CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar is bracing viewers for the impact of President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs and warned during a panel discussion Tuesday that the U.S. is only “at the very early days” of this policy — with the worst ramifications yet to come.
“What I hear from investors across the board, is folks going to short-term assets, folks going to safety havens,” Foroohar said on “NewsNight with Abby Phillip.” “There’s also, I think, pain in the markets that we haven’t seen yet. Let me point out something is under-covered.”
“People were selling off gold, and they were selling off treasuries — they don’t generally sell things like that in a panic,” she explained. “That means that they’re trying to cover losses and stem blood flow from other problems that we don’t see yet in the market.”
Trump dubbed April 2 “Liberation Day” and announced a sweeping 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the U.S. He claims the approach is forcing foreign nations to negotiate new trade agreements, while economists warn of sky-high price hikes for American consumers.
“We are at the very early days of this,” Foroohar warned Tuesday. “And so, to take it lightly, to say, ‘Oh everybody’s gonna come in line and things are gonna be fine?’ Very, very naive. Not to mention what China’s gonna do, which we can get to.”
China has been hit with the highest tariffs of all, as Trump imposed an additional 34% tariff on all Chinese exports to the U.S. last week on top of the initial 20% tariff. China responded with a reciprocal 34% tariff on U.S. imports, prompting Trump to threaten another 50% tariff.
The latter went into effect Wednesday, raising U.S. tariffs on China to a whopping 104%.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
World leaders responded both bluntly and diplomatically to Trump’s initial announcement last week. Global markets have been intermittently reeling ever since, however, with even major Trump backers such as Elon Musk now questioning Trump’s supposed strategy.
Foroohar argued Tuesday that Trump had “a golden opportunity” to build on the economic policies of his first administration, but that he “threw the entire chessboard up” instead and destroyed trust in the U.S. — which Foroohar says the country will need to forge ahead.
“You can’t do it alone,” she continued. “There’s horse trading going on not just between the U.S. and other countries, but China and Europe and all the other countries around the world that are thinking, ‘We can’t trust this guy.’ That’s not a way to get to a new system.”
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Watch the full CNN panel discussion below: