Rationale to Trump's Tariffs

[Moksha]

What was the Academics' consensus of the Smoot-Hawley tariff?

[I Have Questions]

I suppose the face value of imposing tariffs on American imports is that Americans will end up funding the tariffs if they continue purchasing imported goods - because the suppliers will simply pass on the tariff charging via price increases.

That might drive Americans to buy alternative American-made goods. But if American-made goods were of equal or better quality, they’d be buying them already.

The other potential outcome is that foreign goods no longer get exported to America. Resulting in less choice for the American consumer. Is that a desirable outcome?

Perhaps you should ask the labor unions if America really does make less expensive and higher quality vehicles than other countries since unions took over and the right to work without being a union member was abolished.

I’m not sure that America makes lower quality, less expensive, cars now than prior to the establishment of employee protection measures.

[Kishkumen]

Perhaps you should ask the labor unions if America really does make less expensive and higher quality vehicles than other countries since unions took over and the right to work without being a union member was abolished.

If you want us all to be free to be the prey of exploitative plutocrats, then I have no sympathy for you. You're an idiot.

[Gunnar]

New Trump tariffs include countries with penguins but no people

Rachel Maddow looks at the sloppiness with which new international tariffs were announced by Donald Trump, including small, island countries with no population to speak of and certainly no significant exports that require tariff protection for the U.S. economy.

It's hilarious and underscores the stupidity and cluelessness of Trump! Watch and enjoy!

[Gunnar]

'When empires fall': British columnist aghast at 'single stupidest thing' Trump has done

Ian Dunt, a columnist for the British publication iNews, found himself shocked and aghast at the economic self-destruction that President Donald Trump is leveling on his own economy.

In his latest piece, Dunt remarked of Trump's big tariff announcement this week that "this is what empires look like when they fall" and then went on to describe damage being done by the president.

"This might be the single stupidest thing any of us will ever see," Dunt argued. "It is stupid in every way: presentationally, intellectually, politically, methodologically, morally and of course economically. The word stupid doesn’t really suffice for the full level of idiocy we’ve now reached."

Dunt found himself particularly appalled by the chart that Trump showed that contained wildly inflated figures about the tariffs foreign nations slap on American products.

"It looked like something out of US daytime television – those garish cheaply produced shows where you can win a cash prize if you spin a wheel," he remarked. "You half expected a showgirl to appear behind the American flags, draped over a tariff quota rate. That’s what he is really: a cheap knock-off daytime TV presenter."

As if that weren't bad enough, Dunt continued, "The numbers on the chart were pure gibberish."

In fact, the numbers on the chart were so far from reality that Dunt struggled to come up with the words to adequately describe them.

"It’s hard to state just how nonsensical that actually is," he wrote. "You might as well divide the numbers of apples in your kitchen by the number of bagels and use it to calculate your mortgage rate. To criticise it on political or economic grounds is too generous. It operates below the level of rational thought."

[Doctor Steuss]

Tarriffs have caused Taiwanese semiconductor manuacturerss to move from Taiwan to Arizona to avoid the tarriff.

Lol. No. It's amazing to me how Trumpists are able to craft such a comedically bizarre alternative reality to try to support their god-emperor's economic incompetence.

TSMC moved to Arizona to diversify its manufacturing base (Arizona already has a semiconductor industry), and because of the CHIPS Act. Keeping all manufacturing within Taiwan when there's constant geopolitical tensions between the US, China, and Taiwan isn't conducive to long-term economic viability and competitive advantage.

The CHIPS Act gave TSMC over $6 billion in direct funding to build their facility in Arizona.

I guess while purging information from websites, Trump's crew forgot about the US Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST.Gov - TSMC Arizona

[canpakes]

Tarriffs have caused Taiwanese semiconductor manuacturerss to move from Taiwan to Arizona to avoid the tarriff.

