American Farm Bureau reports lost sales of soybeans to China has already exceeded the 2016-17 losses. on https://www.fb.org/market-intel/lost-soybean-sales-to-china-continue-to-...
7
Oh, for Pete’s sake!
Stop publishing editorials and op-eds the average American doesn’t understand and won’t agree with regardless of the truth. To most Americans the NYTs opinion pages are like the boy who cried wolf. They get that you don’t like Trump.
You want to get rid of him? Find another Bill Clinton to run.
Call me a cynic, but that’s what you need to do. Otherwise, your just making money selling papers.
6
Trade in services? Are you serious, NYT? Our service secotr is doing fine. Our manufacturing sector is in a spiral and the people that affects are hurting. This is why Trump won and Hillary lost. You still don't get it.
1
“Much of what the president has said is malarkey.”
Why does the NYT have to sugarcoat things in this way. Why can’t they call them what they are: lies. Lies that are meant to deceive and con an uniformed electorate.
13
"Share Your Thoughts"?
I ALWAYS have thoughts about Mr. Donald J. Trump.
Don't you?
I am unable to believe that (deep down) the President cares about tariffs. . .. or American imports and exports. . .. or American farmers. . . .or American workers. . .or American anything.
Guess I'm a cynic. When it comes to our President. . .
. . .my cynicism is BOUNDLESS.
Until someone provides me irrefutable proof to the contrary. . . ..
I will NEVER--not in a thousand years!--believe that our President is doing ANYTHING else but bellowing and posturing on the stage of his own reality show.
Facts 'n' figures? Come on, New York Times! This guy doesn't go in for facts 'n' figures. His attention span is virtually zero. Position papers--considered opinions submitted by experts--aw shucks! Gimme a BREAK!
"I wanna hear loud CHEERS emanating from my BASE. I wanna hear loud mocking LAUGHTER as I excoriate Pocahontas (for the zillionth time) or the Fake New Media or the Failing New York Times. Or Crooked Hillary. Or the Democrats. Or whatever.
"I wanna CONGRATULATE my shrieking partisans on their inestimable good fortune. . . .
. . . .in having ME as their President. Their champion.
"The host on that worldwide reality show in which they ALL have a bit part.
"Now, gentlemen. . .
". . .talk to me about trucks and services and dairy products!
"Who cares?
"Not THIS child!
"Not me!"
Heaven help us all!
13
It seems your president is stupid.
17
Donald misleads everyone, either intentionally or out of pure ignorance.
Did you know Ivanka's line does not get to have the tariffs?
If his middle America fans think he cares about them, they are in for a rude awakening. Their tax relief runs out when he is not longer president, his perks do not.
His persona is a sham...He bankrupted multiple times and was even fired from The Apprentice! He was born with the silver spoon or we would not even know his name. He is an embarrassment to our nation.
20
30 millions Canadians buy in total more American goods and services than 360 millions Americans buy in total Canadian goods and services.
Can even Trump supporters understand this simple statistic and how extremely upset Canadians are to be treated by your president as not trading "fairly" with your country?? And I am not even talking about the fallacious and preposterous pretext Trump used to impose tariffs because Canada is a "national security threat" to the US.
21
I can handle policy differences but the incessant lying is what drives me nuts about Trump.
I agree with others that he knows exactly what he's doing, there's a reason why he does better the less educated the voter is.
13
Great opinion piece. Maybe it should be retititled though, perhaps Trump being Trump, because it is the same broken record he plays regardless of the subject matter.
5
Trump only lies. He lies about the trade deficits, primarily because he doesn't understand how our superior GDP numbers come about and we have "trade deficits". We're number one in the economic world, number one in GDP, GDP growth, and number in annual personal income. But jis limited schooling, at Penn's business school, and not it's MBA program, has left him as incapable of understanding economics as he was before he went to school. After school he proved to be a trick. A person easily tricked. Such as paying a woman who an affair with a him, a fine married Christian gentleman, $130,000 not to talk about the affair. That's a trick. Biggest trick I ever heard of, and I'm a certified street rat. At any rate, the man's a trick and Putin is tricking him, and us.
7
For those of us living in retirement on fixed incomes, the news that the Trump Administration has managed to trigger inflationary pressures after so many years of stability is dismaying news. Heckuva job, Trump and his so-called economists.
17
During his campaign, Mr. Trump made grandiose claims based on ultrasimplified and uninformed thinking. Now he’s acting out those one-dimensional "plans" literally. Not, I suspect, because he has confidence in his premises, but simply because he managed to get in on that line and so figures that hewing to it will buy another term AND - much more importantly - maintain a Republican Congress, his bulwark against accountability. The alternative - putting his head and heart into climbing the learning curve - seems far too onerous...and too risky. He knows firsthand that, when politicians try to express how they have learned and grown and changed their thinking, that leaves them open to blistering attacks from low-flying gadflies like Donald Trump. The choice must seem a no-brainer for him. And if the coming elections don't break all records in a national statement of "enough is enough!" then he will have been correct.
9
Unfortunately, Donald doesn't realize what every competent and experienced negotiator understands: the only circumstance in which negotiation can be a zero sum game is one where there is a guarantee that the negotiators will not be repeat players. (That style of negotiation may occasionally work in real estate markets, but has no traction elsewhere.) Negotiation in international relations is never a zero sum game, and any negotiator who approaches it as if it might be might as well go home & tweet!
11
Lets talk about peanuts. Seriously. The U.S. imposes a 300% tariff on imported peanuts and peanut products to protect peanut farmers in the Carolinas and some other states. It is almost impossible to buy non-American peanut products in Canada, even though we do have a few peanut farmers. China, India and Nigeria are the worlds biggest producers of peanuts and export to Europe and other countries.
8
I will take the President's complaints seriously when the US's non-tariff barriers on the import of Australian beef, sugar and wool are removed.
12
I am so very tired of hearing about all the damage Trump is doing. So. Much. Damage.
Yet, he is still here... still causing irreparable damage to the nation and our allies. And Congress does nothing.
I just want him gone! I just want the damage to stop. I just want to stop hearing how our allies are our enemies, and our enemies are our friends! If Trump was like his wife, and went around with a green raincoat with, “I am bought and paid for by the Russians!” on the back, it could not be more obvious.
Enough! Someone in Authority with a sense of Duty in our government, needs to something, and soon! We will soon have only one friend left: Russia - which appears to be Trump’s ultimate goal.
16
According to Donald Trump third world women who breast feed their children are cheating American formula makers.
If you want to complain about Chinese underhanded tactics on trade you don't threaten countries for recommending breast feeding over US corporate interests.
15
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but in the first paragraph you euphemize his lies, as you continually did during the campaign, this time calling them "malarkey". I don't even know what that really is.
I can't help but wonder how much it might have helped us all if The Times and other major mainstream media had stepped-up to call liar a liar back in the day, rather than tip-toe around the facts with obfuscatory rhetoric.
I hope Al Franken does a DJT sequel to his great Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them...
8
At the G-7 summit, the President proposed no tariffs and subsidies between member countries, and our European and Canadian "allies" poo-poohed such an idea.
What the editorial does not mention is the US enacted bilateral trade agreements with Europe that remain in place to this day and we still comply with. But European countries have enacted trade restrictions on our exports to their markets.
Canada has a dairy and egg cartel in place that US egg and dairy companies have wanted access to since the 1970's but Canada stubbornly refuses to scrap. If Canada and Europe are interested in trade then they should act like it.
Otherwise, the US Is no longer under any obligation to keep our trade barriers low when our so-called "allies" don't.
The danger of statistics is that you can 'cherry pick' numbers to make a point.
All countries have tariffs or practices that run counter to the idea of true free trade.
For example, Canada has supply side management for its dairy industry. But, the US directly subsidizes industry through farm bills.
And as for your president proposing no tariffs and subsidies- well he proposes many things, then promptly does the opposite.
13
We all feel sorry for poor America. The reason why America has no Universal Health Care or affordable University for midle class Americans is also the fault of the rest of the world.
10
Trump is taking advantage of our strong economy and low unemployment. His tariffs' damage probably won't be felt until after November. But hopefully Americans will understand his utter incompetence before Nov. 2020.
8
Trump is not just taking advantage of your strong economy and low unemployment, he is actually taking credit for it.
It seems that all good things are of his doing, and anything going wrong is the fault of... everybody else.
8
President Trump, who loves the uneducated, spends a lot of time and energy fulminating about how badly the approximately one third of American labor who work in the sweaty, manly manufacture of physical things like stamping out copies of iron wingnuts based on the original 1878 design, and pretty much never mentions over 2/3 of Americans who work in the more "elitist" services sector.
uncanny how these proportions mirror his support among the voters,isn't it?
when Trump's tweets and speeches are not telling selective truths, or leaving things out wholesale, they are outright lies.
I have to admit it: Mitt Romney had him pegged right as a phony and a con man.
what will it take for his supporters to wake up to see they're being played? is fear and prejudice that blinding?
14
Malthus made a mistake that taught the world about innovation.
45 is lying for power and wealth, which will teach the world that liars do succeed.
But will we learn the most important lesson? That liars succeed in a zero sum game, where others lose; while Malthus showed us how to break free of a zero sum game?
5
Buy advertising time on Fox & Friends. . .Trump's primary source of information.
6
Mr. Trump would not like the failing New York Times to call foreigners, cunning. He believes himself to be the most cunningly. Accurate numbers don't matter to him. History doesn't matter to him. This is his 15 seconds of fame. Come on New York times, let him bask in his imagined glory.
In historical planetary terms, his time as president amounts to a grain of sand but it only takes a well place hunk of grit to bring a machine to a halt. Keep your spanning wrenches and grease guns handy. RAW
3
This man has sold his soul to the devil. Every thing he does can be described by 1 of seven traits: greed, lust, wrath, pride, envy, sloth and gluttony. His belligerence lands him in the headlines every single day. The day he was elected, I thought now here is a man who always thought that the world revolves around him, and now sadly, it does.
