| One month and 11 days. That's all it took for President Donald Trump to seemingly forget about "Liberation Day." Starting on May 14, US and Chinese tariffs will be reduced to far less scary percentages — err, Smoot-Hawley levels — for 90 days. At least the economists are laughing again: Although far from conclusive, John Authers says the temporary truce with China "provided an excuse for another jamboree in risk assets." One such asset — Tesla — added about $65 billion of market value on Monday morning thanks to the good vibes out of Washington, writes Liam Denning. What a thoughtful parting gift to Elon Musk: Despite the electric vehicle maker's re-entry into the 13 Figure Club, Liam says "Tesla's core business has stopped growing," a fact that actually predates Trump's ill-advised trade war. Still, plenty of others have suffered in spades because of the tariffs. From her perch in Asia, Shuli Ren says the pause is "a huge relief for small businesses and millions of workers on both sides of the Pacific," but there's always the risk that the 90-day truce won't hold. In China, livelihoods are on the line: "About 16 million jobs could be at risk thanks to Trump's tariffs," she writes (free read). In the states, tariff whiplash is wreaking havoc on small companies, which account for 80% of job openings in the US. "For them, switching production to other countries such as India is an impossible ordeal," she explains. "If Trump's 145% tariff lingers, they will have to lay off workers."  Even if the rollback turns into something solid, Andrea Felsted fears consumers won't be quick to forget this period of economic uncertainty: "The disruption will take time to work its way out of the system," she says (free read). "Take toys. Many should have been manufactured by now. Even if production restarts immediately, Santa might not be bringing some items. The bigger risk is a tsunami of goods arriving in mid-market department stores when they're no longer welcome; heavier-weight spring jackets and knitwear, for example, after temperatures have already risen as summer approaches." If that rings a bell, it's because Andrea says, that's what happened in 2022 when supply chain struggles led to a mountain of Covid-era inventory that stores were forced to discount. What's worse, shoppers (and companies) have spent the past few months stockpiling expensive, one-off goods — iPhones, cars, couches — to avoid eventual price hikes. At the same time, Andrea says they're not splurging on $16 kale Caesar salads anymore: Sweetgreen's CEO told Bloomberg News that April has traditionally been a month when the chain's performance picks up as temperatures rise; "this is the first time we haven't seen that lift." My personal theory is that people aren't getting beach-body ready because there's no beach for them to look forward to. In a second column, Andrea bears that out: "On both sides of the Atlantic, some consumers are waiting before booking their vacations, a classic signal of uncertainty," she writes. Tariffs or no tariffs, the trade war has already come for tourists. Who knows what other victims it'll claim before this nightmare is over. Bonus Trade War Reading: - Congress set the stage for today's tariff mess 100 years ago. — Stephen Mihm
- The EU must limit the economic damage and quietly untangle itself from US leadership. — Clive Crook
Here's an unsolicited post-Mother's Day thought: Logically, shouldn't nuns be called "mothers," not sisters? Priests get to be called fathers! It doesn't seem fair. In his latest column, Frank Barry says nuns "have long been relegated to second-class status in parish affairs," despite them cooking the food, engaging with the community and teaching the future leaders of the world. "The number of US priests has fallen by nearly half since 1965, making it increasingly common for churches to share priests, if not shut down completely," he writes. Nuns could easily run the show, Frank argues: "Though church law forbids them from consecrating the Eucharist, they can run parish operations, lead worship services, hold Bible study classes, organize charitable work and distribute communion to the sick and infirm — all duties that lay people can perform, too. No papal act is required for such a delegation of authority to occur, only greater public pressure on bishops to allow it." You know who else has to play second fiddle to a man in power? The first lady of the United States. Nia-Malika Henderson says the unforgiving job — famously described by Martha Washington as imprisoning — is not for the faint of heart. Similar to nuns, the position requires a great deal of personal sacrifice. Although there's no formal vow of poverty, first ladies will often donate their book proceeds and other earnings to charities. But not Melania Trump, who has her own crypto token and Amazon Prime documentary in the works! Although having another grifter in the White House is nothing to celebrate, Nia says her desire to change the status quo is admirable: "Unlike first ladies before her, Trump will not be bound by the confines of what has become an antiquated position. She is leaving the 'women's work' to others, namely her husband. It is reportedly the president, not the first lady, who is choosing the gaudy style updates to the White House, from paving the Rose Garden to adding gold tchotchkes to the Oval Office mantel." | 
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