The United States was once again reminded of the unpredictable nature of President Donald Trump’s policy moves when he announced sweeping new tariffs on a range of imports just hours after his own trade representative said no such measures were planned.

On Thursday, Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative, was in Kuala Lumpur attending a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Speaking to reporters, he made it clear that the administration’s focus was on ongoing negotiations and not on imposing additional tariffs. “What we are focused on now are the negotiations, not putting out rounds of tariffs,” Greer said, signaling a calmer and more measured approach to trade with key Asian partners.

However, just 12 hours later, Trump took to his social media accounts to announce

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