Commentary: Trump will induce a severe recession to save his public image

“Putting aside all the rhetoric, Trump's tariffs are deeply self-defeating for the US. Other countries are struggling to find responses because the tariffs are illogical to achieve the nationalist goals which the Trump administration has set as its aims, including more American manufacturing. For example, building up American manufacturing capacity will require significant amounts of copper wire, but with the new copper tariff, the costs of building that needed infrastructure just went up by 50%.

"With the copper tariff increase, tariff levels are already higher than in the Great Depression. Trump can send letters and threaten other countries, but because of his actions in April everyone thinks he will back down because he doesn't want to induce a severe recession. The danger now Trump will have to follow through with his rhetoric to maintain his credibility: he will induce a severe recession to save his public image."