Posted on 05/28/2025 3:23:44 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump wants the world to know he’s no “chicken” just because he’s repeatedly backed off high tariff threats.
The U.S. Republican president’s tendency to levy extremely high import taxes and then retreat has created what’s known as the “TACO” trade, an acronym coined by The Financial Times’ Robert Armstrong that stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” Markets generally sell off when Trump makes his tariff threats and then recover after he backs down.
Trump was visibly offended when asked about the phrase Wednesday and rejected the idea that he’s “chickening out,” saying that the reporter’s inquiry was “nasty.”
“You call that chickening out?” Trump said. “It’s called negotiation,” adding that he sets a “ridiculous high number and I go down a little bit, you know, a little bit” until the figure is more reasonable.
Trump defended his approach of jacking up tariff rates to 145% on Chinese goods, only to pull back to 30% for 90 days of negotiations. He similarly last week threatened to impose a 50% tax on goods from the European Union starting in June, only to delay the tariff hike until July 9 so that negotiations can occur while the baseline 10% tariff continues to be charged. Similar dramas have played out over autos, electronics and the universal tariffs that Trump announced on April 2 that were based in part on individual trade deficits with other countries.
In each case, Trump generally took the stock market on a roller coaster. Investors sold-off when the tariff threats were announced as they implied slower economic growth and higher prices, which would hurt companies’ profits. Stocks then rebounded after Trump stepped back.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the S&P 500 stock index was up slightly so far this year. But the index was down as much as 15%...
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Armstrong and the idiots who follow him haven’t figured out Trump’s negotiating tactics by now.
Exactly. You have to set a number to begin the bargaining.
The left, and a surprising number of people, still think in terms of all black and all white.
I blame the leftists on this inability to tolerate anything that is not simple, absolute, and conforms to a limited focus.
Thinking beyond one or two variables is not possible for many.
As far as Armstrong? Who knows. Part programming genius? Carny Barker supreme?
It seems to be the nations ready to get whacked that all of a sudden want to talk….. Trump always listens.
Too many FR idiots believe it.
“You have to set a number to begin the bargaining.”
************
That’s true, but political timetables, foreign agendas, unpredictable events and even bond vigilantes can complicate things beyond just haggling over numbers.
Which created fantastic buying opportunities for the "smart money".
Thanks for that President Trump.
I appreciate the change in tone and the change in commitment.
What? Trump didn't change anything. It was Zelenskyy who backed down and signed the deal.
But the Democrats have to frame it as "Trump caved" or something.
If a father scowls at a child who misbehaves in order to get the child to behave properly, and then the father softens his tone when the child apologizes and improves, do we say that the father "changed his tone" or did the child make the change?
President Trump didn't "chicken out" on tariffs; he achieved his desired result, so the harsh tariffs were no longer necessary. He can always restore them if the other countries don't follow through with their renegotations.
-PJ
He is not.
But he is an expert at playing "Chicken".
(Look out wannabe players)
He got China to agree to the original tariff rate after he warned them no to retaliate or he would raise them even higher and they retaliated anyway and he raised them even higher.
Please stop being rational. It confuses the fake Trump supporters in FR.
Hope he isn’t playing chicken. America is riding shotgun.
By imposing huge tariffs, Trump has shown our trading partners that the USA wasn't fooling around. The pain level was set high enough to get the partners' attention. Only then will people come to the table. Trump made it clear from the get-go that nothing was set in stone, that there was plenty of room for meaningful negotiations.
Propose, counter-propose, counter-propose, and more, until both sides accept. That's contracting. And, now, trade negotiations.
Corporations don't like it because they want a solid ground, not the heaving and shifting of the playing field that negotiations cause. "Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
The problems is that trade has been broken for a long time.
Wow! Liberals don’t understand economics. This is my shocked face.
Or negotiating for the best deal.
Trump
Always
Cashes
Out
$14 trillion in deals for America (so far)!
Trump is a chicken when it comes to government shutdowns on his watch and the judiciary. Not much else…Big things to be a chicken on though.
Of course he is, and using tariffs as a bargaining tool.
What does that have to do with tariffs?
(or the price of tea in China for that matter)
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