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Trump's Tariffs

psionl0 said:
If national pride takes a backseat to money then we shouldn't have national pride.
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I agree. National pride is not a virtue. Your country has done things you shouldn't be proud of, and the things that might be weren't your doing. Be proud of what you have achieved, wherever you live.

And there's nothing wrong with making money. I operated a business that bought goods made in China and Taiwan. We worked together with our suppliers to make money for all of us, and provided our customers with good quality products at affordable prices. We also bought stuff from European, Australian and local suppliers - anyone who had something worth selling. The fact that most were foreigners doesn't bother me a bit, in fact I feel proud to have helped them get their products to a wider market - for the benefit of everyone.
 
More reporting on the next set of tariffs being imposed by President Trump:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44789827

Beijing described Washington's latest threat as "totally unacceptable," saying it would harm the world.

"The behaviour of the US is hurting China, hurting the world and hurting itself," a spokesperson for China's commerce ministry said in a statement.

The spokesperson also said the government would have to take the "necessary counter-measures".
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It's causing some unease in the US:

Many companies in the US are opposed to the administration's use of tariffs against China, saying they risk hurting business and the economy without being likely to change behaviour.
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and...

It's a difficult situation for a number of our companies. They're getting increasingly worried about where this is all going," Ed Brzytwa, director of international trade for the American Chemistry Council, which represents chemical companies, told the BBC on Tuesday before the latest measures were announced.

"They can't figure out what the endgame is."
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I guess that's because no-one in the Trump Administration knows either. IMO they assumed, against all good advice, that the opening salvo would result in a humiliating climb down by the Chinese. When it didn't they have doubled down. This is the standard operating method for Donald Trump.
 
I got the notice from my vendors that several items I carry are being affected by the tariffs and are going up in price.

hooray....winning....
 
The Don said:
I guess that's because no-one in the Trump Administration knows either. IMO they assumed, against all good advice, that the opening salvo would result in a humiliating climb down by the Chinese. When it didn't they have doubled down. This is the standard operating method for Donald Trump.
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Anybody who's observed Trump's SOP can anticipate the endgame: bankruptcy. His management incompetence gets schluffed off on the labourers and the B share class investors who don't get the special dividends from the money laundering part of the operation.

He still gets a paycheque, and the other beneficiaries are family and some friends who are in on it, and then finally, a few lawyers who were hired by the victims to try to get the last pennies on the dollar.

I'm trying to identify who plays what role in this.
 
IMHO it's truly incredible that so many in the GOP, which is supposed to be pro business,are supporting a policy which is about as damaging to business as you can get.
un freaking believable.
 
dudalb said:
IMHO it's truly incredible that so many in the GOP, which is supposed to be pro business,are supporting a policy which is about as damaging to business as you can get.
un freaking believable.
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Republican policy devolved into dogma as far back as the 90’s. Since then it’s commitment to business and a strong economy has largely been lip service that focused on short easily and frequently repeated tag lines.

Eg:
Instead of debating what the right level of regulation should be, they repeat “deregulation!!!”. Under-regulation can be as harmful to business and economic efficiency as over-regulation so the dogma of just reduce the amount of regulation was never really pro-business, at best it helped some while hurting others.

Instead of debating what the right amount of taxation should be. Magic beans aside, Defence spending + mandatory spending like Medicare/Medicaid make up close to 90% of the US budget. Taxation levels are already too low to fund Republican spending priorities, yet the dogma of “cut taxes” is all they know, and the result is government debt.

I’m not in the least surprised that a simple, easily repeated tag line like “America first, rawr!!!” can set aside much more complex explanations of why trade is good for business and good for the economy with the Republican base. If anything I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner.
 
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