Trump (aka Tariff man) found further ways to push the economy into recession today, signing a proclamation to implement a 25% tariff on auto imports, expanding a trade war designed to bring more manufacturing jobs to the US and setting the stage for an even broader push on levies next week. Investors reacted in horror, with SPX -1.1% and NDX -2.0%, with the specter of retaliation by our trading partners weighing on big exporters like $Tesla(TSLA.US) (-5.6% today). Atlanta Fed GDP Now is forecasting a 1Q GDP decline of -1.8%. Trump can’t blame the incoming recession on Biden. As predicted by the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, Trump’s tariffs will cause trade flows to shrivel, which will cause the X-M component of GDP (C+I+G+X-M) to shrink.