Trump tariffs – a shoot self in foot decision – Astroinform with Marjorie Orr

The ultimate stress test of Donald Trump’s trade war tariffs will be in the effect on the US economy. Described by the FT as an “absurdity” it is regarded as a pointless self-inflicted injury which will raise prices for American families and deliver a shock to North American and world economies. “They are being used as a coercive tool to further Trump’s domestic political agenda and extract concessions from American neighbours that may be beyond their power to give.”

There is a backlash from business groups and some Republicans warning that the new tariffs  would push up prices for ordinary Americans and cause chaos in supply chains. “The president is right to focus on major problems like our broken border and the scourge of fentanyl, but the imposition of tariffs . . . won’t solve these problems” said John Murphy, senior vice-president of the US Chamber of Commerce, the US’s largest business group.

The US Federal Reserve Bank, 16 November 1914 9 am Washington, is under greater pressure than it has seen for decades as tr Neptune Saturn squares the Saturn Pluto at one degree Cancer from May 2025 onwards till early 2027 which will be panicky and uncertain. With added shocks and insecurity from tr Uranus opposition the Mars from June 2026 into 2027. 2026/27 also have tr Pluto square the Uranus/Neptune midpoint which tends to be associated with calamities and catastrophes.

Trump won’t care about other stock markets but the UK FTSE, 3 January 1984 10 am London rather ominously has its Solar Arc Saturn moving to dampen its high-flying Jupiter Neptune within weeks on the same degree and then on for several years – so not a progressive phase.

Equally the German DAX, 1 July 1998, is unnerved this month with tr Pluto conjunct the Neptune and square Saturn, returning later in the year; with an unsettled 2026.

The Bank of Canada, 11 March 1935, isn’t showing much before a jangled 2026. The Toronto Stock Exchange is pressured through this year and next.

Relations between Canada and the USA are not surprisingly under heavy pressure this year and worse in 2026 with tr Pluto square the composite Saturn and then tr Neptune Saturn square the composite Neptune.

Relations between Canada and the UK are confused and undermined at the moment and throughout 2025 with tr Pluto conjunct the composite Neptune – and worse in 2026 and on for a few years. With tr Neptune opposition the composite Saturn and then conjunct the Sun Pluto. Not an amiable end to the decade.