6
Oh…. Ivanka’s imports from China are exempt from the tariff’s? But what about the American farmers? I hope all those so-called christian, racist, misogynist trump sycophants enjoy seeing their livelihood float down the trump sewer of lies. They sowed the wind, and now, they are going to reap the whirlwind
8
More simply stated, the arithmetic doesn't support Trump's position. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lerner_symmetry_theorem
As USA imposes import tariffs, prices rise on affected goods. Our business model is 'supply & demand'; therefore, we have seen our companies raise prices for no other reason than they can take advantage of the tighter supply. Because worker output is flat, any pay raise will be inflationary. Because the Trump-Navarro-Lighthizer tariffs strengthen the USD against foreign currencies, our goods produced in USA, will be more expense to others and this leads to job loss.
These policies are more than 600 years old and always end up damaging the country they are supposed to protect. Why, then do T-N-L pursue this destructive path?
Canada's government does not subsidize its dairy industry: quite unlike the United Staes. Why should Canada allow free entry of government subsidized US dairy products when its producers have no such subsidy? Canada's system sets quotas for its producers and the unsubsidized prices are higher than in the US. Also Canada isn't as free and easy about feeding "whatever works" into a cow to increase production. So our milk is safer. The only problem comes in when our producer's production targets exceed the Canadian market which I don't think is generally a problem. But when it does arise there have been cases of dumping that excess production into export markets potentially hurting US producers regardless of where it gets dumped. That is a fair complaint, and should not be allowed. Personally, I think the Canadian system of managed markets is brilliant at relieving government from unending agricultural subsidies and instead of criticizing it, the US should consider adopting it. And that would leave more tax revenue to help people and less for corporate farms.
13
He misleads everyone about most everything. Why should this be any different?
8
omg! 2%, 15%, 0.25%, whatever! Our manufacturing base has been shipped overseas and elsewhere goin’ on...what... 50 years now plus some. My
sweaty underwear bears the “made in mexico” label, as do my absolutely
perfectly delicious avocados.
Over this time, blue or red in washington, we have all had to adjust our
business , purchasing and moral models to maintain and survive. So now,
automatically we need to shift back to american based manufacturing via
heavy tariffs? Really, we must be fooling ourselves!
....all things must pass, but it is apparent that we have to let this
neo rah rah make american manufacturing great again concept pass through
some type of aging blue collar boomer portal.
personally, i’ll buy it for a spell, and see what actually happens. but
then....back to reality?
1
The article leaves out the fact that the US subsidizes AND promotes dairy products with taxpayer dollars. To soak up excess cheese production from price supports, the US government "checkoff" program promotes those products to an unwitting public and then forces it on schools. "Got Milk?" and "Bacon double cheese" are just two of the slogans dreamed up by our own government with taxpayer money. Meanwhile, the USDA counts cheese pizza as a "vegetable" in school lunch "nutrition" program requirements.
Making this policy most disastrous is the fact that dairy products promote cancer (especially breast and prostate due to hormones), atherosclerosis and other chronic diseases. Add that to "supersizing" the obesity epidemic at schools with the "vegetable" cheese pizza requirement.
Trump's biggest question should be why would the government provide massive subsidies for and promote a product that kills its citizens. Maybe he's too busy stuffing his face with a "bacon double cheeseburger" to care. Regardless, the rest of the world is a better place for any tariffs that contains this toxin in the US. A total ban would be more appropriate.
1
Misleads or lies to. The difference matters.
3
Since the majority of people in the US do not support Trump who is he ranting to? We know better. We know when he lies. I can only think that our elected officials are complicit. How? Have they taken money from Russia? Is this why they don't want the investigation to go forward? There's no way the election was legitimate under these circumstances.
5
Someone should tell America about China's unfair and unequal trade imbalance.
3
Someone should tell Donald Trump to shut the heck up and move to Russia. It would save us beleaguered U.S. taxpayers the cost of the coming court fight when he tries to evade a subpoena, and he'd love living closer to his homeboy Vladi.
12
There's no talking to the Bully in Chief.
2
Electing an arrogant ignoramus has consequences, more every day. Trump attacks Germany for importing gas from Russia and won’t acknowledge having imported crucial political support from Russia, whose leader’s ring he is about to kiss. To call Germany a captive of Russia is to project Trump’s own situation onto Germany. When he says America has to defend Germany through NATO, some German leader needs to tell him (in the presence of cameras): America is defending itself through NATO, you idiot.
6
Can’t wait for the day when ALL countries to quit trading with the US. Only Americans should buy American products.
2
we'd lose a lot of products. anything with rare earths, for instance.
1
Lily's comment is satire...but Trump is so obtuse, he might agree with it.
5
Most of us who've been educated at US universities in the past 50-60 years have learned the mantra well:
Free trade -- good.
Mercantilism -- bad.
But we've also been taught that free trade largely exists -- i.e. small tariffs or none at all. What this "trade war" has taught me is that that assumption is not valid. Mercantilism appears to be alive and well. Sometimes it's the US imposing tariffs on foreign goods; sometimes it's the other way around. Either way, there are a lot more tariffs out there than I'd known.
2
Who knew this would happen! Job loss due to tariffs.
An eastern Iowa factory plans to lay off workers, reduce production and delay expansion plans in response to tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump's administration on steel imported from Canada.
The Quad-City Times reports that the Black Cat Wear Parts factory in DeWitt has confirmed temporary layoffs of 10 of its 17 production employees this week.
8
. Americans constitute 5% of the world's population but consume 24% of the world's energy. At less than 5 percent of the world's population, we generate and earn more than 20 percent of the world's total income. America is the world's largest national economy and leading global trader. The U.S. has the largest share of the global GDP at 40%.
In the eyes of the world, Donald Trump's whining about the U.S. being abused by its allies comes off as ignorant and greedy.
14
Indeed someone should tell Trump about high US tariffs, but this "trade war" has made me aware of many foreign tariffs that i didn't even know existed. Naively, it appears, I'd thought most goods moved across international borders without any tariffs. Guess not.
1
Has anyone suggested to the serfs in Congress that Article 1 Sec 8 gave them the tax /tariff power not the executive. I imagine that the Republican Party believes that the Founding Fathers were in error so they handed over that power without amending the constitution. Now we are all paying the Trump Tax to make up for the Federal Deficit. Where are the strict constructionists now that we need them?
3
To use a Trump analogy. Its like a team who has won the match but complains about the amount of penaties they got during the game for rough play and then start to grumble that the rules of the game are not fair. The loosing team played fair, got roughed up and lost the game. If Trump is serious about trying to level the field internationally and reduce tarifs globally. Why impose a tarifs? This makes no sense. Lets say, the approach was to negotiate with partner nations in good faith and identify all anti business tarifs and start reforming the tarifs and subsidy system and let free market conditions rule. Match tarifs cuts and level the field for all G&S that are imported and exported by each nation. Would that not create conditions where trade would increase and make goods cheaper for all consumers and industries? Would it not stimulate the economy? Create jobs and so forth. Higher tarifs have other economic consequences such as additional tax burdens. Im a little synical but it would seen that government do benefit by collecting taxes on the extra spend in a billateral trade agreement. Lets say $ 100 Million in good have a 25% tarif levied and the amount of trade remains constand. The goods now cost $125,000 Assuming a mark up of 10% to the consumer. The net spend on the goods would be $135,000. 10% sales tax on the additional $13.5 Milion in sales tax revenue for city, state of feds. Think about it. Tarifs benefit the states coffers.
2
Actually Sony and Honda did alright in the 60's. Otherwise that is a pretty sanguine look at neo-mercantilism, and state funded/owned corporations. The US didn't just easily make out from such developments, and in certain cases, invaluable sectors had been threatened/placed under significant duress, while substantial wealth lost to IP theft and unfair trade practices.
1
I think consumers will not consume as much. Our market will shrink. Maybe this is good. We consume too much anyway
3
I think consumers will not consume as much. Our market will shrink. Maybe this is good. We consume too much anyway.
2
"NATO allies realize that they are dealing with an unpredictable and obviously mentally impaired American president, and this realization hangs above the summit like a Damocles sword. It's a summit that completely independent of factual issues, can only end in chaos." Karl-Heinz Kamp, president of Germany's Federal Academy for Security Policy.
5
in addition to everything we've already heard from the real experts in every field / issue / topic about which trump twits,
here is yet another cold, factual account of r e a l I t y ( to distinguish from the insanity the editorial board refers to ).
and when Robert Mueller finally announces his findings ( in spite of Juliani's recent absurd legal pronouncements / " requirements " ( speaking of " no one is above the law" )- the nightmare that is trump will all fall into the proper, down to earth proportion which is sanity, national dignity, elementary decency and normal life.
AMEN.
1
Why would ANY country negotiate anything at all with Trump given that he cannot be trusted?
6
No need for thoughtful analysis of trumps trade polices (if we can dignify them with that word). He clearly doesn't understand econ 101 or trade 101 and doesn't care. He isn't interested in the facts of the trade equations (that have made us booming economy for a long time now) because his base isn't interested. Everything he does is to play to his 40% base which put him and he hopes will keep him in the white house. They want simple one liners and get even tough talk. Trump excels at this con. Until they get a little bit smarter the whole world has to deal with the US as a spoiled child of entitlement. The ONLY valid issue is protection of IP. if we don't like spending money in Europe for Defense lets just bring our troops home and save those billions.
2
In every possible way, we need to make it clear to the world that we will do whatever we can to restore good international relations, as soon as the current psychopathic ignoramus and his sniveling enablers are out of power. In other words, please don't hold Trump against us!
