First quarter 2025 showed us a lot of volatility around trade policy and other changes made by the incoming Trump administration. This volatility continued – and accelerated – into Q2, with the announcement of Liberation Day tariffs in early April. All these rattled markets, driving significant movement in equities, bonds, currencies, and commodities, while disrupting and re-disrupting global trade and supply chains.
The administration has now implemented a 90-day pause on most of the Liberation Day tariffs to allow time to renegotiate trade deals with the US’ global partners. The primary exception to this is China, with whom the US is now entrenched in a trade war that has seen tariffs imposed at rates as high as 145%.
Some amount of uncertainty remains: will there be adjustments or disruptions before the 90-day period ends? What will happen to trade agreements that are not finalized? This uncertainty is difficult for businesses to navigate. While the pause in tariff implementation has restored some stability, the reality is that markets will still be monitoring this and adjusting to it for the foreseeable future. For now, we welcome the stability and relief that the tariff pause has brought.
For a more in-depth look at these and other factors affecting investment values and strategy, please read Moneta’s first-quarter investment report (it’s the special, extended version, covering through the early April tariff changes).
Opportunities: Rebalancing, Tax Loss Harvesting, and Roth Conversions
The opportunity in all of this: it is starting to look like a good time to rebalance portfolios, to correct for asset class imbalances caused by the recent volatility, and to make changes as possible to gain tax advantages for 2025.
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