⚔ Geopolitics risk-off · 0–6 months
A what‑if from the future

What if Steel-aluminum tariffs reset to 50%?

Washington doubles metals tariffs to 50%, lifting domestic steel and aluminum prices, raising construction and auto input costs and feeding a goods-inflation pulse.

26%
our model probability
over 0–6 months
prediction markets — wisdom of the crowd
loading live odds…
Empirically anchored 26% · 90% range 8–44% · 31 analogues · measured class trade_war 49% in 6 mo · 3% held back for the unknown
how we built this number — every step
Measured class rate — trade_war ≈1.3449/yr → 49% in 6 mo49%
Analyst prior · editorial share 61% of the class30%
Pooled · weight 84%27%
Crowd — no liquid market
Reserve 3% · no extremizing (×1.0)27%
Published26%

The class rate is measured from our dated, sourced event library (decade-normalized Poisson — the full table is public at base_rates.json). The variant’s share within its class is the analyst’s editorial call, published so you can audit it. A wider range means thinner precedent. Full recipe: methodology · scored at Reality Check.

The butterfly cascade

How this trigger trickles across markets, left → right — the root shock, its first‑order moves, then the ripple effects. Drag any node; tap a market for its real price history.

Resolution timeline — how this probability is moving

Our model's odds (gold) over time vs the crowd's (Polymarket, blue), from the past toward the 0–6 months horizon. Each dot is a real macro event that nudged the probability — green pushed it up, red pushed it down. Tap a dot for the source. The gold path is an illustrative reconstruction anchored to today's estimate — real dated events, not a live re-estimate history.

loading the timeline…

What it would mean

If this plays out, it is a risk-off shock. Washington doubles metals tariffs to 50%, lifting domestic steel and aluminum prices, raising construction and auto input costs and feeding a goods-inflation pulse. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — Industrial demand ▲ · Inflation surprise ▲ · Risk appetite ▼ · Trade tension ▲ — which propagate through our causal graph to the markets below.

If it happens — the markets it would move

Biggest moves first. Projected moves are cascade-model priors; hist A–B% = what comparable past events actually did (measured abnormal returns), and model prior · unmeasured marks markets with no analogue backing yet. Tap any market for its price history.

MarketClassProjected move
1Nasdaq 100 NDXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartIndex▼ -1.7%
hist -1.05–-0.45% · other way +1.25% (n=12)
2Semiconductors SMHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.4%
hist -0.95–-0.15% · other way +1.17% (n=12)
3Nvidia NVDAon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.2%
hist -0.8–-0.48% · other way +6.78% (n=12)
4Tech sector XLK 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.2%
hist -0.89–+0.03% · other way +1.94% (n=12)
5TSMC TSMon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.1%
hist -2.66–+0.38% · other way +2.93% (n=12)
6Alibaba BABAon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.9%
hist -3.21–+1.03% · other way -1.7% (n=9)
7AMD AMDon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.9%
hist -0.67–-0.08% · other way +5.2% (n=12)
8Broadcom AVGOon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.9%
hist -1.65–+1.91% · other way -1.23% (n=10)
9Micron MUon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.9%
hist -1.44–+0.11% · other way +6.1% (n=12)
10Marvell MRVLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.9%
hist -1.06–+1.11% · other way +10.41% (n=12)
11ASML ASMLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.8%
hist -2.44–+0.7% · other way -0.31% (n=12)
12Solana SOLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -0.7%
hist -2.58–+2.44% · other way -6.23% (n=9)
13Chinese yuan CNY 📈 chartFX▼ -0.7%
hist -0.83–-0.05% · other way -0.2% (n=11)
14MicroStrategy MSTRon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -0.7%
hist -2.17–+0.66% · other way +21.27% (n=12)

Probable recommendation

If the scenario above plays out, the probable cross‑asset positioning → a scenario‑conditional read, not personalized investment advice
Cash / hedgeRaise cash and hold the long hedges above; this scenario is net risk-off.
For a common-man portfolio: A typical stock-heavy portfolio is at risk. Consider trimming equities, raising cash, and a small cash hedge.
Also moves (not yet on Hyperliquid): Tech sector -1.2% · Chinese yuan -0.7% · Aussie dollar -0.3% · Turkish lira -0.2% · High-yield credit -0.2% · Indian rupee -0.2%

Historical precedent — what analogous events actually did

Across 31 analogous events (overlap‑weighted), as abnormal returns — market beta stripped, so it's the event's own effect, not the market backdrop. Shown at 20 days (persistent) and 5 days (immediate); ↺ fades = the two horizons disagree. Confidence = consistency × sample × significance.

