He's wagering he'll get enough new taxes (despite buying going way down, which he didn't consider) to disguise his big tax cut gift to The Heritage Foundation.
Neither realizing he just destroyed their companies along with it.
Or São Tomé and Principe -- a very poor micronation in the Atlantic with one export: cocao.
So, Trump is making chocolate more expensive in America if only indirectly: Europe will buy the STP chocolate, leaving US to import at a higher price + tariff from elsewhere.
It's going to be more expensive no matter where it came from. Cocoa harvests are failing because of drought and other issues. We may be chocolate-less in a decade or less.
Contact affected countries via EU, assess the harm done by Trumps lunacy, develop joint measures to alleviate the damage. Network around the US.
They wanna be isolationist? Let them. See how it plays out.
tariff in x on imports from 🇺🇸 +
mean VAT rate on goods in x +
(number of visits by government officials from x to Biden - number of visits from government officials from x to Trump)
Look how small some of those nations are while US a behemoth. Kind of like soft power once meant we were gracious about smaller less developed nations using tariffs while we could afford in some cases to not reciprocate so they could grow and integrate into the global system. Brutal Americans, yes.
Yes, I've seen there was a "formula" at work here, but it's the equivalent of dividing apples by oranges and coming up with a result dictating how many pears you need. The FT is very good on the nonsense: https://www.ft.com/content/85d73172-936a-41f6-9606-4f1e17cb74df
Plus, "the numbers" do not pertain to the trade balance, but only to the trade balance in goods.....Count in the trade balance in services and the trade balance with EU is very small indeed.
Feels like we are not calling this what it is? Short-term Tr*mp lines his pockets with payments for special exemptions. Long term, a
sign he plans to be around past 2028-takes at least until then to shift production to US.
Well, the catch is that enough human beings decided to elect one of their the most ignorant, vile and stupid fellow humans as president, and gave him all the reasons to believe he could be a king.
A good old-fashioned absolutist despot, and a particularly stupid one for that 🤷♀️
Who again thought it was a good idea to leave the most prosperous economy in the hands of a man whom his Wharton professor called the stupidest student he ever had?
I really wish the message today was more unified around “let your republican senator know you don’t want these tariffs.” They can stop this. They can say there’s not a national emergency. They can block the tariffs. This needs to fall on their shoulders.
Thanks for the link. Illuminating article. Favorite quote:
[This will] hurt US consumers, because the pass-through of tariffs is higher than USTR claims. And the appreciation of the dollar will tend to offset the effects, by hurting US exports. In short this is both stupid and destructive.”
It’s peak Amateur hour! They really want America to make cheap t-shirts instead of Vietnam making them, like that’s high value!? No idea where these people learnt anything about Economics!?
I think it was like the pardons. Bessent showed up with a few and Trump said “Fuck it. Tariff them all.” So, at the last minute, they grabbed an internet spreadsheet list of all countries in the world and slapped some numbers.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-reciprocal-tariff-chart-2054514
According to analysts and later White House clarification, each country's tariff rate was based on the U.S. trade deficit with that country, divided by the value of that country's exports to the U.S. Trump then cut that number in half, saying he was being "kind."
The column beside the country’s name is headed “Tariffs”. E.g. Thailand = 90%. This is a blatant lie! 🇹🇭 does not have a 90% tariff on US goods! Rich 🇺🇸 buys 90% more goods than it sells to them. If it wasn’t so destructive to the world economy, it would be hysterically funny in its stupidity.
A bilateral trade imbalance just isn't problematic. We rich Americans like buying stuff from Vietnam. The Vietnamese can't afford to buy as much from us. What's the problem?
It's like saying I have a trade imbalance with the grocery store because I buy food and they don't buy anything from me.
Who the fuck knows? Maybe one of his major donors went there on vacation and got food poisoning. We should stop looking for logic in his decisions. It’s just soft-brained madness.
Nope. He is creating a vehicle for companies in the US to ask him for a favor. Trump is TRANSACTIONAL and wants US companies to do what he says "or else." This is one of the "or else" things. If you comply, stop doing DEI, Etc you get an "exception" to the tariff. If not? Well it sucks to be you.
everything trump does is to distract from what he just did the day before, notice the war text chain is old news now. he is a master at distraction and we take the bait 100% of the time.
My guess is it has something to do with the size of our trade deficit with countries linked to GDP or something. Or - Occam's razor, he's just going by his gut
Is this related to China's strategy of moving their manufacturing throughout other asian countries? A risk mitigation strategy they implemented after his last round of economic warfare during his first term. i dont know the manufacturing trade data so this is a hypothesis.
This is somewhat what I was thinking also, many of those countries have been growing as manufacturing centres partly by China but also by companies looking to move away from China for manufacturing due to cost and other business continuity concerns post covid.
They remind him of what a coward he was during the Vietnam War and its aftermath, getting out of combat on a BS medical, while some poor kid had to serve in his stead.
