The Art of the Deal?
Tariff negotiations continued this week with several key countries including Japan, which struck a deal on Tuesday that reduced its tariffs to 15% from President Trump’s initial rate of 25%. The administration emphasized that this deal also included commitments to open the Japanese market to U.S. imports of cars and rice.Markets seem to be viewing deals like this one as a best-case scenario, even if the outcome is still a much higher tariff rate than before Liberation Day. It’s important to emphasize that increasing the rate to 15% is a major policy shift.
With more negotiations ongoing, we expect more deal-making announcements in the next few days. We’ll be keeping a watchful eye on key import-heavy industries and how those companies look to ultimately digest these tariffs.
For more broad commentary on markets, we encourage you to watch our latest Market Outlook Webinar. This video reviews the previous quarter’s investment landscape and major themes we are watching, as well as some of our thinking as we kick off the back half of 2025.
