The Trump administration slapped tariffs on fifty-nine countries. A "handful" of G20 countries rejected the U.S. stance on excess industrial capacity. The vast majority agreed.
The G20 has twenty members. If a handful rejected it and the vast majority agreed, we're looking at maybe three or four countries who told the U.S. to go f*ck itself. That leaves sixteen or seventeen nodding along like good little trade partners who definitely won't retaliate six months from now.
Imagine being one of those fifty-nine countries. You wake up. Check your phone. Ten percent tariff. You're Croatia. You export like four hundred million dollars of goods to the U.S. annually. Mostly plumbing fixtures and frozen fish. The Trump administration looked at your economy and said "excess industrial capacity." Your entire manufacturing sector is three guys named Marko.
The best part is retail traders will read this headline and think it matters. They'll open their Robinhood app. Check the VanEck Emerging Markets ETF. Down point-three percent. Must be the tariffs. Must be the G20. Must be something they can trade around if they just read one more Bloomberg article.
It's not. It never is.
The rejection from the vast majority means nothing happened. Countries issued statements. Diplomats used the word "concerning" in three languages. Someone from the German finance ministry said "multilateralism" into a microphone. The market moved based on whether Jerome Powell scratched his left ear or his right ear during a photo op, not because Slovenia has thoughts on trade policy.
Fifty-nine countries got tariffs and only a handful of G20 members objected, which tells you exactly how much every other country values taking a stand versus keeping their mouth shut and selling Treasury bonds.
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