Trump’s tariff announcements leave investors unfazed

U.S. President Donald Trump‘s new blanket tariffs came into force on Tuesday — but investors appear to be shrugging the changes off, with one analyst telling CNBC there were “bigger issues.”

Trump announced over the weekend a new, blanket 15% global levy on imports to the U.S. The president initially announced plans to impose a 10% duty on global imports, before saying that the rate would rise “to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level.”

The announcement came after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s country-specific tariffs — a source of major market volatility when they were first unveiled by the White House last April.

Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act empowers the president to implement tariffs of up to 15% for up to 150 days.

Trump said in a Truth Social post that any country that wants to “play games” with the Supreme Court decision “will be met with a much higher tariff.”

Despite Trump saying there would 15% tariffs, the new levies came into effect at 10% on Tuesday. A customs notice from U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the temporary Section 122 duties meant “an additional 10% ad valorem duty on imported articles of every country for a period of 150 days, unless specifically exempt.”

In Europe, equity markets were muted, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 rising above the flatline after initially notching losses at the open. Stocks reacted negatively on Monday to Trump’s fresh tariff talk over the weekend, but the moves were a far cry from the Continent’s deep sell-off after the president’s first “liberation day” tariff announcements in April.

“I think people are now used to his little explosions,” Paul Skinner, investment director in the London office of Wellington Management, told CNBC on a call, saying the market reaction was an example of the “TACO” or “Trump Always Chickens Out” trade.

The phrase refers to the president’s history of threatening levies, only to ease, delay or cancel them. After Trump backed down on his “liberation day” announcements, markets were more muted in response to later U.S. trade policy announcements.

Wellington has long held the view that U.S. tariffs will drift lower over time — and Skinner said Tuesday that this view had not changed in light of the latest announcements. The global asset manager sees the general tariff rate falling to around 9% by year’s end.

“I don’t think there’s anything really market moving in what’s happened … there’s no surprises,” he said. Skinner added that tensions over Iran were capturing more attention than “the path of tariffs, which I think is heading very much the way people were assuming.”

Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region also lacked direction on Tuesday as investors digested tariffs. U.S. stocks were slightly up shortly…