What’s going on here? Another day, another tariff threat: the US president turned up trade tensions yet again, announcing late on Thursday his plans to slap a 35% tariff on certain Canadian imports. What does this mean? The proposed tax rate would be a step up from the current 25%, and it’d apply to goods that aren’t covered by the existing trade agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico. But with a sizable chunk of Canada’s imports to the US falling under that agreement, it wouldn’t be an across-the-board increase on everything. Although, the president did threaten to raise the blanket levy to 15% to 20% for most trading partners at the same time – up from the current 10%. Those moves followed a surprise 50% tariff proposal earlier in the week on copper imports, which sent US prices to a record high. But this time around, markets only dipped slightly, suggesting that investors might be starting to tire of the tariff noise. Why should I care? Zooming out: Geopolitics make for a bitter brew. Earlier this week, the president threatened a new 50% import tax on goods from Brazil – the world’s top exporter of arabica beans – stirring a roughly 3% rise in US coffee futures. But it wasn’t coffee’s price move that really stood out: it was the president’s motive. See, unlike previous tariff proposals, this one wasn’t motivated by trade deficits or corporate competition. It was a political show of support for the country’s former leader, so the market just didn’t see it coming. For you personally: Tariff tantrums are market wildcards. When tariffs shift from being economic levers to political weapons, things can become even more unpredictable. One day it’s copper, the next it’s coffee – and for investors, that means sudden market jolts aplenty. So with tariff threats running fast and loose, you’ll want to make sure your portfolio’s built to handle some surprises. That means staying diversified, investing across stocks, bonds, and other kinds of assets that don’t all move in tandem. | 
