With Trump's zigzag actions on trade, March came in like a lion and won't be going out like a lamb

WASHINGTON (AP) — A gobsmacked planet is wondering what's next from President Donald Trump on the tariff spree he's set in zigzag motion.

In recent weeks, Trump has announced punishing tariffs against allies and adversaries alike, selectively paused and imposed them, doubled and then halved some, and warned late in the week that he'll tax European wine and spirits a stratospheric 200% if the European Union doesn't drop a 50% tariff on U.S. whiskey.

His ultimate stated goal is clear: to revive American manufacturing and win compromises along the way. But people and nations whose fortunes rise and fall on trade are trying to divine a method to his machinations. So far, he's spurred fears about slower growth and higher inflation that are dragging down the stock market and consumer confidence.

“His tariff policy is erratic, more erratic than April weather,” Robert Halver, head of capital markets analysis at Germany’s Baader Bank, said from the floor of the Frankfurt stock market. “So, there is no planning certainty at all.”

The same goes for Exit 9 Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Clifton Park, New York, where owner Mark O’Callaghan is waiting to see if the prohibitive taxes on European wine — over a third of his business — really happen. He's mindful of Trump's seemingly whack-a-mole approach on which countries and goods to hit and how hard.

“It changes by the hour now, right?" O’Callaghan said. "You know, it’s hard to navigate and manage, and everything changes so quickly.”

In Canada, generations of political leaders took it as a point of pride that their country and the U.S. share the “world’s longest undefended border,” as they liked to say. No more.

Trump's sweeping taxes on Canadian imports come in the context of his wanting the U.S. to absorb its neighbor, an ambition that has united Canadians of the left and right in seething anger. A recent Nanos poll found that the vast majority of Canadians say their opinion of the United States has sunk from a year ago.

“The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said days before his swearing-in Friday. “Think about it. If they succeed, they will destroy our way of life.”

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said: “If the U.S. can do this to us, their closest friend, then nobody is safe.”

Trade wars sparked by retaliatory and escalating tariffs typically form in the grind of legislation, as happened with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act nearly a century ago. This round comes from Trump's executive actions, with Congress passive, and can change like the weather, or perhaps even his moods.

That's how March came in like a lion.

Personal pique is part of it all, suggests Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “If you make him unhappy, he responds unhappy,” he told Bloomberg TV, explaining that Trump didn't like it when a variety of countries targeted with new U.S. tariffs retaliated with tariffs of their own.

Nor was Trump content when Canada did not show “immeasurable respect” for his trade grievances, Lutnick told CBS News. “Say, ‘Thank you, I want to work it out with you,’" he added, as if advising Ottawa on how to be properly deferential. “'I want you to be happy.'”

Trump himself said of Canada, “We don’t need anything that they have." Canada is the largest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the U.S. and a key source of energy, cars and car parts via the integrated North American auto industry, food, critical minerals, fertilizer, lumber and more.

His stop-and-start tariffs have shaken the stock market, yielded some concessions and induced whiplash across industries and countries:

— Heavy taxes on Canadian and Mexican products were announced, shelved for a month — one day away from taking effect — imposed, then two days later adjusted to exempt, for now, a range of goods covered under the North American trade pact renegotiated in Trump's first term. Trump's aides say the reason for those tariffs is to end fentanyl smuggling and illegal immigration, though the president also wants to close the trade deficit with America's two largest trade partners.

— Trump stuck with his new tariffs on China, imposing a 10% penalty then doubling it, drawing retaliatory tariffs of 15% on U.S. farm goods this past week. The U.S. tariffs are also about fentanyl.

— The prevailing tensions between Canada and the U.S. flared when Ontario, the most populous province, retaliated against the U.S. duties with an announcement that it would add a 25% surcharge on electricity it exports to several states.

Trump, who now belittles Canadian sovereignty at every turn, immediately threatened to slam Canada with a 50% tax on steel and aluminum. He then pulled back to a still-hefty 25% when Ontario backed down, in a drama that played out over mere hours.

But Wednesday, the global U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum kicked in, and Europe responded. The EU announced duties on U.S. textiles, home appliances, motorcycles, peanut butter, jeans and more. American whiskey, popular overseas, was marked for a 50% tariff.

Trump's response: 200% on European wine and spirits and on Champagne.

“We want toasts, not tariffs,” said Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council in the U.S.

But escalation appears to be the toast of the day. The U.S. has a new wave of reciprocal tariffs in line against Europe in early April, and exemptions for the auto industry and other industries are set to expire.

