*This post was written by Camp Developer Relations Engineer Charlene Nicer and was first published April 11, 2025 on Substack. *

There are things I’d rather do than talk about tariffs.Reorganize my junk drawer. Watch a seven-hour documentary on moss. Attend a seminar hosted by my accountant’s cat.

But right now? I can’t stop thinking about tariffs.

They’ve hijacked the headlines. They’ve made CNBC look like a soap opera.And they’ve turned the stock market into a rollercoaster designed by a sleep-deprived raccoon.

**Markets are jittery. Billionaires are squabbling.**The Fed’s “Uncertainty Index” just hit a record high. Higher than COVID. Higher than the 2008 financial crisis. Higher than the day Blockbuster died

(Let that sink in for a minute).

And still—most people have no idea how tariffs actually work.

And I get it. Tariffs sound boring. Like something you pretend to understand at a dinner party and then quietly Google in the bathroom.

But this isn’t just about economics. This is about power, control, and the real fight for the future.

Let’s break it down.

This Isn’t Just About Imports

The newly announced tariffs? They’re not random. They have a strategy:

1. Incentivize companies to manufacture closer to home

2. Generate more revenue without raising income taxes

3. Pressure other nations into new trade deals

And whether you agree or disagree with the approach, the immediate result was clear: the phone lines lit up.

Countries around the world suddenly wanted to “talk.”

So why the market freakout?

Because markets don’t fear action—they fear the unknown.

This wasn’t about the tariffs themselves.It was about not knowing where the dominoes fall next. Markets hate fog. They hate the feeling of flying blind.

And lately? There’s been a lot of fog.

The Real Fight Isn’t Over Steel—It’s Over Source Code

This whole thing? It’s not just about protecting American manufacturing.

It’s about protecting American ideas.

For years, U.S. companies have been forced to give up intellectual property just to do business overseas.

Patents, code, research, designs—traded away like baseball cards just to get a seat at the table.

Tariffs are the blunt instrument we use when we can’t stop that theft with a handshake.

You can’t tariff stolen source code.But you can hit back in a way that makes countries think twice before copying your next-gen chip design or hijacking your AI architecture.

So while the headlines are talking about cars and aluminum?

The real war is over who gets to profit from innovation.

And Let’s Be Honest—Markets Feel Rigged Right Now

Here’s what really messes with investor psychology:

• The rules keep changing mid-game.

• Central banks are talking in riddles.

• Giant funds with algorithmic trading bots are front-running the market.

It doesn’t feel like capitalism. It feels like a chess match where half the pieces are invisible.

People aren’t just reacting to tariffs. They’re reacting to the sense that the game is rigged—or at least heavily optimized for people with Bloomberg terminals and PhDs in “volatility harvesting.”

And in that environment? Fear sells faster than facts.

So What Does It All Mean?

Here’s the boiled-down version:

• Tariffs aren’t going to destroy the economy, but they are a sign that the gameboard is changing

• Intellectual property is becoming the main battleground—expect more invisible wars over code, biotech, and chip designs

• AI, crypto, and innovation-driven assets? They’ll likely thrive amid this chaos

• A few big-name companies are about to benefit from reshoring and domestic production

• Some lesser-known micro-cap stocks with strong IP or supply chain advantages could be quietly positioned to crush it

Why I’m Not Scared

I was too young to grasp 9/11 or the 2008 crash—but I was there when oil went negative in 2020. And, of course, the world unraveled during the pandemic.

This? This is drama, not doom.

We’re in a moment where perception is outpacing reality.Where every data point becomes a Rorschach test.Where volatility is loud—but the fundamentals haven’t broken.

So while the noise level is high, I’m paying attention to where the smart money is flowing:

• Into AI infrastructure

• Into cybersecurity and chip design

• Into IP-heavy companies with pricing power

• Into decentralized systems immune to central manipulation

If you take one thing away from this:

**This isn’t just about taxes on imports.**It’s about who owns the rights to the future.

And like always?

Innovation will win. Bet accordingly.