Tariff Deadlines Come And Go, Only Stock Uncertainty Stays

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by,” said the late Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Levi Strauss and Delta Air Lines — which suspended full-year guidance in April due to tariff uncertainty — are scheduled to report quarterly earnings.

The recent deadline for President Trump’s tariffs appears to be following that tradition.

The 90-day reprieve on high tariff rates expired July 9 for most countries, with only the UK and Vietnam having secured permanent trade arrangements so far, Brian Swint reported for Barron’s Daily.

But for markets, that deadline may just whoosh by. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested Sunday that the real cutoff might be August 1 — when tariffs would revert to the levels announced on April 2, rather than the current across-the-board 10%.

In a social media post overnight, Trump reminded markets that uncertainty is never far away, threatening additional 10% levies on any country pursuing what he called “anti-American” policies.

Stocks hit new highs ahead of the weekend after the president signed his signature tax bill into law. But investors are now bracing for what’s next, with tariffs back on the top of the agenda.

Levi Strauss and Delta Air Lines — which suspended full-year guidance in April due to tariff uncertainty — are scheduled to report quarterly earnings.

If there's a lesson to be drawn from past episodes that threatened to derail the rally — including tariff back-and-forths, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s volatility, and the drawn-out tax bill drama — it's that markets tend to move on quickly. As Adams also famously wrote on the cover of The Hitchhiker’s Guide: Don’t Panic.