Economist Justin Wolfers predicted “high tariffs for everyone except those who curry favor with the king” and says the lesson is “it’s more important to compete at Mar-a-Lago than in the market.”

The Economist: “In 1990s Japan the worst days of a market crisis brought about a ‘triple yasu’ loss: a fall in stock markets, a rise in bond yields and a declining currency. It is now America that must stomach this noxious combination. Although President Donald Trump’s tariff pause provided a brief respite, the triple yasu has made an unwelcome return…”

“In Japan the triple yasu was associated with national decline. Yet a flight from all American assets represents a far greater loss. That is because the dollar and Treasury bonds are the world’s havens, and the global financial system has been built on the assumption that they are safe.”

“President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff-driven reversal of decades of free trade is creating financial chaos for the very sector it’s meant to rebuild: American manufacturing,” the Washington Post reports.

“Although the full extent of economic damage is still unclear, volatile tariff policies are making it tougher for American companies to make and sell goods, whether they’re producing medical devices in Florida, toys in Ohio or bicycles in California.”

Jerusalem Demsas: “Watching the wild lines of the S&P 500, U.S. Treasury bond yields, and various foreign markets is how I’ve spent most of the past week. This felt familiar; I’d spent much of 2017 doing the same, following the vagaries of the first Trump administration and tracking the markets’ reactions like a nurse checking a patient’s heart rate.”

“But despite that familiarity, this isn’t the same as last time. I actually wish it were. This time, there’s no coming back from this quickly. Whoever is elected the 48th president won’t be able to easily rebuild what Donald Trump is busy destroying. Countries can and will move on without the United States. Their firms will establish new supply chains and pursue other markets. Even if the U.S. were the ultra-dominant trading partner it used to be, the credibility of the nation’s promises, its treaties, its agreements, and even its basic rationality has evaporated in just weeks.”

A new CBS News/YouGov poll shows that a majority of Americans believe Trump’s trade policies will result in higher prices, while voters are split on whether the president has a plan going forward.

Key takeaway: 42% said they favor the new U.S. tariffs on imported goods, while 58% oppose.

Also: 75% said the tariffs will increase prices in the short term. In the long term, 48% said they’ll raise prices, 30% said they’ll decrease prices, and 22% said there was no impact or they were unsure.

Trump’s approval is upside down at 47% to 53%.

Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, told NBC News that President Trump’s economic agenda could lead to a “breaking down of the monetary order” as he ramps up tariffs on China.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the administration’s decision to exempt a range of electronic devices from tariffs implemented earlier this month was only a temporary reprieve, with the secretary announcing that those items would be subject to “semiconductor tariffs” that will likely come in “a month or two,” ABC News reports.

Wall Street Journal: “Since President Trump took office, economists have dramatically slashed estimates for growth while raising them for inflation and unemployment.”

“The main reason, according to respondents to The Wall Street Journal’s quarterly survey of economists: tariffs.”

“When the Journal last surveyed economists, from Jan. 10 to 14, they were unsure about many aspects of Trump’s policies, including tariffs, immigration restrictions and tax cuts. But they had to weigh that uncertainty against an economy that had consistently outperformed expectations.”

“The shift in economists’ outlook reflects that Trump is pushing his trade policies further than almost anyone imagined three months ago.”

President Trump exempted smartphones, computers and other electronics from its so-called reciprocal tariffs, potentially cushioning consumers from sticker shock while benefiting electronics giants including Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., Bloomberg reports.

Financial Times: Trump excludes smartphones from reciprocal tariffs.

“Chinese President Xi Jinping has no shortage of pressure points to ensure Americans feel the pain from President Trump’s superpower trade war,” Axios reports.

“China on Friday increased its tariffs to an eye-watering 125% in response to Trump’s 145% levies. And ever since trade war 1.0, Beijing has also been developing a wider array of tools that it’s now putting to use.”

Wall Street Journal: “The surcharges are a way to pass some tariff costs to customers while pointing the blame at the White House.”

“Americans turned much more pessimistic about the economy in April as President Trump’s trade war gained steam, according to a closely watched survey of consumer sentiment,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The University of Michigan’s consumer-sentiment index, released Friday, nosedived to 50.8 in April from 57 last month. Sentiment has been falling steadily throughout 2025. Expectations for inflation also hit the highest level in 44 years, according to the survey.”

“Sentiment is now at its second-lowest level in history, according to the survey.”

“Wall Street executives Friday warned President Trump’s tariffs were sending the U.S. economy into the unknown and that the uncertainty was already hurting consumers and companies alike,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Axios: Wall Street execs sound warnings on economic outlook.

Playbook: “It’s clear now that the bond market freakout that inspired Trump’s 90-day pause in the tariffs isn’t over.”

“Also clear: All of this presents an enormous political opening for Democrats, who, in an act of jiu-jitsu, may be able to use economic performance — arguably Trump’s greatest political strength and inarguably the key to his 2024 victory — into his most potent liability.”

Third Way polled the top performing message to use: “Trump promised he would lower prices and cut taxes for ordinary Americans, but his policies are leading to rising prices and plummeting retirement accounts, and they risk pushing the U.S. into a recession.” 

Jonathan Last: “The United States economy has been the center of global finance for 80 years for one simple reason: Year in and year out, we have been the safest place to do business. The ground rules remained constant and when they changed around the margins, they did so slowly and transparently.”

“Investing money is always risky—but America had the lowest level of risk on the planet. Our government, legal system, and business community worked hard to make that happen and the rewards we reaped for it were tremendous.”

“Donald Trump destroyed 80 years of that work over the last week. America is now a risky place to do business. A place where the rules change from day to day. Where no business can trust in the sturdiness of its long-term plans or count on its revenue projections even for the next quarter.”

“This abstract problem is going to create real-world economic hardship.”

Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said President Trump’s shifting tariff policy has increased the odds the U.S. will enter into a recession, the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Yellen said the Trump administration’s tariff policies could cost the average U.S. household $4,000 a year.”

Said Yellin: “This is the worst self-inflicted wound that I have ever seen an administration impose on a well-functioning economy.”