2
Trump and his economic team are in the tariff business solely for the false sound bite that tariffs will bring jobs back to the U.S. This false sound bite goes to the republican base, and a false sound bite is all the U.S. gets out of setting retaliatory economic tariffs on industries.
Every college 101 macroeconomic class teaches the basic principle that tariffs do not work, tariffs almost always backfire, and tariffs usually cause more economic and social harm than good to countries setting the tariffs. Data and experts resoundingly agree that focusing on tariffs as a solution towards saving jobs here in U.S. is wasted time and counterproductive in the extreme.
The bottom line on all this is that prices for virtually all products sold in the U.S. that are covered under the tariff policies of Trump will go up....Way Up.
Sheesh, folks who are advising Trump on trade policy. Wake Up!!!!!!
3
The quotes that are always applicable to Trump & Trumpism:
“As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” H.L. Mencken, 1920
“No one in this world, so far as I know—and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me—has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.” H.L. Mencken, 1926
To borrow a phrase: "All else is detail."
2
Because compared to other countries, especially ones pursuing developmental state and neo-mercantilist policies currently or in the recent past, they have not been substantial. As for agricultural supports, believe the Economist had a chart a year or so back showing the US being the least offensive, so the example of sugar doesn't likely change things much.
1
the USA tariff number and quotas are very small in number and targeted. Most countries have some form of quotas -- it's a circuit breaker of sorts and necessary.
There is no major or minor market for that matter that's open like the USA. Europe has a VAT that's rebated on exported good -- that alone is government intervention. USA suppliers can't get sales tax rebated on exported goods.
The biggest problem is China. They will not allow foreign ownership and the require intellectual property to follow the factory.
Most people don't understand and just want to bash Trump -- wait until 2025 when and if China makes it's goals.
2
The VAT tax is a sales tax that EU and Canadians pay on purchases no matter the origin of the product or good.
2
This is more a question than a comment. After all the tariffs and duties have been applied does the EU place a vat tax on our exports to them while we would place at most a state sales tax on their exports to us? A vat tax is a great deal more than any state sales tax.
1
Correct -- a USA maker pays all the sales tax as good move through the manufacturing system in the USA. When they export those goods the goods keep the tax and not only get the VAT .. they get the higher duty ..say 21% on top of the 17% when they land in Germany.
The German manufacturers get the VAT tax refunded on exported goods -- and they pay 2% to the USA.
The truth does not matter to the NYT -- they hate Trump too much. Every president has been fighting this -- for years. the problem is no president has been willing to take the populist hit ..
2
The VAT tax is the equivalent of a US sales tax and is added to all products that fall under that tax no matter the origin of the product.
Remember these countries provide more services for their citizens then we do- like universal health care.
1
Services have yet to compensate sufficiently for massive deficits in goods. Moreover, there is something to be said to ensure an advanced manufacturing base and productive capabilities around technology beyond software - for both defense and ensuring a diversified, modern economy that supports high living standards. The focus of this articles seems to be on American allies, but note Krugman's point in another opinion piece published today:
"Certainly the U.S. couldn’t offer hugely valuable tariff reductions, for the simple reason that our tariffs on EU products – like EU tariffs on our products – are already quite low. You can find examples of high tariffs, like our 25 percent tariff on light trucks, but overall there just isn’t much to give."
What Trump seems to echo without strategy is allegedly the views of his father, and views that he has held since the 1980s. What is strange though is that he seems to lunge out without a strategy. The most deleterious consequences had stemmed from developmental state/neo-mercantile policies, like those the PRC has pursued over the decades (including dumping, subsidies, IP theft, etc., beyond just currency manipulation). Those policies aim to corner whole sectors - like rare earth minerals production, solar panels, etc. - and to move up the value chain (so continue such policies, to "catch up"). See the PRC's plan for more components production in China.
2
So... where is all the money generated by tariffs going? Are these funds supposed to offset the budget deficit generated by Trumps budget? If this is the case we are all being taxed through the increased prices we will pay for foreign goods. This is a devious way to increase our taxes while tooting his horn about tax relief !
3
Great fact checking work, as usual.
We are watching once again, and once again, in shock, the Donald Trump phenomenon.
Trump discovered some time ago that facts don't really matter in motivating people. All that matters is what people believe.
Trump has an innate ability (which I would love to understand) to get large numbers of people to believe whatever he says, even when his statements are easily disproven lies. That's how he managed to win enough votes to qualify for electoral college victory. That's how he has demonized and typecast Latinos and Muslims.That's how he has diminished the credibility of the media. That's how he is minimizing the Mueller investigation.
Now we are watching as he takes his belief system wrecking ball to America's relationships with the world. He is working to make the world believe that Western allies are really not so good, and that Vladimir Putin and Russia are really very good.
I can only say again, in the dazed voice of a traumatized person who is in actually in shock, that Trump is getting away with it.
He's getting. Away. With. It.
5
This is mostly about appeasing Putin.
1
In my opinion, Trump is using the pretext of trade imbalances to break up our long-standing trade and security agreements with our allies to benefit Russia and Putin. Is there any other reason Trump is doing these insane tariffs other than to cause an uproar and create international tension and chaos? I mean, he is stupid, but this tariff action is coming from Russia hawks like Wilbur Ross, Peter Navarro and others in the thrall of Putin and his money-laundering Oligarchs.
3
In my opinion, Trump is using the pretext of trade imbalances to break up our long-standing trade and security agreements with our allies to benefit Russia and Putin. Is there any other reason Trump is doing these insane tariffs other than to cause an uproar and create international tension and chaos? I mean, he is stupid, but this tariff action is coming from Russia hawks like Wilbur Ross, Peter Navarro and others in the thrall of Putin and his money-laundering Oligarchs.
1
Ivanka's China-made products are exempt, or say I have heard.
2
"Someone should tell..."?
The president "misleads..."?
The Times Editorial Board once again depicts the situation with the urgency of snarky gossip around the table at a Montauk tennis club. Don't let this ruin your afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Someone will handle it.
1
He can't be trusted. He can't tell the truth. He is a puppet of the far right. His bluster is baseless and his rhetoric factually ignorant of reality. It is distressing.
He pardons liars, civil rights violators, racists, anarchists that are gun-toting militia right wing idealogs, and I can just wait to see who is next.
4
THE USA is not obligated to maintain a market in which we buy more foreign products than we sell. Tariffs are one tool the gpvernment can use to assure a fair trade environment. This cannot be left for foreign countries to handle for us -- as has largely been the case through inaction by previous administrations.
2
We have are adding a trillion dollar to the deficit thanks to the tax "reform". The best way to counter that is to increase taxes, which is exactly what he is doing. He is just calling it a tariff. Now, if he can get an additional $100 billion per year in tariffs, we might even get close to a balance budget. Brilliant!
1
Until he cuts corporate taxes again- he is already talking about it!
Meanwhile, another news report tells that Congress is assuring various executives here that there will be exemptions and subsidies for them to off set costs incurred from the trade war. Subsides? With tax payer monies? How is this winning?
5
Trump, as usual, simplifies trade. As an engineer who has worked all over the world building chemical plants for foreigners I can tell you that we allow ourselves to be ripped off. American corporations think nothing of giving away trade secrets for a few years of profit. These trade secrets were the labor of the middle class and sold cheap because corporations think they own this hard won product. That's okay, the rich have been trying to exterminate the middle class for a generation.
6
Trump’s ignorance and mendacity continue to embarrass the U.S.
8
This editorial states “It’s true that America has run a large trade deficit for many years, and that some countries — China in particular — have used underhanded tactics like depressing their currencies to boost exports.”
Hallelujah! NYT agrees with Trump!
1
Everyone know this already. But, so what? It means nothing because it is mostly American Corporations that are importing cheap Chinese-made goods. So, go after American companies, not China itself!!!
2
Someone should tell Trump he's fired. He's not the legitimate leader of this government. He lost the popular vote by nearly 3M. He only won the electoral college vote by conspiring with a hostile foreign power. He has obstructed justice repeatedly.
He has violated the Emoluments clause. He's lied so often, on subjects big and small, that he is guilty of criminal fraud. Let's stop this stupid charade right now. Vacate the 2016 election. Remove all political appointees. Redo the presidential election this November.
11
The President can't be trusted - yeah, you buried the lede at the end of the piece.
Trump's statements are mostly false and his promises are no good. Only a fool would expect good-faith dealing from Donald Trump.
8
Thank you for this information. I am persistently confused as to if what Trump is saying is true...I assume it's not, but I don't understand econ enough to know for sure.
However, based on this article, in particular, this sentence, I'm confused:
"Nevertheless, it makes no sense to ignore trade in services when looking at the deficit because that sector produces about two-thirds of American economic output and employs about 71 percent of workers."
Well, why not? Even if 71 percent of workers are employed in the service part of the econ, if you add up the total trade deficit, both hard goods and services, we're still behind. Does that not support his point?
Please explain...I know this guy is a vicious liar, but it's frustrating that I cannot understand these better.
NY Times has a great explanation here. As usual, Trump oversimplifies everything and can only understand in terms of “winners and losers.” One thing is clear: under Trump, we are all losers.
What Is the Trade Deficit? https://nyti.ms/2M958Pw?smid=nytcore-ios-share
3
"Someone should tell" the president about US tariffs, you say? What on Earth makes you think that Trump would listen to *anything* that conflicts with the conclusions he reaches after watching the latest "Fox and Friends" and Hannity? Those conclusions are cast in concrete, or bronze. Just yesterday he told the assembled heads of state at the NATO summit that the US pays 90% of direct NATO funding costs. The actual (true) number is 22%. Although there's a feeble, dim chance that he might concede to a number less than 90% under some circumstance, the 90% will come roaring back at his next rally. Unless you're Stephen Miller, you can't tell Trump *anything*. Nothing.
