I will admit to a man-crush on Fernando. This is on the money if I feel like expressing an opinion on the last week. Spoiler alert – what the hell are we doing?

US tariffs: an act of lunacy

Fernando del Pino Calvo Sotelo
April 8, 2025

The unilateral imposition of exorbitant tariffs by the Trump Administration is probably the biggest economic mistake inflicted by an American government on its own citizens since FDR’s time and the biggest threat to global economic well-being in recent decades.

Some believe that this is just another blustering display by the US president, a mere negotiating posture. According to this view, the US would return to the previous status quo after obtaining some concessions.

Unfortunately, all evidence suggests that this will not be the case. From Trump’s own obsessions (he called himself “Tariff Man”) and the estimates provided by the Treasury Secretary, it appears that the US will end up permanently imposing an average tariff rate on goods of between 10% and 20%, compared to the current 2.2%.

It is likely that, in the coming days, agreements will be publicized for propaganda purposes with countries that maintain high tariffs (such as India) or that depend militarily on the US (such as Japan or Israel), agreements that Trump will sell as a success, giving the impression of having acted astutely. However, all this will only be a smokescreen that will hide the paradigm shift that has taken place.

A return to protectionism
In short, we are not facing a new show from the US president, but the resurgence of a protectionism that will cause lasting damage to international trade relations, a temporary fall in living standards across the planet and an increased risk of geopolitical and, perhaps, military conflict. Why do I give it more relevance than other observers?

Firstly, Trump did not sign the executive order on tariffs in the Oval Office without much fanfare, but instead organized a…

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