You might have heard that stocks were in free fall for a time this morning and that the markets closed much lower than last week on news of escalation of the trade war with China. But even earlier, the Creature demonstrated he doesn’t understand how any of this works …
There is no reason for the U.S. Consumer to pay the Tariffs, which take effect on China today. This has been proven recently when only 4 points were paid by the U.S., 21 points by China because China subsidizes product to such a large degree. Also, the Tariffs can be…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2019
…completely avoided if you buy from a non-Tariffed Country, or you buy the product inside the USA (the best idea). That’s Zero Tariffs. Many Tariffed companies will be leaving China for Vietnam and other such countries in Asia. That’s why China wants to make a deal so badly!…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2019
…completely avoided if you buy from a non-Tariffed Country, or you buy the product inside the USA (the best idea). That’s Zero Tariffs. Many Tariffed companies will be leaving China for Vietnam and other such countries in Asia. That’s why China wants to make a deal so badly!…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2019
Yeah, China is cowering in terror of the Mighty Trump and wants nothing more than to make a deal —
Beijing will fight “to the end” in the trade war, the country’s state broadcaster said on Monday, just before China announced that it would raise duties on US$60 billion of American goods on June 1.
Disregarding warnings issued by US President Donald Trump, the Chinese Ministry of Finance said tariffs on thousands of US products will rise to as high as 25 per cent, from the original 10 per cent, in the latest escalation of the battle between the world’s two biggest economies.
Oh, wait …
In his public statements, Trump persists in describing the tarriffs imposed on China as a transfer of wealth from China to the U.S. A few days ago he tweeted “For 10 months, China has been paying Tariffs to the USA of 25% on 50 Billion Dollars of High Tech, and 10% on 200 Billion Dollars of other goods. These payments are partially responsible for our great economic results.” And, of course, he persists in not grasping that his tariffs actually function as a massive tax to be paid by consumers.
President Trump has spent the past 24 hours tweeting manically about trade, repeating the absurd falsehood that China is paying us billions in tariffs. We keep hearing that this shows Trump “doesn’t understand” how tariffs work.
But this is better seen as a straight-up, deliberate lie — a lie upon which Trump is staking his reelection.
A long-term trade war with China now looks plausible. Trump hiked tariffs to 25 percent on $200 billion of Chinese goods on Friday. Monday morning, China announced it will retaliate with new tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods.
If this does continue, Trump’s lie about China paying us billions in tariffs will become ever more imperative for him.
Sargent writes that negotiating better trade agreements with China was one of his central campaign promises. How much do most people care about trade agreements with China, though? As long as they are happy to buy Chinese-made consumer goods? As with other lies, at some point many people do notice that nothing is better. They didn’t really get a tax break. The factories didn’t really open. And so on.
But, but but…
But Mr. Preznt, if'n I kent by stuff maiden in Chiner, an' I ken only buy stuff made in here 'Murka, then howl I get more MAGA gear? An' mah wife loves Ivanka's stuff, but her stuff's made in Chiner 2! Wadda we doo?
Love You!
Signed, A Loyal MAGAT!!!
What's wrong with you? Haven't you heard of a farmer's market? They have tomatoes for $8 lb. And they are great!! You can taste the sun of America. They even have them in Manhattan except for $14.75.
You an probably find one that is convenient when you are driving between your warehouse jobs.
And I really can't buy a made in USA sock or plate or furniture etc because the USA doesn't make shit.
I'm not sure how this is supposed to play out in Trumpworld. The situation reminds me of a few of my convoluted childhood fiascos which snowballed out of control. Last week (IMO) Trump was sure he could bluster his way to a deal, something the markets were willing to play along with. China musta got their copy of the script late – they didn't cave in to Trump. They hit back with tariffs and Wall Street tanked. Trump is going to meet with China late next month.
Midwest farmers are in China's crosshairs. US Senators running for safe reelection could be in real trouble. The US House is unlikely to appropriate bail-out money for agribusiness that Trump put in the red. China might not allow Trump to save face if Trump has to back down – the defeat could be as obvious as my big nose if Trump has to back down. My guess is that Trump will back down the first month that unemployment numbers go UP. That could happen fast in the retail sector when prices spike. Consumer confidence could also tank in less than a month, which looks like the first moment Trump is going to reconsider (as I read the tea leaves) since the meeting with Trump and Xi is nearly a month away.
I'm holding my breath. The ONLY thing Trump can claim as a victory with real numbers to support the claim is the economy. Wages still suck, but the economy is good. How fast did that change for Bush? When Bear-Stearns collapsed, everything went to hell. If prices spike and consumers pull back hard Trump will be running exclusively on racism. He's got an unbroken string of international failures and the history of disgraces and scandals is going to get a lot of play. The stuff that's coming out on Trump's "success" will be blown by the facts for anyone with two eyes.
From Trump tweet: "…many tariffed companies will be leaving China for Vietnam and other such countries in Asia…"
So much for the campaign promise which got Trump elected: bringing those all those great manufacturing jobs back to the USA.
MVGA!
Well when you have Larry Kudlow stammering around on Fox news because he cannot say simple truths like tariffs are taxes that the consumer (that is you) will pay we have several problems. The first is Larry Kudlow, a borderline economic moron, and the second is Fox News, which is usually considered an oxymoron.
Larry Kudlow is a poor economist because he has a political bias. When paired with Trump he is a failed economist. Kudlow has been forced into the position of trying to be subservient to Trump on maters of the economy. Kudlow has even publicly admitted he lacks any real power and influence over Trump. To me this translates a pending economic disaster. When even Larry knows it is wrong and is trying to cover for the wayward master gone amuck, we have a problem Huston. Does the phrase 'This could be worse than Herbert Hoover' have any meaning to anyone?
OH NOOOOOOOOOO'S!
The GREAT Tim Conway is dead.
He was 85.
RIP Mr. Conway.
You always made me wet my pants with laughter!
Ya done alotta good!!!