00:00Today on Forbes, Trump Taco Tracker, here are the president's 28 tariff flip-flops.
00:08The month since President Donald Trump's April so-called Liberation Day tariff announcement
00:13have been defined by the constant reversals, with Trump's decision to extend his tariff
00:18pause until August, just the latest in a long string of about-faces, defended by some as
00:24negotiating genius and ridiculed by others as sowing chaos and uncertainty. Trump's frequent
00:30flip-flopping on tariffs, especially after the markets get spooked, has earned him the nickname
00:35of, quote, Taco Trump on Wall Street, which stands for Trump Always Chickens Out. Here's a list of the
00:42first 10 flip-flops of 28 total so far. All of these 10 happened within the first month.
00:48Flip-flop number one. On April 2nd, Trump formally rolled out his Liberation Day tariff
00:53policy at the White House, imposing sweeping tariffs on nearly all countries, and reversing
00:59course on earlier pledges he made about them, exempting, quote, copper, pharmaceuticals,
01:04semiconductors, lumber articles, certain critical minerals, and energy and energy products,
01:10despite the White House previously claiming there would be no carve-outs.
01:15Flip-flop number two. The final Liberation Day tariffs also weren't fully, quote,
01:20reciprocal tariffs that matched the rate each country charges for U.S. imports, as Trump had
01:25promised. The president instead said, quote, the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal, because,
01:32quote, it would have been tough for a lot of countries, and we didn't want to do that.
01:37Flip-flop number three. After promising the tariff rates would be calculated using a sophisticated
01:42formula based on both existing tariffs and non-tariff barriers with each country,
01:47experts determined the final Liberation Day rates were instead calculated by just dividing a country's
01:53trade surplus with the U.S. by its export value. Flip-flop number four. On April 3rd, hours after
02:00Trump's trade advisor, Peter Navarro, claimed on CNBC the administration's tariff rates were, quote,
02:06not a negotiation, Trump told reporters he was open to making deals with other countries, quote,
02:11as long as they're giving us something that's good. Flip-flop number five. From April 4th to 7th,
02:19Trump and his advisors offered shifting views over whether or not the administration was open to
02:24negotiating tariff rates with other countries, with the president saying on Truth Social that his
02:29tariffs, in all caps, quote, will never change, shortly before advisors suggested other countries
02:35were reaching out to begin trade talks. The president later claimed April 7th that, quote,
02:40both can be true, end quote, there can be permanent tariffs and there can also be negotiations.
02:47Flip-flop number six. On April 9th, Trump unexpectedly paused the worst of his Liberation
02:53Day tariffs for 90 days, just hours after they took effect and caused the stock market to plunge,
02:59keeping only a baseline 10% rate and higher Chinese tariffs in place, despite previously claiming he
03:05would not delay the tariffs. Flip-flop number seven. Trump also almost immediately contradicted
03:12claims by his advisors that delaying the tariffs was his plan all along, as the president told
03:17reporters he only made the decision that morning after, quote, people were jumping a little bit out
03:22of line, end quote, getting yippee. Flip-flop number eight. On April 11th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
03:30issued guidance exempting smartphones, computers, and other electronic devices from the tariffs,
03:36despite repeated claims from Trump and advisors like Howard Lutnick that they wanted that manufacturing
03:41to move to the U.S. Flip-flop number nine. On April 13th, Trump then denied there was any exemption
03:48on electronics, claiming on Truth Social, quote, there was no tariff exception announced on Friday,
03:54and that the tariffs on smartphones and other goods are, quote, just moving to a different tariff bucket.
03:58This, even as others in his administration had already described the guidance as an exemption.
04:06Flip-flop number 10. On April 22nd, after previously claiming he was, quote, comfortable
04:11with the 145% tariff rate he imposed on Chinese imports, Trump told reporters he was planning to
04:17lower that number, saying he didn't want to play, quote, hardball with China, and the rate would,
04:22quote, come down substantially, but it won't be zero.
04:25For full coverage, and to see the rest of the 28 Trump tariff flip-flops up until now,
04:31check out Alison Durkee's piece on Forbes.com.
04:36This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.
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