There's not much chance March will go out like a lamb.

Associated Press writers Mae Anderson in New York and Josh Boak in Washington and video journalist Daniel Niemann in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this report.

A group of young visitors poses for a photo with another visitor to the city wearing a mask of President Donald Trump in front of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Logs are sorted at the White Mountain Lumber Co., Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Berlin, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

FILE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a media conference at an EU Summit in Brussels, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)

A man walks through the stock market in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Liberal Leader Mark Carney smiles as he delivers his victory speech during the Liberal leadership announcement in Ottawa, Ontario, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canadian Prime Minister designate Mark Carney, second right, speaks to steel workers after touring the ArcelorMittal Dofasco steel plant in Hamilton, Ont., on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Nathan Denette /The Canadian Press via AP)

Pedestrians walk past as Toronto residents Douglas Bloomfield, from right, his son Phoenix and wife Ame, left, who are on vacation in Washington from Toronto, hold a Canadian flag and an ice hockey stick to show their support for Canada regarding trade tariffs, in front of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A construction crew works at a site in San Bruno, Calif., Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Carlos Olivares holds a bottle of Château du Cauze, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, a French Bordeaux wine, before purchasing it at DECANTsf Bottle Shop and Bar in San Francisco, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

President Donald Trump talks as he meets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Pool via AP)

A visitor to the city wearing a mask of President Donald Trump poses for a photo in front of a Canadian flag being held by tourists from Toronto showing their support for Canada regarding trade tariffs, in front of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

President Donald Trump's administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization's director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave.

On Friday night, shortly after Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba.

On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, the failed Arizona gubernatorial and U.S. Senate candidate whom Trump named a senior adviser to the agency, posted on X that employees should check their email. That coincided with notices going out placing Voice of America staff on paid administrative leave.

“For the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” Michael Abramowitz, the organization's director, said in a statement. He added that “virtually” the entire 1300-person staff was placed on leave.

“VOA promotes freedom and democracy around the world by telling America's story and by providing objective and balanced news and information, especially for those living under tyranny," Abramowitz said.

One reporter, who spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, said: “We expected something like this to happen, and it just happened to be today.”

The press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said it “condemns this decision as a departure from the U.S.’s historic role as a defender of free information and calls on the U.S. government to restore VOA and urges Congress and the international community to take action against this unprecedented move.”

The Agency for Global Media also sent notices terminating grants to Radio Free Asia and other programming run by the agency. Voice of America transmits United States domestic news into other countries, often translated into local languages. Radio Free Asia, Europe and Marti beam news into countries with authoritarian regimes in those regions like China, North Korea and Russia.

“The cancellation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s grant agreement would be a massive gift to America’s enemies," said the network's President and CEO, Stephen Capus, in a statement.

Combined, the networks reach an estimated 427 million people. They date back to the Cold War and are part of a network of government-funded organizations trying to extend U.S. influence and combat authoritarianism that includes USAID, another agency targeted by Trump.

The reduction is a dramatic blow at a staple of post-Cold War order that has long had bipartisan support. Voice of America's directors have included Dick Carlson, the father of conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.

Thomas Kent, former president and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said that Trump’s intentions for the agencies are still foggy. Without these news sources, it will be that much harder for the country to get its messages to the world, he said.

“Without the international broadcasting, the image of the United States and the Trump administration will be in the hands of others, including the administration’s opponents, (and) countries and people who consider the United States an enemy,” said Kent, an international consultant on media ethics.

A video posted on X by Lake on Saturday talked about cost-cutting measures, not mentioning the employees and the mission of Voice of America. Her video was made at a building leased by VOA that Lake described as a waste of money. She said she would try to break the agency's 15-year lease on the building.

“We're doing everything we can to cancel contracts that can be cancelled, save more, downsize and make sure there's no misuse of your dollars,” she said.

The letter places employees on administrative leave and says staff would continue to receive pay and benefits “until otherwise notified.” It ordered employees not to use Agency for Global Media facilities and return equipment like phones and computers.

The Trump administration has already made other steps to assert its authority over Voice of America, and this week canceled contracts that allowed VOA to use material from independent news organizations, such as The Associated Press.

The administration has also banned the AP from press pools that cover the president and moved to take charge of what news organizations are members of the pools, and the FCC is investigating news organizations like CBS.

Trump's order requiring reductions also includes several other, lesser-known government agencies such as the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan think tank, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - The Voice of America building, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)