Lol. No. It's amazing to me how Trumpists are able to craft such a comedically bizarre alternative reality to try to support their god-emperor's economic incompetence.

TSMC moved to Arizona to diversify its manufacturing base (Arizona already has a semiconductor industry), and because of the CHIPS Act. Keeping all manufacturing within Taiwan when there's constant geopolitical tensions between the US, China, and Taiwan isn't conducive to long-term economic viability and competitive advantage.

The CHIPS Act gave TSMC over $6 billion in direct funding to build their facility in Arizona.

I guess while purging information from websites, Trump's crew forgot about the US Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST.Gov - TSMC Arizona

As well, the TSMC investment has been in process for 5 years and the Biden Administration arranged for some assistance.

https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-rel ... award-tsmc

ajax may have been missing some ‘current events’ updates over the years.

[Some Schmo]

'When empires fall': British columnist aghast at 'single stupidest thing' Trump has done

Ian Dunt, a columnist for the British publication iNews, found himself shocked and aghast at the economic self-destruction that President Donald Trump is leveling on his own economy.

In his latest piece, Dunt remarked of Trump's big tariff announcement this week that "this is what empires look like when they fall" and then went on to describe damage being done by the president.

"This might be the single stupidest thing any of us will ever see," Dunt argued. "It is stupid in every way: presentationally, intellectually, politically, methodologically, morally and of course economically. The word stupid doesn’t really suffice for the full level of idiocy we’ve now reached."

Dunt found himself particularly appalled by the chart that Trump showed that contained wildly inflated figures about the tariffs foreign nations slap on American products.

"It looked like something out of US daytime television – those garish cheaply produced shows where you can win a cash prize if you spin a wheel," he remarked. "You half expected a showgirl to appear behind the American flags, draped over a tariff quota rate. That’s what he is really: a cheap knock-off daytime TV presenter."

As if that weren't bad enough, Dunt continued, "The numbers on the chart were pure gibberish."

In fact, the numbers on the chart were so far from reality that Dunt struggled to come up with the words to adequately describe them.

"It’s hard to state just how nonsensical that actually is," he wrote. "You might as well divide the numbers of apples in your kitchen by the number of bagels and use it to calculate your mortgage rate. To criticise it on political or economic grounds is too generous. It operates below the level of rational thought."

I love hearing experts on particular topics talk about Trump in their area of expertise the same way I talk about him in general. What baffles me is that not everyone sees it.

[¥akaSteelhead]

Bye bye retirement....
Hello indentured corporate servitude!

[Doctor Steuss]

The conservative National Review pulled no punches. Which obviously means they are now deep state socialist leftists, something, something.

The new tariffs are economically illiterate, self-destructive, top-to-bottom nonsense, imposed with no sense of rhyme or reason, assembled by White House staffers who do not know which territories have serious trade relationships with the U.S. and which ones are inhabited entirely by penguins. Also, the White House continues to avoid almost any decision that could possibly antagonize Vladimir Putin, while inflicting as much pain as possible on longtime allies and vulnerable friends like Israel and Taiwan.

For America’s enemies, Wednesday was the best day in a long time.

[...]

We have a trade surplus with Australia, as well as an existing free-trade agreement. Under no twisted logic can anyone argue that the Australian government is screwing us by making our goods more expensive for customers in their country.

Yesterday, Trump announced a 10 percent tariff on all goods imported from Australia.

These are not retaliatory tariffs. This is a tantrum.

[...]

ADDENDUM: Oh, and we are finally evening the score with Tokelau, a dependent island territory of New Zealand, by imposing a 10 percent tariff.

Tokelau has a population of about 1,500 people. It has no official capital, according to the CIA World Factbook. “Tokelau lacks an airport and is only accessible via a day-long boat trip from Samoa.” It has no ports or terminals. It has an entire six miles of paved roads. The country’s national symbol is the tuluma, a fishing tackle box.

It has no political parties or leaders.

https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morn ... ff-regime/