8
Donald Trump has never allowed facts to get in the way of his opinions. Talk about not being trusted, when the Sun King says Kim should honor their contract, who in the world is Donald Trump to talk about honoring contracts. For his entire life signing of a contract meant the beginning of the negotiations. Ask Iran if Trump can be trusted.
4
No one, including the NY Times, ever seems to talk about the fact that since Reagan, the U.S. has pushed a free trade agenda defined by a lowering of tariffs and taxes all over the world with disastrous consequences, i.e. NAFTA driving Mexican farmers out of business causing the catastrophic migration and drug trafficking problem, Clinton and the IMF destroying the dairy and banana industries in Jamaica, the mass production of consumer goods in free trade zones, possible through the labor of modern day slaves, particularly in China. No one talks about this because no one cares about the plight of foreign workers, but it eventually comes home to roost. What Americans do care about though is their own jobs and how globalization has affected the 99% here at home, of course driving continued support for Trump's policies. The NY Times should perhaps consider how it runs the risk of appearing to support the 1%'s agenda with op eds and stories like this. Relatively speaking, Chinese markets have always been closed to us so who cares? I'd like to see more reporting on whether or not Trump's trade policies will, in fact, have any impact on workers and domestic economies, both at home and abroad.
1
Bottom line, the primary danger on trade in the U.S. lies from within. Greedy U.S. companies ship jobs elsewhere so they can take advantage of dirt cheap wages. This has cost too many U.S. jobs and created much anger. What many people in politics and the media still don't get is that as a democracy the populace, sufficiently angered, will brush aside opinions that are "pro free-trade" and demand action on trade that many might be seen as over the top. Compared to the actions that created the problem (lousy trade agreements supported by democrats and republicans alike and media elites), darn near any aggressive action on trade looks good.
So Trump lies, is that something new that I have missed? Oh, same old thing. Sad.
2
The unfortunate fact is that Trump and his sycophants are not interested in facts. They prefer to shout their slogans, regardless how twisted they are.
2
You are quite right that the tarif protects their dairy industry. But I wonder what is actually wrong with that? If we were a small country, we would be concerned about food security for staples in particular. Lord knows, if they were dependant on us for those staples, and we reached some kind of food crisis, we wouldn't hesitate to cut them loose. And if America was surrendering basic food security to some other country, we would be screaming bloody murder.
But Canada does have another option: simply ban dairy products like ours that contain the chemicals/growth hormones they do not allow in their own dairy products. Now that would make sense. Too bad our government doesn't protect us in the same way.
11
It's so tacky and unseemly, Trump's constant whine about America being taken advantage of, when we live here reaping the rewards of all this country has built. See him and the spineless GOP singing "God Bless America," with a sinister subtext of "More. More. More."
3
When it comes to the current President I think about Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's statement, "...you are entitled to your own opinion, not your own set of facts..." With the current state of the internet algorithms, people who read one set of news articles with a certain slant have those opinions reinforced with articles that exclude anything that may contradict their preconceived notions. In short, Sen. Moynihan, yellow journalism is back and people are now being furnished their own set of facts - all to the detriment of the reader, and by extension, the people of the United States.
3
It's probably just me but I'm thinking the so-called president is in much too close proximity to the nuclear trigger.
Yeah, my bad.
But, since a considerable portion of his base consist of the least employable, you'd think they'd be wondering about SOMETHING.....
2
I would like to see all trade eliminated with all countries that practice slavery especially China.
2
The Times editorial board is the purest example of the coastal liberal elitist approach: seating high in their ivory tower, they care about some mythical "globalism", while the Average Joe is struggling mightily under the weight of the Chinese jobs theft, the untold misery of jobs draining out of the country. The high tariffs will make the jobs to come back - this is the goal and the calculation. My president must not worry about what is good for the Chinese, Europeans, or Canadians - only what is good to me. Not Paris but Pittsburgh, in other words.
3
Rather than focus on China, we should focus on something that we can do something about: preventing US based multinationals from taking jobs offshore and also hiding profits offshore for years at a time. Why aren't we taxing the crap out of Apple, Carrier, and other "American" companies that move production south of the border or to Asia and also hide their profits for years in tax havens like Ireland and the Isle of Man. The fact that we had to give Apple a massive tax holiday to get them to bring home their $32 billion in accumulated profits makes my blood boil, since I dutifully pay my share of taxes every year!
I have no problem with "America First". But let's start with requiring US based compnaies to so first, before we crab about others.
2
You say Trump "confused himself"....that's how he begins most of his "fights".
2
How much of these foreign imports are due to US companies who have moved their production off shore and brought their products back to the US to cut labor costs.
And how does that change the picture, when Trump followers learn that it's actually the US corporations ripping us off and not the Chinese after all.
2
It seems that the answer to just about any problem we face as a nation could be faced by investing more in education and removing excessive donations from politics.
I suspect if you follow the money to Trumps and RNC donors you'll find some explanation as to where the tariffs are coming from.
And if you want to truly compete and win on a global market, I believe the best way to do so is by working harder and smarter. Having a highly educated workforce that understands science and technology is how you get there.
Unfortunately, Trump is unlikely to fight graft and favoritism in politics, nor is he a fan of science and intellect.
3
This has never been about the economics. It's about convincing a few gullible Democrats to vote for Trump in the hope their jobs are coming back. They don't want the free college / trade school option from Democrats, as that is a realistic solution to their problems that requires them to change. They'd rather blame someone else.
Job creation is actually slower under Trump than Obama, the budget deficit/debt trajectory is up enormously (50% vs. the Obama baseline) and 4 million people have lost health insurance on the way to 7 million per CBO, a 25% increase vs. the Obama baseline.
Other than tax cuts for the rich and corporations, few are actually being helped by Trump's policies. We would have been better off with just letting the Obama Boom continue.
2
I dont understand all this. I haven't even fact checked this editorial, but it is saying that we have a huge trade deficit whether you take in services or not. According to this editorial we have a deficit of $552 billion ($807b minus $255b).
In Europe, even if Trump is overstating facts we still have a deficit of $75 billion, and we are overpaying for NATO while some countries are not meeting their agreement of 2% GDP.
For years I have been reading about the unfair practices of China; Reneging on contracts, currency manipulation, stealing intellectual property. Now I read that Trump is wrong to call China on this.
I dont get it !
We may dislike Trump, but what he is saying isn't all wrong.
2
I'm not sure where the balance falls if you also consider foreign investment back in America...?
My understanding is international trade and the resulting trade differentials has unequal impacts, and Trump's base has been negatively affected. It doesn't feel good for the steel worker if America trades someone else's engineering designs to China for the goods you used to provide and some investment funds, skipping the part where the steel worker might also get a cheaper tv.
More tariffs might help that specifically, but the fear is it doesn't address currency manipulation or intellectual property theft directly. I can't claim to know where this is going /:
It is important to have trusted friends and deepen that relationship. Everything in life can and should be improved.
But destroying something does not count as improvement. Mr Trump is an expert at destruction; he does not build institutions or improve long term relations.
1
Thank you, NYT Editorial board! Holding President Trumps foot to his own fire with a fine example of investigative journalism, long, long overdue.
1
If he is so concerned about a trade deficit, why isn't Trump using the bully pulpit to tell Americans to stop buying imports? The deficit disappears. Ultimately, we are the source of our problem. Why blame the other countries when we should really look in the mirror.
He just wants his double piece of chocolate cake (probably imported chocolate)... and eat it too.
2
Perhaps the editorial could have been shortened to this, “The president lies and confuses fact with fantasy every day.” This applies to virtually every topic and subject. He’s demonstrating it once again on the world stage in Europe.
3
Dictator mentality like Trump's never back down. This will lead to catastrophe of an economy resurrected under Obama. You do not start tariff wars when your economy is booming. Only a dictator does to cover failures.
2
Can someone or some entity in the name of just simple premises and values shut up Donald Trump...what do the world needs to do to turn down this stupid guy..?
3
Hopefully those that voted for Trump are beginning to get it: he is out of his depth but doesn't know it; he adheres to no facts at all in his assertions; he is making it difficult for US farmers and service providers to do trade abroad and US tourists are increasingly under scrutiny when we travel and his quaint notions of winning and losing are obsolete and inadequate in a complex world. This is complex stuff and we need people that are serious and studious to lead in these times; instead we have him.
S
1
Maybe Trump's base will finally "get it" when Trump's trade "policies" slam them in the wallet.
Then again maybe they will continue to believe Trump's lies to their own detriment.
4
He really has no interest in facts - just how to brainwash and scare the public into voting for him.
Unfortunately the republican s and democrats have been misleading the public in similar ways (to a lesser degree) as well.
Mr. Trump using excessive lying, they just relied more on spin. Not sure what is next.
2
Trump is like Torquemada i.e you can" talk 'em outta anything"
As the Tariff of Rottingham he is fulfilling the dreams of his base in that they want to inflict financial pain on their betters, but in the end, the stupidity of the 60 million who believed his claptrap will suffer the most and I can only say SCHADENFREUDE is today one of the most useful words I know. trump isn't misleading anyone. Those he conned from the start still believe that he is right--our KORRUPT KONGRESS knows that he is wrong but they don't care. They have morphed into the Invasion of the BABY SNATCHERS who jail parents and deprive babies of breast feeding. Part of the solution is VOTING, the other part is making certain that those we vote for actually CARRY OUT OUR DEMANDS for a better government.
5
The president is not misleading the public! He just does not know the facts about trade or most anything that he tweets about. It is almost as if he overhears a conversation and he tries to repeat what he hears and the information gets scrambled in his brain as in playing 'telephone'.Information comes out, but...... after that your guess is as good as mine as to what he really means about a subject or 'policy'.
So, trade, NATO, climate change. Choose a topic and its the same story. He just can't get his facts right.
