Trump’s Tariffs by Whim Keep Allies and Markets Off Balance

When the White House finally released the text of Mr. Trump’s orders on Thursday evening, it appeared that some of the tariffs — those covered in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that Mr. Trump negotiated and celebrated in his first term — were indeed permanently suspended. Other tariffs were merely paused.

Most everyone involved was confused, which may well have been the point.

As Mr. Trump hands down tariff determinations and then pulls them back for a month or so, world leaders call to plead their case, a bit like vassal states appealing to a larger power. Chief executives put in calls as well, making it clear that Mr. Trump is the one you need to deal with if you are bringing in car parts from Canada or chips from China.

And the president responds, as if he is granting reprieves, though not pardons. If, in a usual presidency, tariffs are debated by layers of experts and aides, their potential impact weighed with care, in the Trump White House the determinations are part whim, part weave, part pique. Explanations for what triggered the imposition of tariffs shift, and decisions to delay or suspend them are not accompanied by detailed rationales. Mr. Trump himself says he makes the call based on his latest conversations.

“This was a short-term deal,” he told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon, when asked about his calls the previous day with top executives of American car makers. “They came back to me yesterday. They said, ‘Could we have some help on the tariffs because of the speed?’ And I said, ‘Look, I’m going to do it, but that’s it.’ They’ll come back to me after the second. April 2.”

He quickly added: “I don’t want to hear from you after April 2.”

Whether he will hold firm is once again an open question. It may depend on the markets, or whether more industry pronouncements come like the one Target’s chief executive, Brian Cornell, made this week, before the latest tariff shift. The retail chain leader said customers looking for avocados and lettuce and other staples would “likely see price increases over the next couple days.”