E.J. Antoni

Honestly, it feels a bit of an overreach to call it a deal. This is basically rolling back some but not all of the escalation in terms of tariff rates that we've seen for the last several weeks since April 2nd. And it essentially is an agreement not so much to do anything concrete but to continue talking. So, again, that's a step in the right direction.

I don't mean to poo-poo it and say this represents no progress whatsoever. I just don't want to overstate the case and make people think that this is somehow tremendous progress and we have anywhere near the same kind of deal that we do with the UK, for example.

I don't mean to poo-poo it and say this represents no progress whatsoever. I just don't want to overstate the case and make people think that this is somehow tremendous progress and we have anywhere near the same kind of deal that we do with the UK, for example.

Yeah, I think that's a very good way to put it.

Yeah, I think that's a very good way to put it.

Well, it's certainly going to be good for the consumer in the short run. But when we talk to producers, in other words, when we talk to businesses, what we find, Regardless whether they're small or large businesses, the exact same thing. They're all really struggling with the volatility that tariffs have created.

Well, it's certainly going to be good for the consumer in the short run. But when we talk to producers, in other words, when we talk to businesses, what we find, Regardless whether they're small or large businesses, the exact same thing. They're all really struggling with the volatility that tariffs have created.

And it's not simply that we're having a discussion about tariffs or that tariffs were put in place. It's that the tariff rates have not been consistent. They have not been steady. They've gone up. They've gone down. So this on-again, off-again movement has essentially made it impossible for a lot of folks to do business. So that's created, unfortunately, again, a lot of turmoil.

And it's not simply that we're having a discussion about tariffs or that tariffs were put in place. It's that the tariff rates have not been consistent. They have not been steady. They've gone up. They've gone down. So this on-again, off-again movement has essentially made it impossible for a lot of folks to do business. So that's created, unfortunately, again, a lot of turmoil.

And we hope to have that resolved in the coming weeks as we get concrete deals and then as we get them ratified in the Senate.

And we hope to have that resolved in the coming weeks as we get concrete deals and then as we get them ratified in the Senate.

Yeah, this is actually particularly good news, what we're seeing with a lot of these nations in the Middle East, where they are essentially going to be pouring investment into this country. This is where we've got to remember the capital surplus is the flip side of the trade deficit.

Yeah, this is actually particularly good news, what we're seeing with a lot of these nations in the Middle East, where they are essentially going to be pouring investment into this country. This is where we've got to remember the capital surplus is the flip side of the trade deficit.

For literally every year except for seven from colonial times through 1870, that was the arrangement that the United States essentially had with the rest of the world, where we were buying more from abroad than they bought from us, but they were investing much more here than we were investing abroad.

For literally every year except for seven from colonial times through 1870, that was the arrangement that the United States essentially had with the rest of the world, where we were buying more from abroad than they bought from us, but they were investing much more here than we were investing abroad.

And that not only created those investments, that is, here in the United States, not only created revenue streams, in other words, future income for foreigners, but it also created future income for folks here in the United States, whether that was an American investor or the American worker.

And that not only created those investments, that is, here in the United States, not only created revenue streams, in other words, future income for foreigners, but it also created future income for folks here in the United States, whether that was an American investor or the American worker.

Let's start with that. A lot of that has to do with the fact that Trump has been very successful in slowing the rate of increase in terms of government spending. We saw, for example, with the first GDP report that government purchases actually declined in the first three months of this year compared to the last three months of 2024. That's great news. Doge is working. It's having an effect.

Let's start with that. A lot of that has to do with the fact that Trump has been very successful in slowing the rate of increase in terms of government spending. We saw, for example, with the first GDP report that government purchases actually declined in the first three months of this year compared to the last three months of 2024. That's great news. Doge is working. It's having an effect.

But at the same time, the government has also been up against the debt ceiling. And so even the spending that they've been doing, they haven't been able to borrow. They've been having to go through cash at the Treasury. They're down about $500 billion or so. So that means that essentially the government is not only spending less, but they're borrowing less.