Gold tops $3,000 for the first time amid tariff and rate-cut fears 2025-03 Silver Thursday 1980-03 Gold peaks at $850 1980-01 1979 Iranian Revolution oil shock 1979-01 Gold tops $4,000 and silver spikes past $50 in historic squeeze 2025-10 Trump's 50% copper tariff sends Comex copper to a record 2025-07 China retaliates to Liberation Day: 34% tariffs + rare-earth controls 2025-04 Gold tops $2,500 for the first time on Fed rate-cut bets 2024-08 India slashes gold import duty from 15% to 6% in 2024 budget 2024-07 August 2022 hot CPI 2022-09 Powell's hawkish 'pain' speech at Jackson Hole 2022-08 Turkish lira record low on rate cuts 2021-11 Gold closes above $2,000/oz for the first time 2020-08 Chinese yuan breaks 7 per dollar; US names China manipulator 2019-08 February 2018 hot wage print triggers rate scare 2018-02 North Korea sixth nuclear test 2017-09 North Korea 'fire and fury' nuclear scare 2017-08 Mexican peso crash on Trump 2016 win 2016-11 Gold futures velocity-logic flash crash 2014-01 Gold all-time peak of $1,921/oz 2011-09 Egyptian revolution / Mubarak uprising 2011-01 Crude oil all-time high 2008-07 Soviet August coup attempt against Gorbachev 1991-08 Chernobyl disaster 1986-04 Iran hostage crisis / US freezes Iranian assets 1979-11 Volcker Saturday Night Special 1979-10 Three Mile Island partial meltdown 1979-03 Iranian Revolution oil shock 1978-12 Argentina Rodrigazo shock 1975-06 Nixon Shock 1971-08 Smoot-Hawley clears the US House 1929-05
AssetHistory saysAbnormal (20d · 5d)HitnConfidencevs cascade
INTC INTCSHORT-4.8% · 5d -2.2%78%22 0.52✓ matches cascade
CNY CNYSHORT-0.5% · 5d -0.1%69%19 0.37✓ matches cascade
KWEB KWEBSHORT-3.9% · 5d -2.6%70%16 0.31✓ matches cascade
TRY TRYSHORT-3.2% · 5d +0.4% ↺ fades64%19 0.27✓ matches cascade
ETH ETHSHORT-2.6% · 5d -4.0%64%12 0.22✓ matches cascade
TSM TSMSHORT-1.9% · 5d -2.5%64%19 0.19✓ matches cascade
BABA BABASHORT-2.6% · 5d -3.8%61%15 0.19✓ matches cascade
Volatility VIXLONG+5.4% · 5d +7.2%61%20 0.18✓ matches cascade
SOL SOLLONG+3.2% · 5d -5.3% ↺ fades62%10 0.17⚠ differs
AUD AUDSHORT-1.2% · 5d -0.2%59%19 0.15✓ matches cascade
USDJPY USDJPYSHORT-0.1% · 5d -0.2%59%19 0.15⚠ differs
QCOM QCOMSHORT-1.5% · 5d -2.9%59%19 0.12✓ matches cascade
Bitcoin BTCSHORT-1.5% · 5d -2.5%58%15 0.12✓ matches cascade
EURUSD EURUSDSHORT-0.9% · 5d -0.1%56%19 0.11✓ matches cascade

Methodology. Probability and impact are anchored to history and scored against what actually happens — wins and losses, in public, at Reality Check. Crowd odds live from Polymarket & Kalshi. By Vikas Singh, Quantitative Strategist. Updated 2026-07-03.