Trump twinned his threat to Brazil with the promise of a 50% tariff on copper, which would strike at the economic lifeline of two more Southern neighbors, Chile and Peru. The president capped his week by setting a 30% tariff on Mexican imports as of Aug. 1.

China accounted for 5.89% of all U.S. trade in May, its lowest percentage in decades. Trump’s tariffs or trade trickery? It’s hard to dispute it’s a remarkable shift.

Trump’s tendency to back off deadlines threatens to weaken his hand, and his use of a novel legal theory to underpin much of his trade agenda opened him up to a legal challenge that might send the trade agenda back to the drawing board.