Mazzei Minute 04/10/25

The tariff battles are on. Storm clouds seem to hover over the global economy. There is great wailing and gnashing of teeth. The left-leaning Big Media are stoking the flames of fear by saying a recession is imminent, and short-term investors are selling shares in the stock market.

As usual, the Big Media has it all wrong. But even the Wall Street Journal has fed the fear flames with all sorts of criticism for President Trump. You would think everyone would realize by now that the Trump Administration wants great global trading that is freer and fairer.

You don’t get nations that have been taking advantage of us and stealing great American jobs for decades by asking nicely. “Will you please come talk to us so that we can negotiating terms that are better for us and worse for you?” The only way that our global trading partners will come to the table is to create a sense of urgency and consequences to their own economies.

President Trump instinctively gets this. It is hard to comprehend why everyone else doesn’t.  But whenever you disrupt the apple cart and the status quo, people tend to go bonkers.

Set the fear aside for a minute to see what the Trump tariffs actually did. Many people panicked. Our global trading partners picked up the phone. According to Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, 75 countries are already lining up to negotiate new terms, and Japan was offered first place in the que.

The stern message with tough ramifications was delivered and received. Now, the President declared a 90-day pause to give our trading partners a chance to negotiate in good faith.  The Trump White House wisely understands that the United States has a strong position in these negotiations because these other countries need access to our consumers much more than we need access to theirs. 

I, for one, am optimistic that we will witness better trade deals in the near future. Inflation will not likely spike upward. The Republican Congress will probably make the Trump tax cuts permanent. Lower energy prices will save Americans a bundle, and less regulations will free up powerful innovations. Growth will soar. 

Intelligent and properly diversified investors, like me, are using this period of uncertainty and market fluctuations to buy shares in great American companies. You might want to talk to your financial advisor about doing the same.