VoxTalks Economics S9 Ep6: What's next for Trump’s tariffs?
Jan 23, 2026
In this engaging discussion, Richard Baldwin, an economist at IMD Business School and founder of VoxEU, teams up with Princeton's Gene Grossman to dissect the evolving narrative of Trump’s tariffs. Baldwin highlights the shift from rules-based trade to a geopolitical battleground, while Grossman explores legal battles and the rationale behind the tariffs. The duo also tackles the implications of waning US trade leadership and the potential consequences for the WTO, revealing the fragility of the global trade system.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
April 2nd Broke Trade Leadership
- On April 2nd Trump didn't start a trade war, he started a war on trade that broke America's trade commitments.
- Richard Baldwin says this action ended U.S. stewardship of the global rules-based trading system.
Tariffs As Political Signaling
- The tariffs are largely political signaling targeted at the MAGA base rather than coherent economic policy.
- Baldwin argues the tariffs aim to reassure a suffering middle class while limiting price impacts through exemptions.
China's Precision Counterpunch
- China's retaliation used targeted export controls on rare earth magnets as a precision weapon, not broad tariffs.
- Baldwin highlights these permits' threat effect and asymmetric power compared with U.S. carpet-bomb tariff approach.
