CNBC senior economics reporter Steve Liesman on Tuesday called Donald Trump’s whiplash actions on tariffs “insane.”
“I’m going to say this at risk of my job,” Liesman acknowledged on The Exchange. “But what President Trump is doing is insane. It is absolutely insane. It is about the eighth reason we’ve had for the tariffs.”
Liesman then mentioned how Trump earlier in the day initially announced a hike in tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel.
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“And now he’s saying he’s putting 50 percent tariffs on Canada unless they agree to become the 51st state. That is insane! There is just no other way of describing it,” Liesman told anchor Kelly Evans.
Hours later, Trump ultimately backed down from his latest tariff threat, though the administration is still on track to raise tariffs for global imports of those products to 25 percent. Last week, tariffs were paused just 48 hours after Trump had put them on.
Liesman contrasted this Trump administration with the first, in which “there were people around him who seemed to—I don’t know what the word is—but smooth over some of the edges.”
This time around, things are different, he said.
“The other thing that’s not talked about, Kelly, is what’s going on within the administration in terms of how they’re treating the Constitution and laws. I think all of that is bad for the attraction of capital,” Liesman said.
“We need massive amounts of capital if we want to fund our deficits, pay for the things we want to pay for, sell our bonds, and have high stock prices. And it seems as if this administration is doing everything it can to chase foreign capital away,” he continued.
When Evans mentioned the possibility of “insanity as a strategy,” Liesman rejected it.
“Insanity is not a strategy. I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m with you, Kelly, in trying to look for silver linings—”
“Not silver linings. Tactics,” Evans replied.
Liesman said he was willing to accept “some explanation for this other than insanity”—if she could find one.
Instead, Evans moved on with the discussion.
