Trump just lit the fuse againslapping a 145% tariff wall on Chinese imports and saying, bluntly, They deserve it. In a Tuesday interview, he told ABC that China had been ripping us off like nobody's ever ripped us off and that his tariffs are simply course correction. The message to Beijing? You're not getting away with it anymore. But while Trump claims American consumers won't feel much pain, data's already telling another storyone that investors can't ignore.

Chinese discount giants like Temu and Shein are already raising prices. Shein hiked its U.S. prices by an average of 51% in just a week, with some products doubling. These aren't isolated blipsthis is the first wave of a cost shock that could bleed into everything from electronics to autos. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and any brand with China-linked supply chains are now staring down margin compression and potential demand headwinds. Trump might believe China will eat the tariffs, but American wallets are clearly picking up the tab.

Behind the curtain, there's talk of a phased tariff rollback over five yearsbut negotiations haven't even started. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned China could lose 10 million jobs from these measures, yet avoided naming a single negotiation underway. Meanwhile, Trump framed this as part of a bigger reset: bringing manufacturing back home and ending what he calls a global shakedown. Whether you agree or not, markets are entering a transition phasewhere trade policy isn't just posturing, it's pricing power. For investors, this is no longer theoreticalit's balance-sheet reality.