From Paul Krugman, some perspective on tariffs I missed in all the noise (and maybe you did too):

Paul Cantrell

❝Trump folded.

…[S]upposedly both Mexico and Canada made some concessions in return for the tariff hold. But there’s really nothing there; neither country is doing anything it wouldn’t have done without the tariff threat.…Trump will spin this as a victory; low-information voters and some intimidated media outlets may go along with the lie. But basically America backed down.

So is Trump the classic bully who runs away when someone stands up to him? It definitely looks that way.❞

AP

@inthehands he essentially backed down with the threats he made to Colombia too, and that was widely reported as a win for him anyway. He said, "accept our planes full of deportees or we'll impose tariffs" to which Colombia responded "we aren't going to accept any planes that have non-Colombian citizens, and we aren't going to accept planes if you are shackling the passengers." and he said "ok fine" - then the media reports "Trump pressures Colombia into accepting planes, what a guy!"

Sadie

@inthehands
Everything I've seen on tariffs (before this) has framed it as a Trump victory.
I'm glad someone says no.

🆘Bill Cole 🇺🇦

@inthehands @lisamelton It’s kayfabe. Distraction from the ongoing coup being run by Musk and to make the remnant Chinese tariffs that don’t get cancelled seem less terrible.

Feznander

@inthehands I think "Trump folded" is one aspect of what happened, but I also think that a core pattern in his M.O. is: declare a crisis, cancel most of the crisis, claim credit for averting the crisis, rake in the concessions. That's a big part of how he degrades reality; each canceled crisis tricks us into accepting some level of damage that never gets undone.

Paul Cantrell

@grumpybozo @lisamelton
Kayfabe, sure, publicity stunt, playing the press — but also a serious attempt to do real damage and create the chaos in which these people thrive. One thing we learned from the first time around with Trump is that none of these are mutually exclusive.

qrazi

@pjandy @inthehands Perhaps the goal was always to have it look like a win, doesn't matter if it factually is... Actually, not having to change anything is even better; do nothing and look like the winner

Daedalean

@inthehands i read that piece. What it looks like to me is that trump has demonstrated he can dictate policy to foreign nations dependent on their US trade relations and get them to comply in exchange for a promise (a promise from fucking trump no less) not to crash their economies for another month. If canada and mexico are smart they’ll use those 30 days to develop other markets for their goods.

Paul Cantrell

@daedalean
That analysis misses this crucial phrase:

“neither country is doing anything it wouldn’t have done without the tariff threat”

The way I read it is he’s willing to create a temporary crisis in order to claim credit for things he didn't do.

Paul Cantrell

“neither country is doing anything it wouldn't have done without the tariff threat”

Daedalean

@inthehands well yeah but we already knew that. It’s like one of his go to moves. But that’s just brand maintenance for his cult. What he got them to promise was redeployment of their security forces to please him. That’s a real thing (assuming they actually do it). Also not something a truly sovereign nation should allow. And again, they got 30 days.

Daedalean

@inthehands there’s a history of trying to negotiate with fascist nationalists. It tends not to end well.