything in particular spur this latest threat?
MEGAN CASELLA: Not that we know of yet, Joe. We might learn today, but we don’t know exactly what sparked this latest Canada threat.
But also, there were two big escalations overnight on the trade and tariff front from the president. Canada being the first one, 35% on imports from Canada, which by the way, the second largest US trading partner and the largest buyer of American goods last year.
Now, an administration official did tell me late last night that the exemptions currently in place for USMCA compliant goods likely will remain as will the lower 10% tariff for energy imports that would soften this a little bit, but still a significant escalation from the 25% level where it is now to 35% on everything else.
I was told that decision is not final. And this does come, to your point, just a few days, I think two weeks after the president was first angry about Canada’s digital services tax. And then, once— Prime Minister Mark Carney pulled that back, then things seemed to be back on track. So we don’t know what caused this one.
The other big tariff threat overnight, though, is that President Trump also told NBC News he’s considering raising the universal baseline tariff from the 10 percent level where it has been since April to 15 or even 20 percent. So that would mean everything U.S. companies and consumers buy from abroad would cost at a minimum an extra 20 percent in the form of tariffs.
And if I can take just a step back, this week began with the president postponing that major July 9th deadline for the country-specific tariffs to kick in. It looked like a potential softening of his trade stance or at least a delay. But since then, we’ve seen these new tariff threats for Canada and Brazil. Neither of them were facing the deadline before. A 50% tariff on copper, a potential 200% tariff on pharmaceuticals, and now a possible doubling of the baseline tariff.
So guys, a vast expansion of the trade war on multiple fronts just in the past few days.
JOE KERNEN: And enough to knock the market, I guess, off its balance a little bit, at least, for today. But as we said, half percent moves after new highs yesterday in the S&P and NASDAQ. So time will tell.
MEGAN CASELLA: Everybody’s waiting to see what happens.
JOE KERNEN: August 1st is coming, I can guarantee you that.
Watch above via CNBC’s Squawk Box.
