The Trump Presidency 14

[Fast Eddie B]

Tariffs are a punishment for importers for not buying domestic products.
There is no other interpretation.

Well, it might be more objective to say that “Tariffs are an incentive to encourage importers to buy from domestic sources instead”.

As such, carefully crafted tariffs can be rationally supported. I think it was in the mid-1970’s when Harley Davidson was struggling mightily against Japanese imports, and a tariff was imposed on imported motorcycles 750cc and over. Though Harley is once again struggling, albeit for different reasons, those tariffs arguably did buy the company about 40 years of life. Which most would see as a good thing.

But Republicans have always favored free trade. Trump is either a moron or a liar or both when he says money from China is pouring into US coffers. Huge tariffs back and forth like these are not targeted and will cause pain all around.

And how did we get to the point where the power to impose tariffs fall on just one man? It seems more logical that congress have that power.

 

[Ladewig]

I find it puzzling that the GOP, who is supposed to be the party of business, is so on board with these tariffs given orthodox economic theory that tariffs in general are not a great thing for an economy. We don't get all the news over here in the UK but from my perspective there has been a surprising lack of opposition to the tariffs from within the President's own party.

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Some Congressfolk have said that publicly pointing out the president’s errors or dishonesty will result in a primary race in which one of the challengers is a Trump disciple. The president’s followers form a very strong voting block, so it would be likely for President atrump’s critic to lose the primary race. Then when the election for that seat came up, the Trumpian candidate would most likely lose to the (non-crazy) opposition candidate. So each representative has to decide whether to turn his or her seat over to a Democrat or to remain silent as the president alienates allies, adopts policies that don’t support American interests, advertises his weaknesses to those sitting across the negotiation table, and advances the idea that truth and evidence are “enemies of the people.”

ETA
Aggrandizes despots and tyrants, appoints relatives and cronies to key positions, acts as if Russia holds compromising information over him, allows the Saudis to go unchallenged, and attacks the English language with an unwavering passion

Assonance above all. Always assonance.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump Tweets

In one year Tariffs have rebuilt our Steel Industry - it is booming! We placed a 25% Tariff on “dumped” steel from China & other countries, and we now have a big and growing industry. We had to save Steel for our defense and auto industries, both of which are coming back strong!

China buys MUCH less from us than we buy from them, by almost 500 Billion Dollars, so we are in a fantastic position. Make your product at home in the USA and there is no Tariff. You can also buy from a non-Tariffed country instead of China. Many companies are leaving China.....

....so that they will be more competitive for USA buyers. We are now a much bigger economy than China, and have substantially increased in size since the great 2016 Election. We are the “piggy bank” that everyone wants to raid and take advantage of. NO MORE!

 

[Andy_Ross]

Employment of Steel workers is down 4% since 4 years ago. And here is Steel production.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump Tweets

We can make a deal with China tomorrow, before their companies start leaving so as not to lose USA business, but the last time we were close they wanted to renegotiate the deal. No way! We are in a much better position now than any deal we could have made. Will be taking in....

Billions of Dollars, and moving jobs back to the USA where they belong. Other countries are already negotiating with us because they don’t want this to happen to them. They must be a part of USA action. This should have been done by our leaders many years ago. Enjoy!

When the time is right we will make a deal with China. My respect and friendship with President Xi is unlimited but, as I have told him many times before, this must be a great deal for the United States or it just doesn’t make any sense. We have to be allowed to make up some.....

....of the tremendous ground we have lost to China on Trade since the ridiculous one sided formation of the WTO. It will all happen, and much faster than people think!

Our great Patriot Farmers will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of what is happening now. Hopefully China will do us the honor of continuing to buy our great farm product, the best, but if not your Country will be making up the difference based on a very high China buy......

....This money will come from the massive Tariffs being paid to the United States for allowing China, and others, to do business with us. The Farmers have been “forgotten” for many years. Their time is now!

 

[Belz...]

Employment of Steel workers is down 4% since 4 years ago.

Maybe he means "boom" in the other sense.





By the way, I object to your change in avatar; it's confusing as hell! You bring back Jack Dalton right now, or I'll change mine!

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Well, Trump can take full credit for Steele's production.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Maybe he means "boom" in the other sense.





By the way, I object to your change in avatar; it's confusing as hell! You bring back Jack Dalton right now, or I'll change mine!

I agree it confuses me too. I keep missing my own posts.

 

[TellyKNeasuss]

Evidence that Trump is acting tough, or that Trump has convinced himself he is right? Or are you asking for evidence of Norman's speculation? Did you want evidence that chocolate tastes better than vanilla too?

But green mint chocolate chip tastes better than chocolate.

 

[Belz...]

I agree it confuses me too. I keep missing my own posts.

Let me help you: CTRL-F "Trump tweets".

 

[Stacko]

Trump praises another right wing dictator today, joking that they are both controversial.

Trump meets Viktor Orban in White House

Apparently a lot of the left simply fled the country, and that favors Orban.

Controversial is an interesting euphemism for xenophobic, fascist, anti-Semite.

 

[Horatius]

China has other means of retaliation.
Most importantly, unlike what Trump thinks, how the US treats China on trade does bleed into anything China does, including their claim to Taiwan, the SCS, their role in Africa, the New Silk Road and, most importantly, North Korea.

Trump is that one neighbor who lets his dog **** on your lawn, and then asks you to pay half to repair the fence he installed ten years ago (literally, in Mexico's case at least).

