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Dozens of countries will be hit with new, higher tariffs starting today. The experience of recent months shows the levies aren’t bringing the benefits that proponents promised—nor causing the challenges critics feared.
President Trump had described his tariffs as an earthquake that would transform the U.S. economy, pledging that the duties would slash the trade deficit and force manufacturers to move production back to the U.S. Critics had warned tariffs would spark sharp inflation and shortages in stores.
The WSJ’s Jeanne Whalen, Konrad Putzier and Alex Leary write that six months into the experiment, the economy hasn’t crashed. Inflation has ticked up but not soared. Consumers aren’t finding empty shelves. And companies aren’t rushing to reshore, partly because the ever-changing tariff policy has paralyzed decision-making.
New data this week showed the trade deficit narrowed in June to the lowest level since September 2023. But economists say that appeared to be mostly a reversal of a surge in imports before the tariffs kicked in.
Experts note that it is still early days and much remains unclear about the tariff policies. Significantly higher levies on virtually every U.S. trading partner take effect today. A trade truce with China is set to expire next week, while another with Mexico expires in October.
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