Fills that hole in his cruel, sociopathic, narcissistic heart. Being able to inflict needless pain globally makes him feel powerful and sort of makes up for his intellectual, social, financial and cultural ignorance and sterility. He knows deep down he's an ultra-dumb schmuck.
I think they maybe wanting to get rid of the income tax- a couple red states have recently and then we could have the most regressive tax possible.. no public services..
He will use government money to bail out certain donors. Back to your point about where he got the numbers from: they come from a darker place than the air…
The GOP playbook since the 1980s has been to inflict economic hardship on any class of American outside the top 20 percent in earnings. This is why we have a decent amount of problems we have now. On top of the fact that the democrats were living in centrist third-way neolib economic land.
Whoever was so duped to vote for this ... by thinking he was going to work on costs/prices to go down, oh well! This is stupidity and hopefully, those who voted for this will check their 401K to watch its slump.
Certainly, he can only count to 1.
Tariffs are paid by you!
Retaliatory tariffs lead to less exports of your goods.
I'm not saying other countries won't suffer, but you will suffer most, because there will be trade agreements excluding the US.
This all may lead to WWIII.
It's the % difference of imports and the US is a huge super consumer compared to others so the more US citizens consume the more punishment for someone else 🤪
They also see VAT elsewhere as a tariff on them but everything has VAT and the US doesn't pay that for Europeans
Retaliatory tariffs is a misnomer. Australia for instance does not have tariffs on US goods imported into Australia. We do have quality standards for health and biosecurity safeguards.
Every number, but if data or story he relates is pulled from thin air or his nether regions. No one in a position to do anything (GOP, media that speaks to the great unwashed who elected Mump) cares.
“The numbers [for tariffs by country] have been calculated by the Council of Economic Advisers … based on the concept that the trade deficit that we have with any given country is the sum of all trade practices, the sum of all cheating,” a White House official said.
Listening to him on the radio on my way home all I could think was, what a wonderful world it would be if we could just live in his world of delusions of grandeur!
Well, he was born about 10 miles from where I live. A major bridge in the city is called the Geordie Howe Bridge and my late father knew both Geordie and his wife. Elbows up!
His goal is no income tax. No IRS. Then there will be much less govt. revenue, so big cuts to programs. Only winners are the wealthy & big corporations. SOS!
It’s a ridiculous number but there is math involved. It’s our trade deficit with each nation divided by the amount they sell us in the first column and the second just divides that by two with some rounding.
No, he’s not. For example, he placed reciprocal tariffs on Heard and McDonald Islands. They may be uninhabited. And they may be in Antarctica. But those fuckin penguins are going to learn their lesson.
To the families and friends of these young Americans - I am so sincerely sorry for your loss and sorrow. God bless and rest the souls of your lost beloved.
Placing tariffs on countries that he probably couldn’t even find on a map is asinine.I would love to see him identify where Equatorial Guinea, Reunion or Christmas Island is.
That’s how you know there was absolutely no rhyme nor reason to any of this.
They really think they’re smarter than we are …
Sorry not this administration.😂
No, out of his ass and his idiot financial advisers can't tell him no because he demands loyalty! They know better, but want to be part of the oligarchs! They need more money! If he succeeds they need to stay away from windows.
@anneapplebaum.bsky.social
Any chance this could be more Trump corruption? Everyone knows tariffs hurt consumers. Could Trump simply be wielding his tariff power to extort 10’s or 100’s of millions from corps. who are willing to move money (through, say a meme coin) to him for favorable policy?
Trump has told industry not to raise their prices. (Won't quote my source sorry). So US business is going to be paying for this one way or another. What is going to give?
He's using the levers of State as a tool to manipulate the markets, so he and his billionaire accomplices can profit from trading in futures (knowing the outcome of their trades beforehand). They are likely making billions right now.
Actually pulling the numbers from his ass Anne. The economy wizard at his best. And people worried about Biden who was as clear thinking and a real economic wizard but “ they” voted for this clown.
My guess is that everyone around the mad king tried to talk him out of it, but he's obsessed with tariffs and won't take no for an answer. He'll blame Biden and every Dem who ever stalked the earth for the financial disruption this will cause & his sycophants on RW media will willingly parrot that.
Yes. He is. This is all a performance. He has not skin in the game at this point - just another attention-grabbing stunt. All because McConMan and Roberts kept him out of prison.
Comments
I'll huff and I'll puff and ....
It's their nature.
Also he's rich and won't notice higher prices one bit.
Hell, most of Conservative ethos revolves around: "Why are the folks I don't like having a 'better' time than me?"
I guess the crabs will be held responsible.
there is no conspiracy here
he just wants to feel powerful
But do not discount that he senses some personal financial benefit to all this.
He's wagering he'll get enough new taxes (despite buying going way down, which he didn't consider) to disguise his big tax cut gift to The Heritage Foundation.
Neither realizing he just destroyed their companies along with it.
Fucking morons. Stumbling over their own greed.
in short: he aims to bring back the golden age of the robber barons by breaking the backs of workers.
just as god intended.🙄
So, Trump is making chocolate more expensive in America if only indirectly: Europe will buy the STP chocolate, leaving US to import at a higher price + tariff from elsewhere.
