Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything

Now that I think about it, creating confusion and uncertainty is actually a pretty effective move if you want to play protectionism. Any "known" tariff would just be paid as far as still profitable.

Maybe. But if your goal is to incentivize more domestic manufacturing, putting tariffs on the raw materials to do that manufacturing and build new factories is pretty counterproductive.

> if you want to play protectionism

It’s great if you want to grant yourself the power to exempt those who please or pay you.

Don’t really buy this logic.

If you want companies to invest in your country, the tariff has to make doing so make financial sense, and for the long term.

A lot of these tariffs are going on things that would require a whole factory to be built in the USA which doesn’t currently exist at all, and has no supporting infrastructure or workforce.

Companies can’t just decide right now, “oh shit there’s a tariff. Better but it in the USA right away!”

Probably some of the uncertainty, and the fact that these tariffs are illegal, so they wouldn't stand long

Right, and if you're a non-American producer do you want to make massive forced investments to sell into the US market, or put less money into developing your presence in other markets that are not as hostile/unpredictable.