5
He doesn't listen. Waste of breath.
3
We have a media circus with Trump as the ringmaster controlling all acts. He keeps a steady barrage of lies and misinformations and gossip and sensational quotes that take up all the space. Facts and truth are so boring!
1
" It’s far less obvious why he believes that countries he has subjected to such baseless attacks will negotiate favorable trade agreements with a president who has shown he can’t be trusted." -
Trump does not care about negotiating a favorable trade agreement. It is all about stoking his base and getting cheers at rallies. Consequences be damned.
5
Our tax-cut fed appetite for consumer goods is much to blame.
2
Someone should tell world leaders that free trade (no tariffs) would be best for all concerned. Are you up for that task, members of the Board?
1
The President has significant business interests in Russia, China and on the Arabian peninsula. He will pursue any policies (trade, defense, NATO, border) that benefit Russia and to a lesser extent China and SA. (Note that Ivanka's products are immune to tariffs.) China is taking over the Pacific Rim. Russia will absorb eastern Europe within 3 years. All because of the current President's need to bolster his failing businesses and need to chum the waters of his "base."
5
It's not just Trump's lies and ignorance, it's the echo chamber (of which Fox News is only one part of) that reinforces the misinformation. This is what it's like to live in post-truth world.
6
Well in America the president has the job to telling the truth.. if every USA citizen do not complain about it .. now we have supreme court pick who will not let the president prosecuted even if he lies to the country as long as its not under oath.. ( now I know why a sitting president needs lawyer) we will hear only lies now its just standing at about 80% of any President Trump facts are "fiction"
5
1) About $138.4 billion of total US exports in 2017 were composed of agricultural products. These agricultural exports are generally commodities with many fungible substitutes. Thus, the pricing power of these ag products' suppliers is limited and smaller gross and net profit margins should prevail in this sector.
2) In contrast, in the IT sector where allegations of violations of intellectual property via patent breaches are common, the gross profit margins and net profit margins are exceptionally high. For examples, based on 12-months trailing data: Apple reports a gross profit of 38.3% on $247.4 billion in revenues; with a net profit of 22.6%. Google reports a gross profit of 58.0% on $117.3 billion in revenues; with a net profit of 22.6%. And, Microsoft reports a gross profit of 64.2% on revenues of $103.6 billion; with a net profit of 27.0%. These three corporations' balance sheets are also flush with cash.
3) As a trade war progresses, it would seem that different sectors of the economy, as illustrated above, would differ in resistance to rising tariffs and protectionism. In cost/benefit terms, the ag sector's loss of vital marginal cash flows via higher tariffs and its lower gross and net profit margins; combined with its political importance, may together act as an outer bound, and force a resolution to this crisis.
4) Also, currently, foreign-made SUVs are considered pickup trucks and subject to this 25% tariff.
[7/11/2018 W 12:25p Greenville NC]
1
When you are dealing with close minded people you only have facts to work with and they are immune to those.
3
Someone should tell the New York Times editorial board not to be constantly dissing our president. I know you find it pleasurable and so do many of your readers but it is harmful to America. The man actually IS trying to do a job, in his own blustery way, and many of his bets have come off.
So cut him some slack will you?
2
No, Ludwig, no. Trump is plain and simple power-hungry nuts, tearing down everything, and the NYT Editorial Board has every duty to call him out and help Americans sort through the truth and the swamp Trump has created. Thank you, NYT for your role in calling out Donald Trump, the most unqualified individual to ever hold the office of POTUS.
10
Thanks Kan, but what you are saying is your opinion, nourished and encouraged by the New York Times and not based on facts. I acknowledge that Trump is blustery. But it seems to work for him and being more polite and more civilized did not work for McCain and Romney.
Unemployment for black Americans is now the lowest it has been in 20 years.
"Black Unemployment Is at an All-Time Low, But ..." Ah yes, the eternal "but".
The two Koreas have met and are talking. "But..."
I would recommend that you too be a bit more objective and a bit less hostile.
But of course the choice is yours. Very probably America will be better off in 2020 and you will be saying how much worse it is! (smile).
@Ludwig: Why do you want to defend a man who is obviously unqualified and unfit for the office that a minority of voters, backed by the Electoral College, mistakenly and foolishly put him into? I'm amazed at your tolerance of his incompetence, stupidity, venality, ignorance, and sheer mean-spiritedness.
Would you tolerate that kind of behavior from any employee? Because the President of the United States works for us, the American people, and he is clearly a lousy employee who is busy destroying the entire company, as it were. The Times is right to hold him accountable for his enormous screw-ups, and if we have any sense as a country, we will fire this clown as soon as possible.
3
In 2008, after the election of Barack Obama, I was so happy for America. Finally, the race barrier was broken. Then in 2010 the obvious racists were back in the form of the Tea Party. At the time I thought that would be the end of the Republican brand. My prediction that they would disappear as soon as that black man was out of the White House came true in an instant. Sadly, America chose a man who has never run a successful business in his life, who has cheated the little guy at every turn and even used a charity to enrich and glorify himself. He can't even borrow money in the US because of his bankruptcies. How is this person President? He knows nothing but insult and derision and hopefully Americans will see that and boot him and his grifting family in 2020. If you think the world is dependent on the US and that you are somehow "winning" I am here to tell you that you are as delusional as your President. If Trump wants the US to exit NATO, then get out. Close all your foreign bases, and bring your troops, aircraft and warships home. It's exactly what Russia and China want. NATO countries will all develop their own nuclear defense because the non-proliferation treaty will be dead. Don't forget that you were the only country to ever invoke article 5 after 9/11 and we all came out to help.
23
All he is sowing is ill will.
His greatest success is conning the ill informed American public.
His hallmark as a the great con man!
3
When you are dealing with close minded people you only have facts to work with and they are immune to those.
"The dilemma is trying to decide if our president is chronically dishonest or simply very ignorant."
There is no dilemma it's both and IMO the ignorance borders stupidity.
3
"Someone Should Tell Trump About" a lot of things.
6
So the NYT is upset that Trump is advocating as aggressively as possible for U.S businesses, just as, say, an attorney would for his or her client in a court of law. Why is this? Shouldn't U.S. firms be able to push as hard as possible for favorable terms of trade? You can be certain that Mercedes, Huawei, Tata Motors, et al are doing it. Why can't we? Your globalist tendencies are showing, NYT.
5
So how long will it take before the NYTs places a factual tariff article on the front page? I know most Americans would appreciate it.
2
Lost in this discussion is the fact that Trump seizes on issues that contain some truths to make "mountains out of molehills" for the purpose of exciting himself and his base. An energized Trump then fulfills the role of the "Elmer Gantry" style evangelist preaching "hellfire and brimstone" to his adoring supporters who submit willingly to be "baptized" in his "economic theology".
Reality and facts, not withstanding, become casualties.
7
The United States had the largest trade surplus in the world before Ronald Reagan was elected. Reagan's 'supply-side' trickle-down voodoo economic theories, culled from the heterodox Austrian school & Ayn Randian selfish self-interest policies tanked the US trade surplus in less than 4 years. By mid-1965, the US lost its surplus and was running the world's largest trade deficit. After Reagan, right-wing Republicans, with the support of "centrist" Democrats, have continued Reagan's economic policies. George W. Bush took it much further and created two recessions, the second being the Great Recession of 2008, the second worst economic collapse after Hoover's Great Recession of 1929-33. Both presidents were former business CEOs, confirming Forbes Magazine's Malcolm Forbes warning: "Few businessmen are capable of being in politics, they don't understand the democratic process, they have neither the tolerance or the depth it takes. Democracy isn't a business.". Now, Donald Trump is putting the final nail in the coffin of American economic domination. In Europe, our former allies are creating economic arrangements that exclude the US. In the Pacific Rim, countries like China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, and a dozen others have created a mutual free trade pact. The biggest winners of this are Russia, which is taking over America's role supplying energy to Europe and Asia, & China, which is shifting its trade with the US to the EU.
8
There he goes again....President Chaos spreading massive dissension, division and fear wherever he
goes.
Wait for the sickening love fest with Putin though.
6
What this country will get in exchange for higher tariffs will be a well deserved loathing and disdain from the international community for supporting a president's historically ignorant and highly hypocritical trade views. For starters, little or nothing is said of the export of American products to much of the developing world, which have always been at a disadvantage in dealing with the US market. Furthermore, many of the products produced overseas for the american market are produced by American companies, relocated abroad to reduce costs. In other words, if a cheaper set of golf clubs made in China by an American company is unfair to american labor, it's hardly the Chinese who are solely to blame. How many corporate bosses has Trump berated for operating in China? The drama about Harley Davidson is just that; hundreds of other companies have moved their production entirely off shore, and the administration is certainly not going after all those CEO's, his other base. Also absent from Trump's tweets is the fact that these cheap products are whole heartedly embraced by the American public, and especially his base. You don't need tariffs on Chinese products if you're sincere in your disapproval of their lower prices; all you have to do is stop shopping at Walmart, or Target, or Amazon, or Home Depot, etc. etc. So Trump's rhetoric is a lot of hot air designed to sound tough to get support from his base, but it's not going to help them.
3
Europeans are not going to buy US cars, even if the import tax would be Zero. German, Italian and French cars are just better, because they put more effort in research, sustainable development and design. On top of that, the US doesn’t care about the climate anymore. Who is going to buy an inefficient, unsympathetic Trumpian gas guzzler? You are destroying your image worldwide. To quote John F. Kennedy: “you cannot negotiate with people who say what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is negotiable”. You will see the consequences in 2 years and you will need 20 years to repair it.
6
Trump is portraying all countries as diabolic users who take advantage of American largesse. He doesn't explain, or perhaps understand, that the U.S. benefits the most, both from NATO and our trade policies. I imagine no one on Fox News explains it correctly, or truthfully, either.