....This money will come from the massive Tariffs being paid to the United States for allowing China, and others, to do business with us. The Farmers have been “forgotten” for many years. Their time is now!

That one word right there says it all about how Trump views business. You should be fawning all over him for granting his gracious permission to allow you to spend money at his establishment. Absolutely no understanding that trade is based on mutually beneficial agreements.

 

[Stacko]

That one word right there says it all about how Trump views business. You should be fawning all over him for granting his gracious permission to allow you to spend money at his establishment. Absolutely no understanding that trade is based on mutually beneficial agreements.

He sees all trade interactions as a zero sum game with a winner and a loser. It's a return to mercantilism.

 

[ponderingturtle]

When people think of China, they think of cheap plastic dollar store toys and kitchen utensils.

They don't think of all the electronic components, metal/steel components, vehicle components, raw materials that can't be so easily sourced from other parts of the world, etc etc.

Trump really has no clue the long line of dominoes in play when it comes to (specifically) the various manufacturing industries.

He has no clue how much it can cost a company for every hour they might have to stop their assembly lines because they don't have the parts they need to manufacture their finish product, or the parts they've received are inferior.

As an example: When you're in the business of making transit buses, you can't just buy your chassis from any ol' supplier anywhere in the world. That chassis not only has to pass welding xrays and a dozen other engineering quality inspections, it also has to be made to the 1/1000th of a millimeter to your specs in order for it to fit all the other parts you have coming in from other suppliers around the world. It's a whole bunch of fine-tuned calibrated puzzle pieces that all have to fit together perfectly to make the end product (the transit bus).

Depending on the type of manufacturing industry you're in, the design schematics of your particular product and the specifications of the parts you need to slap it all together can be very detailed and customized.... a long process of design configurations and reconfigurations between you and your supplier(s) before their manufactured component meets your needs.

Of course the steel from europe is also tarrifed and not given exceptions even when no one else in the world makes it. Us steel of course says "sure we can do that, we won't but maybe we could so don't give them an exemption".

 

[lomiller]

But Republicans have always favored free trade. Trump is either a moron or a liar or both when he says money from China is pouring into US coffers. Huge tariffs back and forth like these are not targeted and will cause pain all around.

Educated people, including economists, are leaving the Republican party. As they do, the incentive to support sound economic policy declines and ultimately Republican economic policy will become worse than it already is.

 

[TellyKNeasuss]

Our great Patriot Farmers will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of what is happening now.

Are Patriots classified as fruits or vegetables? Are they used as animal feed or are they sold in grocery stores?

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump Tweets

China will be pumping money into their system and probably reducing interest rates, as always, in order to make up for the business they are, and will be, losing. If the Federal Reserve ever did a “match,” it would be game over, we win! In any event, China wants a deal!

 

[Upchurch]

Trump Tweets

China will be pumping money into their system and probably reducing interest rates, as always, in order to make up for the business they are, and will be, losing. If the Federal Reserve ever did a “match,” it would be game over, we win! In any event, China wants a deal!

Trump has no idea what he’s doing

Trump’s standard negotiating practice — pitching some kind of fit at the very last minute, when the other party thought things were settled, in hopes of bullying his way to a better deal.

That might work with a subcontractor who doesn’t have the power to say no, or even with a fellow developer who vows on the spot never to do business with Trump again. But would any skilled negotiator think such a stunt would work with China, the world’s second-greatest economic power? Wouldn’t the Chinese government have to react in kind, if only as a matter of sovereign pride? And wouldn’t startled investors conclude that their fear of a serious trade war — the kind with no winners, only losers — had been realized?

I assume Trump realizes that China isn’t really “paying” the tariffs and that the cost is in fact borne by U.S. consumers, who will pay higher prices for made-in-China goods. Either the president constantly lies about this on his Twitter feed, hoping to fool the gullible, or he’s even more clueless about trade than I imagined.

 

[lobosrul5]

Trump has no idea what he’s doing

Trump’s standard negotiating practice — pitching some kind of fit at the very last minute, when the other party thought things were settled, in hopes of bullying his way to a better deal.

That might work with a subcontractor who doesn’t have the power to say no, or even with a fellow developer who vows on the spot never to do business with Trump again. But would any skilled negotiator think such a stunt would work with China, the world’s second-greatest economic power? Wouldn’t the Chinese government have to react in kind, if only as a matter of sovereign pride? And wouldn’t startled investors conclude that their fear of a serious trade war — the kind with no winners, only losers — had been realized?

I assume Trump realizes that China isn’t really “paying” the tariffs and that the cost is in fact borne by U.S. consumers, who will pay higher prices for made-in-China goods. Either the president constantly lies about this on his Twitter feed, hoping to fool the gullible, or he’s even more clueless about trade than I imagined.

I kinda hate to say it, but Trump is in a way, right. Our market is more important to China, than China is to the USA. But, they aren't a democracy. They can hold out longer than any US government can. If both countries keep raising tariffs on one another both will go into a recession. In the USA that means the opposing party will be elected, in China... the communist party will still be in charge in 2021.

 

[Minoosh]

I kinda hate to say it, but Trump is in a way, right. Our market is more important to China, than China is to the USA. But, they aren't a democracy. They can hold out longer than any US government can. If both countries keep raising tariffs on one another both will go into a recession. In the USA that means the opposing party will be elected, in China... the communist party will still be in charge in 2021.

I wonder if China will meddle in the way Russia did, trying to get a more malleable president.