⚔ Geopolitics risk-off · 6–18 months
A what‑if from the future

What if universal US tariffs pass through to consumer prices and force the Fed to hold rates higher?

Universal US tariffs of 10–20% plus 60% on China pass through to consumer prices, lifting US core inflation ~1pp and forcing the Fed to hold, an outcome flagged in IMF and Fed tariff-passthrough analysis.

19%
our model probability
over 6–18 months
prediction markets — wisdom of the crowd
loading live odds…
Empirically anchored 19% · 90% range 8–31% · 40 analogues · measured class trade_war 87% in 18 mo · 3% held back for the unknown
how we built this number — every step
Measured class rate — trade_war ≈1.3449/yr → 87% in 18 mo87%
Analyst prior · editorial share 23% of the class20%
Pooled · weight 87%20%
Crowd — no liquid market
Reserve 3% · no extremizing (×1.0)20%
Published19%

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 6–18 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. Universal US tariffs of 10–20% plus 60% on China pass through to consumer prices, lifting US core inflation ~1pp and forcing the Fed to hold, an outcome flagged in IMF and Fed tariff-passthrough analysis. The trigger decomposes into signed root‑shocks — Fed policy path ▲ · Geopolitical risk ▲ · 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
1Volatility (VIX) VIXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartVol▲ +5.1%
hist +1.17–+4.46% · other way -5.77% (n=12)
2Nasdaq 100 NDXon Hyperliquid 📈 chartIndex▼ -4.6%
hist -2.69–-1.57% · other way +0.01% (n=12)
3Tech sector XLK 📈 chartEquity▼ -3.5%
hist -2.28–-1.16% · other way +0.81% (n=12)
4Semiconductors SMHon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -3.0%
hist -2.09–-0.74% · other way +0.6% (n=11)
5Nvidia NVDAon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -2.4%
hist -5.06–+0.38% · other way +5.65% (n=12)
6MicroStrategy MSTRon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -2.4%
hist -1.91–-0.46% · other way +5.21% (n=12)
7TSMC TSMon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -2.2%
hist -3.16–+0.03% · other way +3.08% (n=12)
8Solana SOLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartCrypto▼ -1.9%
hist -2.93–+2.42% · other way +9.81% (n=7)
9AMD AMDon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.9%
hist -3.12–+0.06% · other way +3.87% (n=12)
10Broadcom AVGOon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.9%
hist -1.6–+0.61% · other way -4.28% (n=8)
11Micron MUon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.9%
hist -1.15–-0.44% · other way +1.77% (n=12)
12Marvell MRVLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.9%
hist -2.13–-0.17% · other way +3.08% (n=11)
13Hyperliquid (HYPE) HYPEon HyperliquidCrypto▼ -1.6%
model prior · unmeasured
14ASML ASMLon Hyperliquid 📈 chartEquity▼ -1.7%
hist -3.11–+0.41% · other way +0.83% (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 -3.5% · Chinese yuan -1.2% · High-yield credit -0.8% · Aussie dollar -0.8% · Turkish lira -0.8% · Indian rupee -0.7%

Historical precedent — what analogous events actually did

Across 40 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.

China retaliates to Liberation Day: 34% tariffs + rare-earth controls 2025-04 Gold tops $3,000 for the first time amid tariff and rate-cut fears 2025-03 August 2022 hot CPI 2022-09 Powell's hawkish 'pain' speech at Jackson Hole 2022-08 Chinese yuan breaks 7 per dollar; US names China manipulator 2019-08 Gold peaks at $850 1980-01 Volcker Saturday Night Special 1979-10 Smoot-Hawley clears the US House 1929-05 US-China extend tariff truce by another 90 days 2025-08 Israel strikes Iran — Operation Rising Lion 2025-06 US and China agree Geneva tariff truce, slashing rates 2025-05 October 2024 Iranian ballistic-missile attack on Israel 2024-10 Wagner Group mutiny against the Kremlin 2023-06 May 2022 US CPI sends S&P into a bear market 2022-06 Bank of England's first post-pandemic rate hike 2021-12 Fed retires 'transitory' 2021-11 Turkish lira record low on rate cuts 2021-11 Turkey fires central-bank governor Agbal, sparking lira plunge 2021-03 Saudi-Russia oil price war 2020-03 Bitcoin Cash hash war capitulation 2018-11 US List 3 tariffs on $200B of Chinese goods finalized 2018-09 US Section 301 List 1 tariffs take effect on China 2018-07 China retaliates: $50B tariff list incl. soybeans 2018-04 US Section 232 steel & aluminum tariffs imposed 2018-03 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 Russian ruble 'Black Tuesday' 2014-12 OPEC abandons output defense, opting for market share vs US shale 2014-11 Egyptian revolution / Mubarak uprising 2011-01 ECB's ill-timed pre-crisis rate hike 2008-07 Shanghai Sneeze global selloff with then-record VIX spike 2007-02 US airline stocks plunge ~40% on first trading day after 9/11 2001-09 Hong Kong defends the peg with sky-high HIBOR 1997-10 US-Japan auto trade war: 100% luxury-car tariff threat 1995-05 The Great Bond Massacre 1994-02 Black Wednesday / ERM crisis 1992-09 Soviet August coup attempt against Gorbachev 1991-08 Tiananmen Square crackdown 1989-06
AssetHistory saysAbnormal (20d · 5d)HitnConfidencevs cascade
HOOD HOODLONG+8.3% · 5d +0.8%73%13 0.44⚠ differs
CNY CNYSHORT-0.7% · 5d -0.2%70%31 0.39✓ matches cascade
KWEB KWEBSHORT-3.7% · 5d -1.5%71%27 0.35✓ matches cascade
XCU XCUSHORT-1.6% · 5d -0.8%69%31 0.32✓ matches cascade
AMD AMDSHORT-2.0% · 5d -1.3%68%37 0.30✓ matches cascade
COIN COINLONG+11.3% · 5d +3.6%67%13 0.29⚠ differs
ETH ETHSHORT-5.7% · 5d -7.3%67%22 0.28✓ matches cascade
NOC NOCLONG+1.6% · 5d +0.8%66%37 0.28✓ matches cascade
NVDA NVDASHORT-3.5% · 5d -5.1%67%31 0.26✓ matches cascade
Bitcoin BTCSHORT-5.4% · 5d -6.3%64%27 0.25✓ matches cascade
BABA BABASHORT-2.7% · 5d -2.9%64%27 0.24✓ matches cascade
KRW KRWLONG+0.2% · 5d +0.1%65%30 0.22⚠ differs
TSM TSMSHORT-1.9% · 5d -2.5%62%32 0.20✓ matches cascade
INTC INTCSHORT-0.9% · 5d -1.3%62%37 0.20✓ 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.