Why does Trump dislike and lie about our allies? Why has he given up on Democracy, the Constitution, obeying the law?
For starters, I don't think in his youth and real-estate adulthood, he ever thought of any of them at all, other than things to be "gotten around". His art is the art of the shady deal, with like-minded people.
Now imagine, he fancies himself Dictator of the U.S. and Europe. How to get there? One good start is to destroy all alliances--countries that still believe in democracy. Apply punishing tariffs to try to weaken their economies. Then, remove all military aid from them, e.g., NATO. Repeat lies until they are believed.
At the same time, get cozy with model dictator Putin. He wants Eastern Europe back, and has enough firepower to do it. Trump wants what Western Europe has--manufacturers, farmland, trade contacts, educated people (well-maybe not the educated people).
Russia and the U.S. have the most firepower in the world. They could take Europe. Trump's rule would be brutal, his subjects poor, he rich. He'd have absolute control, "disappearing" people at will.
Let's hope the remaining democracies can band together and fight them off.
4
I am not qualified to say if Mr Trump "trade war" is a good thing of not, and I have strong reservation about his personality. But l can see that in Europe - and I suppose as well as in the U.S. - globalization and immigration have devastated the way of life of the working class, at the same time enriching much the elites, and dragging out millions of people in China and emerging countries from poverty. Make the working class miserable, and yes they will vote for populist leaders. China has joined the WTO in 2001 but never respected the rules, we let it happen, and destroying our industries. Communism was a ideology, but blind economic liberalism may be one, too.
2
Thank you for the facts, though in the fox Limbaugh universe they will not move the alternate reality needle. I am trying to wrap my head around the math involved with someone who is totally ignorant of everything and always lies. Shouldn't these two properties occasionally cancel each other out and he should tell the truth purely by accident? Not that this has demonstrably happened. Just wondering about the random possibility.
3
What is most disturbing about Don the Con is his consistent reliance on jingoisms. Any nuanced thought has never crossed his mind. Making things up as he goes along is his stock in trade. The sycophants surrounding him, I'm looking at you Gen. Kelly, allow his ramblings to go unchecked and so he thinks he must be correct.
Insight as to how the economy works, trade is conducted on a global stage, diplomacy of any kind, historical perspective or reference is simply beyond Don the Con's ability to grasp. Stupid and certain is no way to lead a country.
3
Trump conveniently forgets the rush to move production of everything Walmart sells to China by corporate America's chieftains to boost their own bottom line at the expense to American workers. Trump included - with his Chinese made ties and nick nacks. They are the biggest profiteers of the trade imbalance.
6
Very simple. He knows his low information base will not look to see if his rantings are correct or not. They long ago decide to believe him over anything true or reliable. And Fox News will not pass that on either. His buddy, Hannity, who now has way too much power in this country for a pundit (classic example of Peter principle), will never mention it.
4
Here's what it is coming down too if one is interested in the country's survival or at least a modicum of well being for those citizens who recognize how he has been conning everyone in the U.S. and everywhere he can export his authoritarian muck, and if you hope to retain any semblance of sanity and humanity.
You have to discipline your mind to actually think it is 2040, not 2018 or Lord forbid 2020. By 2040 the president will be 94 years old and the only people in the world who will pay any attention to anything he says or does are those who benefited from all his wackiness, i.e. members of Congress, sycophants and hangers on and some of the millions who voted for him.
And wouldn't it all be ironic if the one person who will bring him to his knees will not be Robert Mueller but the St. Augustine of the 21st century, the guy who would have taken a bullet for him ...... at one time.
1
Let me assure you, Germans would not buy American cars, even without any taxes (Lincolns, Cadillacs, whatever).
One reason is quality.
The other reason is fuel economy. Gas is about twice as expensive in Germany than here. The Trump administration just terminated the plan to increase fuel efficiency of American cars.
Go figure, why Germans don't by American cars (hint: its not about marginal differences in import taxes).
3
It seems from this vantage point that American political leaders only really listen when Americans organize and hit the streets in protest over important national issues. Perhaps the time has come to hit the streets.
3
Trump doesn’t rule this world. The principles do!
Please, let’s stop talking about the personalities and start focusing on the governing principles.
Those obsessing about Trump and his actions do waste theirs and our time.
Let’s talk about the principles.
That’s much harder because the Democrats are acting identically to Trump while on the campaign trails.
Don’t you remember Obama attacking the entire economic system and promising to bring the American jobs back to the USA as well as the good wages in 2008?
Don’t you remember Obama vilifying the Wall Street on the campaign trail before hiring them as the Cabinet members once elected?
Are you just mad that Trump beat the Democrats in their game and on their turf?
Trump was elected for one reason only – because both the GOP and the Democratic elite lost the trust of the voters. It was the protest vote, not any kind of xenophobia, racism or foreign meddling.
Putin and Kremlin could not have destroyed credibility of Obama, Clinton or Bush. Loss of personal credibility is always self-inflicted, however it is easier to blame the foreign governments and everybody else in order to hide that the mainstream politicians betrayed the American people…
1
@Keenan: Sounds great, except -- like most Trump apologists -- you omit important facts: the majority of American voters did NOT fall for Trump's shtick. He was elected by the Electoral College as a minority president, with less than 30 percent of the voting population pulling the metaphorical lever for him.
Nearly three million more American voters chose HRC over Trump. Their choice reflects the will of the majority of American voters. Trump reflects the will of the Electoral College and the power of Faux News.
Not to mention that a good percentage of voters simply stayed at home and did not vote for either candidate. Either way, your grand economic theory falls flat, because the fact is that most Americans did not choose to vote for Trump.
5
No one can tell Mr. Trump anything, well, except how wonderful he is.
3
I was curious about how the Trump business is dealing with the tariffs, so I did a bit of searching. Surprise! The tariffs don't affect any of his family's interests.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-tariffs-near-trumps-business-...
4
Here is an alternative evaluation of U.S. tariff and other barriers compared to other countries: "Once value-added taxes and sales taxes are included in an international comparison [in addition to tariffs], America’s taxes on imports are much lower than those of almost every other country." Source: The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/business/trade-china-protection...
Meanwhile, biz as usual in China and Germans investing heavily as well as Musk/Tesla
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2154707/how-german-compa...
1
Donald Trump has always demonstrated an inability to think straight, whether it's about immigration, Obama's birth certificate, the Central Park 5, international trade, trade deficits, Putin, Russian meddling in elections, the Mueller investigation, the list goes on and on. When he was a real estate mogul his ability to cause damage was limited to his partners, vendors, suppliers and family members. On a world stage, he is a real and present danger to the country and our allies. It's past time to recall this president.
4
I think Trump is attempting to generate revenue with what is ultimately a hidden tax on the middle and lower class. My husband is general manager for a medium sized company. They design in the US and manufacture overseas. Previously in Taiwan and now in China. They may wind up with about a 25% tariff on their incoming products. But to financially force manufacturing to move to the US it would require a 500% tariff. So manufacturing will stay in China and that tariff cost? It will get passed to consumers. It will not hit the wealthy company owners. It will hit middle and lower income people who consume most product in the US. It becomes a hidden revenue generating tax on middle and low income people.
Trump of course doesn't care what other countries think of him. He cares about what his voters believe. They don't realize that he's actually taxing them. And they don't realize that destabilizing everything will result in increased cost of consumer goods and lost american jobs.
10
You write that US quotas and tariffs on dairy products are very restrictive but you do not explain what they are. As such, the reader cannot evaluate how they compare to the Canadian quotas and tariffs. (Just because we produce most of our dairy products domestically, does not mean we have high tariffs).
The United States has been a largely services economy for decades. Long term, that's where our comparative advantage lies. Our levels of technology and educated work force help drive this advantage. That does not mean we should ignore foreign trade barriers to our goods exports. There are real problems out there that must be addressed. But Trump is clearly wrong when he alleges that our trade deficit is the result of unfair trade practices. Wage levels are generally lower, particularly in developing countries. That Trump is invested in getting us back into carbon steel, for instance, is simply a losing cause. That is the American economy of yesteryear.
6
Better yet, someone ought to tell the NYTimes Editorial Board the American people are tired of being taken advantage and dismissed by ignorant people in the media Other countries are taking unfair advantage to our weak trade policies. Until now, these other countries have won at the expense of American reticence to engage in the protection of the American worker. The result has been a disenfranchised population from the political process.
We are at ease with President Trump standing up for the American worker. It's about time somebody did. We tried enraging other countries with trade policies like NAFTA and other similar agreements in Asia and Europe, now let's try another.
"We'll see what happens." Truer words were never said.
Editorial board, let's be hopeful.
More and more Americans are travelling with Canadian flag pins. Please behave intelligently and responsibly and courteously while doing so, we are proud to be Canadian.
2
I simply don't understand. The U.S. is the biggest economy in the world. How can any country buy as much from us as we buy from them? Japan has 127 million people - the U.S. has 325 million people. Is it hard to believe that we buy more from them than they buy from us? It's insane to expect otherwise.
Of course, I'm talking about Trump, so "insane" is entirely appropriate.
6
Good logic, wrong implementation!
It could be used too to claim that the country of 325 million people should export much more goods into a country of 127 million that otherwise.
Insanity cuts both ways, doesn't it?
Good logic, wrong implementation!
It could be used too to claim that the country of 325 million people should export much more goods into a country of 127 million that otherwise.
Insanity cuts both ways, doesn't it?
Some mental health experts have claimed that Trump exhibits several forms of mental illness. In a year and a half in office, he has started trouble with both friend and foe alike. He seems to relish conflict. If it were just in his personal life it wouldn't be so bad, but the United States is going to pay a price for his trade wars and the loss of the friendship of our allies around the world. It doesn't matter if it's through ignorance, stupidity or a combination of the two the result from his actions will be the same.
