Happy Hunger Games, Here Come More Tariffs!
Setting the economy on fire is just one of many services Trump provides.
So, those tariffs that Trump promised then put on hold for 30 days have kicked in, with another batch set to take effect on April 2, including on all imported cars and agricultural products. There’s a 25 percent tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, plus an extra 10 percent on China on top of the 10 percent he’d already ordered on February 1, making US tariffs the highest they’ve been since 1943. And a 10 percent tax on Canadian energy imports such as natural gas and oil. Canada supplies about 70 percent of our oil, so prepare to put “I DID THAT” Trump stickers next to all the pumps.
Why did tariffs go down in the ‘40s? Because they were an economic disaster! THEY ARE A TAX ON PRODUCTS that gets passed on to consumers. They are not paid by foreign governments, nor the tooth fairy. Take it away, Ben Stein:
While the guy who bankrupted six businesses is not exactly a scholar of history, he already tried setting fire to NAFTA with tariffs in his first term to “solve the opioid crisis.” It reduced US real income by $1.4 billion a month, and tanked the stock market back then too (and, surprise, did not “solve the opioid crisis”). Then he was forced to spend $28 billion to bail out US farmers. But he thinks this will be fun for them!
Then he switched up the justification for the tariffs again.
But as much “fun” as it might be to try, US farmers can’t do things like grow avocados in January. And considering that only 19 kilos of fentanyl, or just under 42 pounds, came across the border from Canada last year, the opioid excuse doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Plus, Canada and Mexico already did the performative things he demanded. Mostly before he even asked!
So what is this really about? Maybe how Putin doesn’t only want Ukraine, he wants America to burst into flames like a self-immolating Tesla, and finest-asset Trump is happy to oblige. If any Trump action appears to be a mystery, “this helps Putin” is usually the answer. Coincidentally, the White House is also reportedly working to lift some Russian sanctions, at the same time it punishes our biggest trade partners.
And tariffs are a quick and easy way to sink the economy and alienate our friends, so Putin likey! Watch the Dow plunge in real time while the stable genius rambles! “X” user Armand Doma added a soundtrack.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also fell, along with stock markets around the world. Don’t check your retirement funds! The tariffs will be the equivalent of an estimated extra $800 a year tax hike on US consumers, and are expected to cost about 330,000 jobs. Are we great again yet?
And they are violating existing trade laws, for what that’s worth. China has made a complaint to the World Trade Organization, though nothing is expected to come of that, because the WTO’s effectively non-functional these days.
Retaliation is already happening. China is immediately imposing extra tariffs of 15 percent on US chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton, and 10 percent on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and dairy. And they wrote up a blacklist of 15 companies on an export-control list, and banned trade with the US biotech company Illumina, the world’s leading producer of gene-sequencing machines.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly confirmed that Canada will implement $155 billion worth of retaliatory tariffs against the United States on exports including orange juice, peanut butter, wine, coffee, cars, trucks, steel, and aluminum, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will cut off the US’s electricity.
“If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything — including cut off their energy with a smile on my face, and I'm encouraging every other province to do the same. […] They rely on our energy. They need to feel the pain.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she'll announce retaliatory measures on Sunday. And the European Parliament has expressed bafflement and disgust. Chair Bernd Lange: “It is incomprehensible why the US puts illegal and completely unjustified tariffs on its allies, thereby disrupting entire North American value chains and completely undermining the operations of companies. Make no mistake, American companies, workers and consumers will suffer too. There is no winner in a trade war, only losers. Of course the additional tariffs on China also don’t seem to be based on an objective analysis.” The EU has also said it will take “firm and proportionate” measures in response to 25 percent US tariffs on steel and aluminum due to take effect March 12.
Hey, Jeff Bezos said that the Washington Post opinion pages were going to be “writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.” Crippling tariffs is the most un-free-market thing there is, I am sure the Washington Post opinion page has a lot to say about it! LOL JK, crickets.
If you’ve been putting off buying a car, phone, washing machine, or giant bag of avocados from Costco, today is a good day to splurge.
At least love is still free?
[DW / WSJ archive link]
"Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product" ... does he think there is a big switch you turn on to make more food, like the big spigot in California you can turn to get more water to the south?
Was talking to bro and found out disowned proud trumper sister is now claiming she didn't vote for PAB.