This wave of Trump tariffs is likely here to stay; more are coming

U.S. President Donald Trump had no time for lengthy tariff investigations when he returned to office last year, wanting to hammer trading partners right away to wring concessions, Reuters reported.

What followed was a chaotic start to a ​trade agenda that was eventually upended by a stinging Supreme Court defeat this year. Now he and his team are moving into a new phase to build a more durable U.S. tariff wall using ‌more traditional and court-tested trade laws, those he had little patience for 18 months ago.

His latest global tariff salvo — duties of 10% or 12.5% on 60 countries over allegedly weak enforcement of forced-labor bans — marks the first of numerous tariff actions to be unveiled in the months ahead. They include probes into excess industrial capacity, alleged intellectual property theft by Vietnam, and national security protections for strategic industries from semiconductors to robotics and industrial machinery.

We're at the end of the beginning of the Trump tariff agenda," said Dan Ujczo, associate general counsel at Canadian oil producer Cenovus Energy, who specializes in U.S.-Canada trade. "Within the next few weeks, and certainly by the end of the summer, we will see large parts of President Trump's trade policy fully in effect."

This could bring more clarity and certainty for businesses on Trump's ultimate tariff structure, along with dread in foreign trade ministries that they may have to cough up more concessions to protect access to a $3.4 trillion U.S. ⁠import market.