10
Most trump products are made outside of the USA.
Trump's lies and hyperbole is nothing more than cheap rhetoric meant to stir up his emotional base. And, it works. Trump's base doesn't look at trump business practices, and FOX propaganda sure isn't going to report on it. Would be nice if NYT would report on it.
4
Greed makes you blind and stupid.
That’s why in attempt to make even more money the nations lose everything they have.
The trade tariffs are irrelevant anyway because those are only for the greedy countries.
Why would China give us the hundreds-billions-dollars-worth products for the freshly printed banknotes? It is even worse today. You don’t even have to color the paper into green. You just click a mouse and enlarge your national debt for a trillion dollars every year.
The question is why the Chinese government is doing it. Are they so stupid? No, they are not! As long as they are getting our factories moved overseas and the best technologies they will keep doing it. They are losing the money in return for the best scientific achievements and the newest technology.
But, as you already know, they are the fast learners. We used to belittle them by claiming they are allegedly capable only of the simple tasks until they mastered the smart phones, the laptops, the computer chips and the solar panels.
What’s next in line, the aero and car industries? Not really, it’s just the matter of time for that to happen.
They really want to replace the dollar as the world currency with their renminbi. That’s the matter of time too. When it happens they will steal our financial sector and services.
What are we going to do then?
Do the cheap manufacturing work for China?
Let’s not say in two decades that nobody could have predicted it as we claimed after the Great Recession…
2
This editorial seems to assume Trump is making these decisions based on knowledge. He's being used... and so are we.
3
Dear Board, you overlooked
NON tariff barriers by the US
Buy American requirements started with the Buy American Act of 1933 (Roosevelt) which was passed to promote US jobs. They were increased in 2009 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Obama)
ARRA prohibitsthe use of recovery funds for a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of a public building or public work unless all of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in the project are produced in the US.
In addition, many branches of the US government (FAA, FRA, FHWA, FTA) have their own "Buy American" regulation
2
Unless or until taxes on pizza, beer, Coke, big screen TVs, sweat pants and T-shirts increase, making and keeping America “great” and "winning" will be easy.
2
Rob, you nailed it. We need to focus on how it is possible that such an incompetent person won the GOP nomination, then "won" the presidency (no need to bash HRC any further, rather we need to understand and repair all the surrounding issues that led us to this minority victory) We need to explore why there is such a failure of our much vaunted "checks and balances" when trump has proven to be the dangerous and corrupt idiot that he is. Because he IS probably sabotaging the western alliance at the behest of Russia, and nothing is in place to stop this tragedy. Next we need to focus on how Fox devolved into a spokesperson for this very deranged WH and administration instead of the regulated media outlet it should be; and attention put towards how we can fix that when/if we get the chance.
1
and baseball caps, don't forget.
Cane sugar is very inexpensive on the world market but due to tariffs a company sugar in south central Florida thrives and pollutes so heavily they are destroying the marine environment. Oh and they contribute heavily to Rick Scott and the Republican Party.
3
NATO has nothing to do with our bloated military budget. Even if all NATO countries tripled their military spending, so long as the military industrial complex controls a significant part of Congress, we will continue to produce useless carries groups and obscenely priced fighter aircraft. NATO is just a convenient whipping boy for the current administration.
I'm leaving for a vacation in France in several weeks. Prior to the departure I'm seriously considering purchasing Canadian lapel pins.
11
I get confused when one person cherry picks statistics to disprove someone else’s cherry picked statistics.
‘42.7% of statistics are made up’
As usual, the big point is missed. America is hemorrhaging cash, from trade deficits and remittances, and attempting to stem the flow is good for the country, even if it switches some economic engines around.
My god, I guess you just didn't read P's comment. It makes ZERO difference, you got that—zero—that more voters voted for Trump. That's a child's analysis! The Electoral College was in place before, during, and after the election; its like a goal post; it's always there. The Left ignored it; and, as a consequence, didn't run around it, but into it! This writer is correct. Too many Americans are lazy, uneducated and refuse to take responsibility for even shooting the person they shot! Passionate enough to kill but not to say, "Yes, he, she, deserved it! Take me away!" Nope, Americans walk into schools, kill every little kindergarten rabbit in sight, then hold up their hands, go to court, and plead, "Innocent, your honor." And 99.9% of ALL Americans expect that, and do that. Americans are without character or culture. Pleading "innocent" after an obvious murder is a "cultural" response predicated on being morally nothing. You've got Trump because, YOU, in your utter weakness of mind, deserve Trump.
1
Milton Friedman has said that if China or any other country wants to sell us more goods than we sell them, and give us US paper dollars in return we should be happy about that. They can only use the paper money to invest in the US, buy our bonds, or buy our goods. Since the US dollar is the reserve currency for the world, it has much less chance of being devalued by these transactions. China can sell the dollars to some other country but eventually it has to be spent in the US. Trump’s ignorance on trade is only exceeded by his ability to prevaricate.
10
There is another dimension to the balance of trade with the rest of the world. Part of the deficit (even including services along with goods) is structural. The U.S. dollar is the world's reserve currency. Other countries hold dollars in order to trade among themselves (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_currency#United_States_dollar).
This system was set up after Nixon killed the fixed convertibility of dollars into gold in 1971. The dollar became a de facto currency standard and is the most widely held currency around the world.
There is always a demand for dollars irrespective of the trade balance the U.S. has with the rest of the world. The advantage to us is two-fold. First, Americans can buy foreign goods cheaper than they would if the dollar was just another currency and floated to achieve equilibrium in trade with the rest of the world.
Second, during a recession the Federal Reserve can borrow money from international markets more cheaply than they could otherwise This allows them to tamp down a recession more quickly and prevent it from becoming a full scale depression (as what happened in 2008-09).
Now, I can't believe that Trump doesn't understand that. Larry Kudlow certainly does as, I'm sure, does Peter Navarro, his international trade advisors. Instead, they are doing it for pure political purposes, to rally their supporters. It's pure cynicism on their part (aka 'holier than thou').
3
Like Chester A. Riley..... "My head is made up. Don't confuse ,e with the facts!!"
6
Someone should tell tell? Who might that be? How about two of America's best known plutocrats?
NYT, June 4 - "The conservative Koch political network said on Monday that it would begin a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to promote free trade, sharpening a disagreement with President Trump over tariffs..."
Maybe the editorial board can reach out to Charles and David and they can convey your message to the President, considering that you and the Koch's seem to know what's best for middle class and working class Americans. While your at it, be sure to tell them not to waste any advertising money in your publication, since you are already doing a (free!) bang up job carrying water for them.
No reason at all to doubt that the Koch brothers simply want what is best for the well-being and prosperity of millions of working class and middle class Americans. Because, of course, deep down, you know they do.
2
The Majority of Trump Supporters, believe in heaven & hell, so it's no wonder, that they believe anything that Trump tells them . Big brother Trump spouts how he will not let anyone take advantage of America, and denounces both friend & foe for taking advantage of us, we spend billions on Nato & they give a fraction of their share.Nafta , Mexico & Canada have taken advantage of the United States & it's time to stop it. He then picks numbers in the billions to prove how badly we are treated.Once you get into the billions people start to take notice whether its true or not.Trump is the reincarnation of the snake oil salesman.But don't blame Trump alone, he couldn't get away with his lies if the Republican Party didn't turn a deaf ear to his nonsense. So far it's working, as his base devoutly follows him which is what keeps him in the White house.
6
Lost in the tariff and trade discussion is the disturbing fact that products made by Ivanka Trump, the President's daughter, have been made exempt from Trump's tariff policy. Perhaps this might be something the Times finds worth investigating? (I mean, when you're not reporting - again - on Dershowitz's Martha's Vineyard Party Pooper Adventure)
4
Are you really expecting honesty from the "Donald". Let's get real...
3
There are plenty of US tarrifs, each designed to protect or promote our own, which in most cases do the job intended. Take dairy, it’s in our interests to have a stable domestic supply of milk, so why not protect it? Same for Canada, they want a domestic dairy industry and farms for the same reason.
3
What's unclear to me is what, exactly, Trump thinks he's accomplishing with all this griping about trade. If the American economy has a flaw, it certainly isn't trade imbalances or the moving of factories to China. It's the fact that the middle class is being eroded as the rich earn an increasing share of the country's wealth and the rest of us stagnate or see income losses. At its core, this problem comes down to the deregulation of American capitalism. By taxing the rich less and instead of redistributing wealth, we give them a powerful incentive to take ever more for their own and leave ever less for the middle class. What could we do to fix it? First, forget trade for now and get back to basic economic policy. Increase taxes on corporations and large businesses, EXCEPT for on money spent on employee wages, benefits, and bonuses. Give them an incentive to give money to their employees and punish them with higher taxes when money goes instead to shareholders or insane executive compensation packages. Increase individual taxes on the ultra wealthy and use it to fund programs like Medicare/Medicaid, SNAP, and others that benefit the poor.
Is that too socialist for America? I think not; it's the basic economic principles we embraces during the golden post-WWII years - in other words, the years people like Trump look back on fondly as the height of American prosperity and success.
12
As governments intervene in the market place with regulations or other barriers, businesses as profit-maximizing enterprises historically have tended to respond by first finding a way around the regulation or barrier, and secondly get the regulation of other barrier removed.
As the U.S. adds more tariffs and China and other countries respond, we are starting to see this happen already. Harley-Davidson is moving some production outside the U.S., in Iowa, the maker of Indian brand motorcycles is exploring this option as well. Others have taken other steps to circumvent these barriers which is only rational.
The problem that most of these maneuvers are not economically efficient which is harmful to the overall economy.
