The Trump administration’s trade policy continues to evolve — or unravel, depending on your perspective. The weekend saw a flurry of conflicting messages around exemptions for electronics like iPhones and semiconductors. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick first denied any exemptions, suggesting those items are part of a separate, yet-to-be-finalized tariff bucket. At first, it seemed like he’d gone rogue, but Trump quickly backed him up. So the takeaway is this: those high-profile Chinese imports are not exempt, they’re just being handled differently. That’s the clearest answer we have in a sea of confusion.
And that confusion isn’t just among journalists or pundits. It extends to the administration itself. One minute you have Peter Navarro on Meet the Press arguing these tariffs are a long-standing, clearly laid-out policy. The next, you have others scrambling to explain why specific industries weren’t mentioned in the official lists. The truth? No one seems entirely sure of the roadmap. What we do know is this: if inflation rises or job numbers dip, it’ll be a direct hit on Trump. But if things stabilize — or better yet, improve — he gets to claim victory for confronting China and defending American manufacturing. It’s only a matter of what plays out from here.
Enter Stephen A. Smith.
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