Despite the pause, America’s tariffs are the worst ever trade shock

The announcement on April 9th that America would pause sky-high reciprocal tariffs sent stockmarkets soaring around the world. Countries that had faced crippling levies, such as Cambodia and Vietnam, celebrated. But do not lose sight of the bigger picture. The announcement excludes China, leaves in place all earlier tariffs and implements the universal 10% minimum portion of the reciprocal tariff. America’s “effective tariff rate”—total tariffs paid as a share of total imports—may still rise by 15-20 percentage points. Even after the about-face, the incoming levies represent the most disruptive policy in the history of global trade.