White House roils markets with giant tariff revisions

The White House keeps rolling out sweeping tariff announcements with little detail — leaving investors scrambling for information. Then, often days later, key clarifications or exemptions follow.Why it matters: Even countries with direct involvement in the deals have seemed caught offsides by White House statements.What they're saying: "Washington is just randomly shooting, and they are shooting some like-minded countries from behind," Taro Kono, a member of Japan's House of Representatives, said in a briefing, according to The New York Times. For example: Japan thought it received a 15% tariff rate on all goods. But confusion ensued after the European Union tariff agreement made it appear Japan got different, inferior treatment on how tariffs would stack on top of each other.Japanese officials say the White House will correct the order, though it's unclear when that will happen.There was also a dust-up last week after reports that gold bars from Switzerland would be tariffed, prompting U.S. gold prices to hit a record high.On Friday afternoon, the White House stepped in to clarify: Expect an order that'll make the situation clear later.Zoom in: Henrietta Treyz, director of economic policy research at Veda Partners, tells Axios that this "mass confusion" stands out in several specific events that have "rocked markets" in the last month alone:Copper had its biggest one-day drop after Trump announced exemptions on important forms of the metal from 50% tariffs.Non-U.S. chips were set to face a 100% tariff — but that will not apply to companies that invest in the U.S. or commit to that (enter Apple's $100 billion investment).How it works: Here's the pattern seen in all the instances just laid out.The White House issues a broad tariff announcement, without specifics and very rarely in writing. Investors, executives and policymakers scramble to clarify the impact on their sector.Panic ensues, investors move money around.The White House clarifies the original tariff announcement.Market reactions ease.Be smart: Two pivotal, ongoing court cases could restrict Trump's ability to use emergency powers to issue tariffs, which could make country-specific tariffs less sticky, while making sector-specific tariffs a bigger concern.Treyz expects a decision on these cases in the next one or two weeks, and anticipates a market selloff off the back of the result.The bottom line: The confusion and subsequent revisions point to the fact that on tariffs "this is not one and done," Treyz says.Expect to be chasing clarity on tariff policy for a while longer.

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