FT News Briefing Swamp Notes: The economic fallout of ‘liberation day’
Apr 4, 2026
Claire Jones, the Financial Times’ US economics editor, breaks down the fallout from America’s tariffs. She digs into market volatility, why growth stayed surprisingly steady, and why manufacturing did not roar back. The conversation also explores China risks, lingering legal and policy uncertainty, and the political sting of higher prices at the checkout.
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Unclear Tariff Math Shocked Markets Fast
- Economists and markets were rattled less by tariffs alone than by a tariff formula they thought lacked coherent logic.
- Claire Jones says the methodology broke with past policy and injected uncertainty, which helped drive volatility in stocks and bonds.
Tariffs Helped Treasury More Than Industry
- The tariffs produced a fiscal gain for Washington, but not the broader economic revival Donald Trump promised.
- Customs revenue came in, yet Claire Jones says growth was not destroyed and manufacturing jobs also failed to surge.
The Fed Came To See Tariffs As One Off
- The inflation hit from tariffs looked more like a one-time price jolt than a lasting economy-wide spiral.
- Claire Jones says the Fed now treats tariffs as a one-off shock, while oil and fallout from the Iran war matter more.