It took a mere 13 hours for the Trump administration to cave on their reciprocal tariff scheme. President Donald Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Trade Advisor Peter Navarro did exactly what they said they would not do—“back off” of the non-negotiable trade measures. More perplexing is that no significant trade concession was gained from a single country during the brief period of “maximum leverage.” But a self-congratulatory tone was adopted after announcing a 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariffs.

While the President may have been able to confront retaliatory tariffs from foreign partners and diffuse public demonstrations against DOGE actions, he was ultimately unable to stand up to the growing chorus of CEOs condemning his administration’s tariff agenda. Under the threat of aggressor trade tactics, U.S. stocks shed more than $6.5 trillion in two days. And more market pain looked likely as corporate quarterly earnings were just beginning to be released, with growth forecasts being revised downwards. Moreover, Treasury yields and the dollar’s value appeared to be breaking with conventional trade norms during similar periods of crisis, fueling rumors of the two assets losing their coveted “safe-haven” status—and threatening the interest rate discounts on U.S. corporate debt associated with that status.

Simply put, CEOs had enough. JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon admitted a recession is “a likely outcome” as tariffs were "beyond what people expected." Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian pulled the company’s........

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