What Trump gets wrong on tariffs, a super-sized ECB rate cut, EV sales vs oil demand and more

Donald Trump says ‘tariff’ is “the most beautiful word in the dictionary”. That’s up for debate – but what’s less arguable is that raising taxes on imports as much as the Republican presidential candidate is threatening would be bad trade policy, according to Group Chief Economist Neil Shearing. 

He’s on the latest episode of The Weekly Briefing from Capital Economics to discuss why tariffs would hurt the US economy and the economies of its key trading partners, all while failing to achieve Trump’s objectives. 

Also on the show, Hamad Hussein from our Climate and Commodities team explains why reports of cooling electric vehicles sales in the US and Europe paint an incomplete demand picture, and what that all means for oil appetite.

Plus, an exclusive extract from our post-ECB client briefing on the Governing Council’s next steps – including whether its last move of the year could be a super-sized rate cut.

Analysis and events referenced in this podcast:

Read: How Trump could erode the US economic advantage in a fractured world
Key Issue: US Election 2024
Read: Why we expect the S&P 500 to soar in 2024
Watch: What will follow another ECB rate cut?
Read: Taking stock of the two-speed electric vehicle rollout
Data: Long-term Energy Scenario Generator