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Taking stock of Trump's trade wars, one year after Liberation Day

21 0
03.04.2026

Taking stock of Trump's trade wars, one year after Liberation Day

The scorecard is in and the results aren’t encouraging: Inflation has risen while the U.S. manufacturing sector has shed jobs for 10 months in a row

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

A version of this article originally appeared in Quartz’s Washington newsletter. Sign up here to get the latest business and economic news and insights from Washington straight to your inbox.

One year ago, President Donald Trump ushered in a revolution from the Rose Garden. On April 2, he proclaimed the arrival of “Liberation Day” and described a nation plundered by foreign trade that could only reclaim its riches through double-digit tariffs imposed on almost every country on Earth.

“This will be, indeed, the golden age of America,” Trump said in pushing for the rebirth of American industry. “It's coming back.”

Investors shared neither his confidence nor optimism. Financial markets plunged. A Treasury bond sell-off led to a spike in yields that compelled Trump to pause the reciprocal tariffs for three months. 

In the end, the Supreme Court nixed them, in a case that upheld limits on........

© Quartz