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Trump’s proposed tariff increases would boost inflation by nearly 1%, Goldman Sachs estimates

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President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the U.S.-Mexico border on August 22, 2024 south of Sierra Vista, Arizona. 

Rebecca Noble | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The latest tariff proposal from President-elect Donald Trump would likely put upward pressure on inflation in the United States, according to Goldman Sachs.

On Monday, Trump said on social media site Truth Social that he would impose an additional 10% tariff on goods from China and a 25% duty for Canada and Mexico. Goldman chief economist Jan Hatzius said in a note that the proposed levies would result in a notable increase for consumer prices in the U.S..

“Using our rule of thumb that every 1 [percentage point] increase in the effective tariff rate would raise core PCE prices by 0.1%, we estimate that the proposed tariff increases would boost core PCE prices by 0.9% if implemented,” Hatzius said.

“PCE” refers to the personal consumption expenditures price index. The core PCE, which strips out food and energy prices, is the preferred inflation reading of the Federal Reserve.

A tariff-linked increase in core PCE could scramble the calculations around Fed rate cuts. The October PCE reading is due out on Wednesday, and it’s expected to show a year-over-year increase of 2.8% for core, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones. In other words, inflation is still above the Fed’s target of 2%, and the tariffs could widen that gap.

Traders have been dialing back their expectations for Fed rate cuts in 2025, though it is unclear how much of that is due to election results versus a resilient U.S. economy. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said the central bank will consider the impact of tariffs and other fiscal policy changes on the direction of inflation once the details become clear.

To be sure, it remains to be seen whether the tariffs will actually be implemented at the levels Trump proposed — or what exceptions might be made. The President-elect suggested in his social media post that the tariffs were conditional on changes to immigration policy and drug enforcement, specifically fentanyl. Some of Trump’s advisors and supporters have characterized the tariffs he proposed during the campaign as a bargaining position rather than a set policy.

Hatzius, for his part, said it seems more likely that Canada and Mexico would avoid across-the-board tariffs than China.

The three countries in question account for 43% of U.S. goods imports, and the tariffs would result in slightly less than $300 billion in revenue annually, according to Goldman Sachs calculations.

Economics

Trump wastes no time in reigniting trade wars

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Donald Trump has fired the first shot. Goods arriving in America from Canada and Mexico will meet tariffs of 25% as soon as he returns to the White House, the president-elect announced on November 25th. Mr Trump also said that he would also impose additional 10% tariffs on Chinese goods. With two months to go before his inauguration, the promise is rippling through financial markets. Mr Trump is not wasting any time in seeking to exert America’s influence.

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Democratic states are preparing for Donald Trump’s return

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ON A RECENT episode of “Politickin’”—Gavin Newsom’s podcast in which he tries to convince listeners that he is their totally normal podcast bro bestie—the Democratic governor of California muses about how his state will react to Donald Trump’s inauguration. “He’s got all the power in the world, but we’re not some small isolated state and we’re not going to be navel-gazing either,” says Mr Newsom. “We’re going to be firm and we’re going to be aggressive.” To this end, he has called a special session of the state legislature to convene on December 2nd in order to “safeguard California values”. One of the governor’s co-hosts, a former NFL running-back, Marshawn Lynch, wonders aloud whether the governor would like to “slap the shit out of” Mr Trump.

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Markets cheer Bessent’s credentials to lead Trump’s Treasury department

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Scott Bessent, founder and chief executive officer of Key Square Group LP, during an interview in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 7, 2024. 

Stefani Reynolds | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The U.S. stock market appeared to cheer President-elect Donald Trump’s presumptive nominee for Treasury secretary, who told CNBC earlier this month that he sees an era of strong growth and lower inflation ahead.

Stock market futures rose and Treasury yields tumbled early Monday following the announcement late Friday that Trump would pick Scott Bessent, a familiar Wall Street figure, to take on his administration’s most important economic role.

The move sent a message that Trump wants someone with strong market credentials as well as a similar philosophy for the role.

“This pick should please markets given Bessent’s in-depth understanding of financial markets and the economy – in particular the bond market the Trump administration will need to keep on [its] side if it is to advance its agenda successfully,” Sarah Bianchi, chief strategist of international political affairs and public policy and other colleagues at Evercore ISI wrote in a note.

Bianchi added that markets “couldn’t have done much better” than Bessent.

Since Trump’s victory earlier this month, in which he also carried a red wave that flipped the Senate to Republicans and retained GOP control of the House, markets have been mostly positive albeit volatile. In particular, bond yields have scaled higher, with some interpreting the move as anticipating another leg up for inflation while others see it as traders pricing in stronger growth.

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In a CNBC interview the day after Trump’s victory, and before the announcement that he would be nominated, Bessent said he expected the new president’s agenda to help bring down inflation while simultaneously stimulating growth.

“The one thing he doesn’t want is a replay of what we’ve just got under Biden-Harris,” Bessent said.

“President Trump has some very good ideas, but I guarantee you, the last thing he wants is to cause inflation,” he added. “I don’t think the bond market is worried about Trump 2.0 inflation. I think what you’re seeing is a healthy move geared toward a growth impetus.”

Scott Bessent on possible Treasury secretary role: I'm going to do whatever Donald Trump asks

Though some investors worry that the tariffs Trump has talked about implementing could cause inflation, Bessent said he favors that they be “layered in” so as not to cause anything more than short-term adjustments.

“If you take that price adjustment coupled with all the other disinflationary things President Trump is talking about, we’re going to be at or below the 2% inflation target” that the Federal Reserve prefers, he said.

Moving in threes

Bessent favors a three-pronged approach that addresses worries over the ballooning national debt and deficits: growing the economy at a 3% rate, knocking down the budget deficit to 3% of gross domestic product — less than half where it stands now — and adding three million barrels a day in oil production.

Wall Street commentary was almost universally positive.

Perpetual market bull Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, noted that “Bessent lends substantial economic and market credibility to the incoming cabinet.”

“In our view, this reinforces the market’s perception of a ‘Trump put’ — that is, the incoming White House wants equities to perform well,” Lee wrote.

Early indications are that Bessent, who had a long history of supporting Democratic causes before backing Trump during his first run in 2016, should face little trouble getting confirmed.

Markets are relieved to see Bessent picked for Treasury Secretary, says Evercore's Sarah Bianchi

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) signaled perhaps some trouble from the political left, saying in a statement over the weekend that Bessent’s “expertise is helping rich investors make more money, not cutting costs for families squeezed by corporate profiteering … I do not know if Mr. Bessent will transfer his loyalty from Wall Street investors to America’s workers, but I am willing to work with anyone to advance the interests of working families.”

However, Washington policy expert Greg Valliere, chief U.S. policy strategist at AGF Investments, said Bessent should “sail to confirmation” and would join current Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Trump intends to nominate as secretary of State, “in the moderate wing of the Cabinet, with support in both parties.”

Bessent “could play could play an important counterbalance to Commerce Secretary nominee, Howard Lutnick, as Trump pursues an aggressive trade agenda,” wrote Ed Mills, Washington policy analyst at Raymond James.

“The more President Trump’s agenda can be achieved through economic growth versus significant budget cuts, we would expect the market to view that as a positive,” Mills said.

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