Trump effect: Factory orders climb despite media hyperventilating about tariffs

Orders at U.S. factories for durable goods rose in June despite constant media reports fretting over President Donald Trump’s negotiating tactics on trade.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that durable goods – items meant to last at least three years, like appliances – rose 1 percent in June. Excluding transportation manufacturers, orders were up 0.4%, the fifth straight monthly gain.

Trump is using tariffs to force trading partners back to the negotiating table as their unfair trade practices have resulted in the loss of good-paying American manufacturing jobs over the past few decades. Yesterday, officials from the EU met with the Trump administration. Trump then announced that Europe had made concessions on trade that would allow them to negotiate towards free trade.

Europe had disengaged from trade talks with the Obama administration and without the threat of new tariffs on automobiles would likely have been able to continue unfair trade restrictions against American goods.

Canada and China are still holding out despite the threat of increased tariffs while Mexico has signaled that it is ready to hammer out a deal with reciprocal trade policies.

Orders for most manufactured goods remain healthy, evidence that the trade spat has yet to restrain the American economy.