Tariff Troubles

The latest unsuccessful round of the endless US-China trade negotiations has caused President Trump to announce a new round of 10% tariffs, starting 9/1/19, on the remaining $300 billion of non-tariffed Chinese imports. Commodities, interest rates, and equities tumbled. This surprise announcement makes the probability of another Fed rate cut, to undergird markets, likely. These tariffs will minimally negate most of the benefit from last month’s mildly stimulative budget deal.