Karim Walji is certain he is about lose business. Worried he may have to shrink his workforce — fire people — for the first time in eight years. He blames President Donald Trump and what Walji sees as a reckless power trip.

If tariffs evolve from a negotiating tactic to a new normal, economic and diplomatic costs to all of North America will grow.

President Donald Trump suspended on Thursday the 25% tariffs he imposed this week on most goods from Canada and Mexico, the latest twist in a fluctuating trade policy that has whipsawed financial markets and fanned worries over inflation and a growth slowdown.