Kitchen cabinets and upholstered furniture no longer pose an imminent threat to U.S. “national security.” That’s according to the Trump administration, which has been quietly delaying import taxes on a range of goods over the past few weeks, as it seeks to address voter concerns about affordability.
Imported vanities and cabinets were barreling towards a 50 percent tariff on Jan. 1, while tariffs on upholstered furniture were set to rise by 30 percent. According to the White House, thanks to “productive negotiations,” the additional tariffs were removed, thought these products will still be subject to a 25 percent import tax previously set by the White House.
The notion that wooden cabinets and vanities were endangering American security was almost as outlandish as the administration’s claim that macaroni and bowtie pasta being dumped by Italy were undermining American greatness. Staggering tariffs on Italian pasta have also been rolled back by the administration, which quietly slashed a planned 92 percent import tax, which would have taken the total tariff on imported pasta to over 100 percent. Ironically, a lot of Italian pasta is actually made with American wheat.
After back and forth with the Italian government, the Trump team realized they were about to kill roughly $800 million worth of U.S. sales on “antidumping grounds” – a term usually reserved for critical resources but applied to tortellini in this case. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has a friendly relationship with the president, intervenedon behalf of the pasta makers. Now the majority of Italian pasta companies previously targeted will have their product subject to a 9.1 percent tariff, while one of the largest companies, La Molisana, will be subject to a tariff of 2.26 percent. That’s still a silly amount to tax carbs, but it’s a win for both sellers and buyers.
These tax changes for imported pasta and cabinets are the latest pivot on tariffs by President Donald Trump since reducing tariffs on coffee and banana imports in November, alongside dozens of other household staples. These U-turns are necessary only because the administration hiked taxes on American importers in the first place. Still, it’s progress.
Nevertheless, the sporadic, even erratic, nature of these announcements leaves too much uncertainty for businesses struggling to price their products. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this week that the number of job openings in America fell to its lowest levels, 7.15 million, since September 2024. For all Trump’s boasting about bringing back jobs to America, the numbers are the weakest they’ve been in his second term.
The Supreme Court could decide as soon as Friday that Trump misused the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose his Liberation Day tariffs, which are distinct from the ones he’s been rolling back lately. Any changes to trade policy ought to happen via an act of Congress, not through executive orders. But so long as Trump insists that the penne is to be mightier than the sword, he should use it to roll back the barriers to trade that he himself erected.
The post The penne is mightier than the sword appeared first on Washington Post.
