President Donald Trump was clearly willing to let the stock market melt down after announcing enormous “reciprocal” tariffs on U.S. allies and adversaries alike last week — including levies targeting Antarctic islands inhabited mostly by penguins.
But it was the break in the bond market that likely pushed the White House over the edge, said Marko Kolanovic, formerly the chief global strategist at J.P. Morgan.
Kolanovic told MarketWatch on Tuesday evening that he believed the administration was close to walking back some of the tariffs announced last week. His call proved prescient: On Wednesday afternoon, Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for all countries that hadn’t retaliated against the U.S., while also raising levies on Chinese goods to 125%.