27th Tariff Reversal... Market Cynicism over Trump's 'Changing His Words'

Trump Who Said 'No Further Extension,' Postpones Reciprocal Tariffs Again

Return of the 'Coward Trump (TACO)' Taunt

As Donald Trump, President of the United States, postponed the implementation of reciprocal tariffs—previously delayed by 90 days from July 9—to August 1, some observers commented that the phrase 'TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out)' is once again fitting. Until just days ago, he had asserted, 'There will be no further extensions,' but has now contradicted his own statement.

The American business magazine Forbes pointed out that this extension marks the '27th reversal' of the Trump administration's tariff policies, reviewing the track record of policy reversals so far. Forbes reported, 'Deutsche Bank analysts had anticipated the postponement of tariffs and even raised the possibility of additional concessions from the Trump administration,' and added, 'There is growing consensus in the market that the administration will back away from extreme tariff threats.' NBC also reported, 'The market already considered the August 8 deadline irrelevant.'

On the 1st, President Trump was asked if he would extend the reciprocal tariffs and replied, 'No.' However, this time, he sent letters indicating new tariff rates to 14 countries, officially setting the implementation date to August 1. Again, at the White House on the 7th (local time), when asked if the August 1 deadline was firm, he said, 'I'm firm, but I won't say 100%,' and added, 'If they (the negotiating counterparties) call and say they want to take a different approach, we're open to that.'

Im Da-yeon, reporter allopen@hankyung.com