They wanna be isolationist? Let them. See how it plays out.
New tariff against country x =
tariff in x on imports from 🇺🇸 +
mean VAT rate on goods in x +
(number of visits by government officials from x to Biden - number of visits from government officials from x to Trump)
https://bsky.app/profile/kyivindependent.com/post/3llueew3wes2e
They're too small and not rich enough to buy as much from us as we do from them.
sign he plans to be around past 2028-takes at least until then to shift production to US.
A good old-fashioned absolutist despot, and a particularly stupid one for that 🤷♀️
[This will] hurt US consumers, because the pass-through of tariffs is higher than USTR claims. And the appreciation of the dollar will tend to offset the effects, by hurting US exports. In short this is both stupid and destructive.”
It’s Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School.
According to analysts and later White House clarification, each country's tariff rate was based on the U.S. trade deficit with that country, divided by the value of that country's exports to the U.S. Trump then cut that number in half, saying he was being "kind."
It's like saying I have a trade imbalance with the grocery store because I buy food and they don't buy anything from me.
We Really like your husband work.
Ty
That's my take.
This is the “anti DEI” shit (aka white supremacy)
just...wow....
They haven't spoken about trade in 5 years and now within 2 months:
https://bsky.app/profile/angrystaffer.bsky.social/post/3llul2b7ai22m
Vietnam is shown as having an effective tariff rate of 90% against US trade.
I’m genuinely curious whether these numbers have any merit whatsoever.
https://bsky.app/profile/hmmvryintrstng.bsky.social/post/3llugxrcu3c2j
What did the US-Citizens do
to deserve such a dump Government?
...
they VOTED
@anneapplebaum.bsky.social
...so it appears that Stinky sees every country like a TrumpWorld supplier that he can push-over, welsh on, or bankrupt.)
https://bsky.app/profile/ianbremmer.com/post/3llup7dfi3c2i
That's not to support these tariffs, which are the economic equivalent of saying, "hold my beer" to Smoot-Hawley, but that's undoubtedly why.
He doesn't have the strength to do the long, hard work of creating; he only has enough energy to destroy.
He's really dumb & thrives on attention.
Tariffs are paid by you!
Retaliatory tariffs lead to less exports of your goods.
I'm not saying other countries won't suffer, but you will suffer most, because there will be trade agreements excluding the US.
This all may lead to WWIII.
They also see VAT elsewhere as a tariff on them but everything has VAT and the US doesn't pay that for Europeans
He expects world leaders to kiss his ass, pretend to negotiate a deal while they find a way to pay him off.
Its just a fucking shakedown’
Rockin' the Casbah, Rock the Casbah
Tariff don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah, Rock the Casbah
Rockin' the Casbah, Rock the Casbah
Tariff don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah, Rock the Casbah
Because we have to buy crappy products from them for some reason?
They are just arbitrarily applied tariffs.
Not the air. The area…
…in the rear, below his belt buckle and just above his thighs.
Miller or some other miscreant!
No real thought.
“The numbers [for tariffs by country] have been calculated by the Council of Economic Advisers … based on the concept that the trade deficit that we have with any given country is the sum of all trade practices, the sum of all cheating,” a White House official said.
They're coming straight out of his ass.
Lol
Thank you for your service is not enough!!!
@5calls.org
To the families and friends of these young Americans - I am so sincerely sorry for your loss and sorrow. God bless and rest the souls of your lost beloved.
Let peace begin with me and you.
He’s a serial prevaricator
He’s also 🦇💩😜
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/live/trump-tariffs-live-updates-steep-liberation-day-tariffs-rock-markets-reverberate-across-the-world-191201769.html
They really think they’re smarter than we are …
Sorry not this administration.😂
Any chance this could be more Trump corruption? Everyone knows tariffs hurt consumers. Could Trump simply be wielding his tariff power to extort 10’s or 100’s of millions from corps. who are willing to move money (through, say a meme coin) to him for favorable policy?
A madman is at the wheel!
So I guess that's a yeah
He's using the levers of State as a tool to manipulate the markets, so he and his billionaire accomplices can profit from trading in futures (knowing the outcome of their trades beforehand). They are likely making billions right now.
+ a must-read thread:
https://bsky.app/profile/chrismurphyct.bsky.social/post/3lluxkmx7wc2m
He’s pulling them from his ASS!!
I doubt this Admin will release ACCURATE NUMBERS when it comes to Inflation, Employment ect..
Probably trying to figure out a way to 'falsify' daily Stock Market gains/losses too.
NOTHING they say can be believed.
He's as dumb as he could possibly be!
#tariffs #ego #dumb
This is a good article from Feb which fact checked much of this nonsense.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjw4epl1994o
https://bsky.app/profile/hmmvryintrstng.bsky.social/post/3llugxrcu3c2j
I'm not sure if is talking about tariffs or length
https://aiwillybillhuman.substack.com/p/liberation-day-or-lobotomy-day-trumps