r/Export

“This will be indeed the golden age of America,” President Donald Trump proclaimed on April 2, 2025, better known as Liberation Day. On that day, the president lauded tariffs as a way to “make America wealthy again.”

Americans invested in the market lost about 10% of their wealth as the market reeled with one of the worst short-term crashes in recent memory, with the Dow shedding nearly 4,600 points as it tumbled 11% over four days. The tariff regime was rolled back, then reinstated bit by bit, then ruled illegal, but tariffs fueled inflation all the while.

That was just the appetizer, according to Mark Zandi. “The higher energy and other commodity prices caused by the war threaten to do even more economic damage than the tariffs, further undermining growth and pushing inflation higher,” the Moody’s Analytics chief economist said in a post on X.

Americans are facing a barrage of economic headwinds. Many employers have paused hiring, adopting a wait-and-see approach thanks to Trump’s tariffs. A growing number of tech firms have cut workers in the wake of AI adoption. Inflation also remains hard to tame, down from a high of 9.1% in July 2022, though stubbornly above pre-pandemic levels.

But while many economists predicted at the beginning of 2026, the tariff-related headwinds would begin to relent, the Iran war threw a wrench in those plans. Inflation is now trending upward as a result of the energy shock stemming from the war. And Zandi predicts job growth will stagnate, developing a noxious combination of higher inflation and slow growth.

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