Now that’s just some plain BS. The market clearly reacted to Trump’s Tariffs. The fact that his administration is trying to deflect blame instead of owning it and explaining it as a temporary pullback in the name of the longer term good (not that I agree with that, but that is the argument he should be making) is stupid on multiple levels.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday the sell-off in the stock market is due more to a sharp pullback in the biggest technology stocks instead of the protectionist policies coming from the Trump administration.

 

“I’m trying to be Secretary of Treasury, not a market commentator. What I would point out is that especially the Nasdaq peaked on DeepSeek day so that’s a Mag 7 problem, not a MAGA problem,” Bessent said on Bloomberg TV Wednesday evening.

Bessent was referring to Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, whose new language models sparked a rout in U.S. technology stocks in late January. The emergence of DeepSeek’s highly competitive and potentially much cheaper models stoked doubts about the billions that the big U.S. tech companies are spending on AI.

 

The so-called Magnificent 7 stocks — Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Nvidia — started selling off drastically, pulling the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite into correction territory. The tech-heavy benchmark is down about 13% from its record high reached on December 16.

 

However, the secretary downplayed the impact from President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs, which caught many investors off guard and fueled fears of a re-acceleration in inflation, slower economic growth and even a recession. Many investors have blamed the tariff rollout for driving the S&P 500 briefly into correction territory from its record reached in late February. Wall Street defines a correction as a drop of 10% from a recent high.

Earlier this year, I was in the market for a new bicycle. An acquaintance and avid cyclist recommended bikesdirect.com to me. After doing some investigating, I ended up buying a new bike on the site. Although the site is spartan, the selection, prices, and customer service were excellent. I was very happy with the experience and really enjoyed my new bike.

Today, I got this email from them:

Here are the notes from the email:

1) Today Several Bicycle Industry Experts Testified in Washington On the Increased Tariff on Complete Bicycles, Bicycle Parts and Accessories

2) 94% of Bicycles Sold in USA are from China, 97% of Kids Bikes are from China (most Bikesdirect Models are Not made in China)

3) Added 25% Tariff on Almost ALL eBikes Goes Into Effect August 23 Thursday. Many eBike Brands Are Increasing Prices Thursday (Example – one popular model going from $3500 MSRP to $5,000 MSRP)

4) Most Bicycle Distributors Are Not Running End of Year Discounts Due to Upcoming Increased Cost of 2019’s.

5) Alternative Factories in Other Countries Currently Booked To Near Capacity (Likely Bicycle Shortages Last Quarter of 2018)

6) NO BICYCLE COMPANY makes enough money to absorb a 25% increase in Cost. (However, Bikesdirect will always price bicycles below anyone in the industry)

7) Bikesdirect Will Strive to Hold Current Sale Prices Until The Bleeding Becomes Too Much To Bear

Tariffs are damaging our economy and costing Americans. If you won’t oppose tariffs because they are poor economic policy, think of the kids! They are all going to get even fatter without affordable bikes.

This is one of the costs of tariffs.

Harley-Davidson plans to shift some motorcycle production away from the US to avoid the “substantial” burden of European Union tariffs.

Last week, the EU imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods, including bourbon, orange juice and motorcycles.

The measures are a response to new US duties on steel and aluminium imports.

Wisconsin-based Harley-Davidson said the increased cost from the tariffs threaten its international sales, which it has been trying to expand.

The company has assembly plants in Australia, Brazil, India and Thailand as well as in the US.

It said it would raise investment in its international plants, though it did not say which ones.

“To address the substantial cost of this tariff burden long-term, Harley-Davidson will be implementing a plan to shift production of motorcycles for EU destinations from the US to its international facilities to avoid the tariff burden,” the company said.