The White House has signed a number of notable trade deals in the months since President Donald Trump slapped sharply higher tariffs on imports in early April. But some on Wall Street are cautioning that turmoil surrounding relations between the U.S. and its major trading partners is far from over. “Our views have been at odds with the investor consensus all year – and they still are,” Andy Laperriere, head of U.S. policy at Piper Sandler, wrote in a report this summer. “The emerging narrative is that even though tariffs are high, we now have deals that will provide stability in trade policy. Therefore, economic actors can adjust to the new reality and move on,” he said. In his firm’s opinion, however, “trade stability is not in the cards.” Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs went into effect on Aug. 7. The president had announced the sweeping levies back on April 2, and their initial size sent stocks reeling before a series of walk-backs from the White House eased investors’ concerns. Stocks have since recovered these losses and gone on to score record highs. Lately, investors have been betting that Trump won’t implement the most draconian of his trade plans, in what has come to be known as the TACO trade, short for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” But the duties that Trump announced in early April have in l …