I went to the grocery store yesterday here in Vancouver, BC. The bags of Canadian apples were gone, all that remained were apples from Washington state. I asked the store clerk what had happened. “People are choosing the Canadian products all over the store” he told me. I don’t think anybody really cares where their apples come from, but they don’t like being insulted and they will do what little they can to show it. Such a terrible shame.
8
Why do we keep acting as though he cares about real issues? He is selling himself and he does that the easiest and most effective way he knows....vilify a person or group of people, even if in fact there is no actual problem there at all. The same person who made the case that Ted Cruz's father killed JFK is now attacking NATO. It is exactly the same play. What else would he do? Actually do the work needed to understand foreign affairs? Too hard and too boring for Trump because (repeat after me) he does not care.
7
Facts are Trump's enemy. He lives for his fanatical fantasies. And the sad part, much of the US believes every word he says.
The rotten apple in trade is China, no question. Depressing their currency, stealing IP, ignoring patent law, horrendous obstruction to imports, China should be the target of a new Trade policy for ALL the Western Democracies, allied together to get them in line, or else - harsh banking sanctions.
Trump's rejection of allies coupled with his across-the-board trade tariffs on everyone and anyone; is doomed to result in the rapid shrinkage of all economies.
2
It is possible to consider that the president in his infinite(simal) wisdom is attempting to solve two large global problems simultaneously; global warming and overpopulation. With the tariff wars and the increase in costs of many products, economic production of all types will be reduced; less cars, less food, and much less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Less food, less environmental protection, less breast feeding, and cuts in healthcare will cut population growth and the demand for things and activities which contibrute to carbon dioxide and other pollutents.
3
Does Donald Trump actually believe that allies are ripping off America with unfair trade practices? Unknowable. Do his constant, largely baseless attacks on allies serve some purpose other than riling his base? Well, it gives him a pretext to undermine the west and empower Vladimir Putin.
Can we please take a step back from the histrionic reactions to Trump's seeming incompetence and explore the very real threat that the U.S. president is purposely sabotaging the western alliance at the behest of Russia?
8
Ultimately, the federal government collects tariffs from American consumers. Will the government write each of us a check?
3
I may have missed it, but the debate on trade should include the impact of long-standing American protectionism on developing countries. We place high tariffs on the "four whites," sugar, dairy, rice, and cotton to the disadvantage of lower-cost producers in the developing world. This raises prices for American consumers and lowers incomes for producers in some of the world's poorest countries.
If we are to get serious about reducing poverty globally, we have to permit other economies to pursue their comparative advantage. Eliminating tariffs and import quotas would measurably improve the lives of people in the developing world.
I know Trump doesn't care about these countries. He characterizes them in scatological terms. Nevertheless, people in those countries are human beings, equally endowed with what we used to call inalienable rights, which once included the pursuit of happiness. In the time the Declaration was written, “happiness” included the opportunity to build a decent life for those living and a better life for their children.
1
After WW2 the US has rested on it's laurels and exploited thousands patents looted from the axis powers. Then it got complacent, fell asleep on the wheel, missed a couple of turns, and now the economy, especially the part which produces real value (not just dealing with funny money) is not competitive with most other developed economies.
Serious, would one want to drive a Cadillac when you can have a nice S-Class oder a 7-Beamer. With regard to quality, fit, finish, economy and long term value a Mercedes or a BMW is hard to beat.
In Europe, especially in Germany, you can lower the tariff for a GM or Chrysler to 0% and almost give it away, nobody wants to buy them. Ford was smart and established their own development and manufacturing in Europe. They are producing cars designed for the European market, and are successful. GM sell it's european outfit (Opel) to Peugeot and then complains about not being able to sell their prehistoric coaches.
The story with Trump is always the same, whether you talk trade, NATO, or Russian gas. The moment he or his cronies do not make money on any deal taking place on this world he/they are against it.
5
We are trying to rebuild our devastated manufacturing sector. Hence the emphasis on these goods and not services. The world needs our services otherwise they wouldn't buy them. The NYT cares more about appeasing the rest of world rather than supporting it's own country. Maybe that's because majority ownership is foreign.
Trump doesn’t mislead: he lies.
4
Of course he does. Other countries are not stupid- certainly nowhere as dumb as our fearless leader, Mr. 4 time bankrupt.....
1
I thought for a while that maybe a president such as Trump was necessary every couple of generations, if only to remind us that the guy with the megaphone who tells us that it's all someone else's fault is wrong and always has been. How wrong I was. The damage Trump can do to the economy is limited and we will recover from it; but the damage he will do to civilized values such as tolerance, integrity, recognition of expertise where it exists, promotion of learning etc. will persist for generations. Trump is not just a buffoon - he is a disaster for the world we have built on the foundations of the Enlightenment.
8
You may well appreciate and take comfort from Alice's Through the Looking Glass. Humpty Dumpty's assertion that a word means just what he chooses it means as he is the master. You are free to change word to fact. Our favorite cat will fade away leaving nothing but a flop of unruly hair.
"Much of what the president has said is malarkey."
Why can't the NYTimes, and many other papers for that matter, use the verb "to lie". As in, Much of what Trump says about our trade policies is a lie.
4
On the contrary to your subtitle, this article is misleading the public. The President is absolutely correct about the Canadian tariffs on dairy products, and you actually help make his case, by stating they allow a small amount of US products to be imported tariff free. Beyond that small amount, there IS a 370% tariff, and the link you included shows exactly what the US tariffs on imported dairy products are: Israel and 2 South American countries, NONE of them exceed 100%. LBJ's 25% tariff on imported pickup trucks has zero effect, because all foreign brand pickups are now being built here in the US, skirting that toothless tariff. So keep digging for pennies in your couch cushions to throw at President Trump, meanwhile, you are alienating the middle-ground swing voters with fake news and distorted facts, and pushing them to the winning side. President Trump is right about tariffs, the US is definitely treated unfairly by them. You folks look more foolish every day, trying to dig up any shred of old carpet dust, and twist it in as best you can, in your ridiculous attempts to portray our president in an unfavorable way. Sadly, there are many low-information voters, (and readers), who believe some of this guff. Fortunately, there are also many intelligent readers and voters who can see right through it, and simply laugh, or shake their heads and ignore the noise from the MSM, while they become more determined to see this administration run 2 full terms. Great Job!
2
Trouble with statistics is that you can pick and choose numbers to supposedly make a case.
Trade is far from perfect. All countries have tariffs or policies that may be seen as unfair.
For example, Canada has supply management for its dairy industry. But, the US has outright subsidies through its farm bills.
2
"...makes no sense to ignore trade in services when looking at the deficit because that sector produces about two-thirds of American economic output and employs about 71 percent of workers..."
Yes, it does from his perspective. His base is that 29% that does not work on services (e.g., coal miners)
"...Mr. Trump thinks that it’s in his interest to paint America as a victim of cunning foreigners..."
It is! That is from the dictator's manual: always blame "external influence" for any problems. And for his uneducated base, this is the perfect enemy.
2
This piece and the excellent graphical representation of current worldwide tariffs brings up the image of a firing squad arranged in a circle.
the number one tool in 45's chest: the lie.
3
In 4 years he is going to leave a bigly mess for the next President to fix. At some point you might find this turns into a Currency war and China and the rest of the world will stop using $US as the major currency. Then USA is really in trouble. But Trump doesnt care he is just train wrecking everything and he doesnt even realise it.
1
He realizes it.
1
I truly believe that trump is executing Putin's orders.
The final factoid that convinces me of this is the U.S. demanding that Ecuador NOT go forward with a recommendation that breast feeding is best for babies. They threatened to remove the U.S. military from the country and to cancel U.S. funding. Ecuador caved, but then Russia put forward the recommendation and crickets from the U.S. administration. How more obvious does it have to get?
2
Can’t tell him anything.
1
This Canadian is fed up with the US.
I encourage my compatriots to stop buying US produced products and go on vacations anywhere but the US.
Make trade agreements with everyone but the US.
Time to build our own nuclear deterrent. Just enough to make Russia and the US hesitate before "safeguarding our freedom".
The battle of the next 50 years will be over access to fresh water.
We have more than any other country and I fear the US may come and take it one day.
I realize that many Americans are good and moral people. However, a very significant percentage are racist and facist-leaning. I wish the good and moral ones would be less lazy and show up and vote. May be too late anyways.
9
The problems are real, both with China, the European Union, and other countries. But Trump's solutions are not realistic. They punish us as much as they do other countries. And in the process, the tariffs antagonize, as does the bombastic and repulsive, very public rhetoric. If this were just trade, moreover, it would fit Trump's model of tit for tat bargaining. But the anger caused by his tariffs and rhetoric endanger global security as well as the world economy.
3
My company takes raw materials from Japan, Korea, Canada and Thailand, processes them in the US on machinery made in France and Germany, and sells the end products to the US, Europe and Canada. International trade is far too complicated to be understood, let alone negotiated, by someone as ignorant and incurious as Trump. This is not going end well for the US or the world.
13
“He has repeatedly failed to take into account or talk about the trade in services — a broad category that includes movies, software, tourism, legal advice and the college tuition paid by foreign students to American universities.”
So we’re supposed to be happy that places in our universities to which American students should have first crack are being taken by foreign students? A sizeable percentage of tbose foreign students are the children of the super rich, who are admitted because their families or governments can pay the full boat tuition without financial aid. Keep talking, NY Times, and you will convince more people that Trump is right. I want to buy products produced in America. I don’t consider that a detriment. I think the corporate media would perform an invaluable service simply by providing a comprehensive list of all the ways China pursues a mercantilist policy, violating the rules of “free trade” and putting us at a disadvantage. Same with the rest of the world, but China is by far the worst offender.
3
Those foreign students paying full tuition help fund scholarships for American students.
8
But they take up spots and the universities already have plenty of money.
How can anyone tell this man anything when knows everything by his own admission. When you have a president who thinks he's a god then we better watch out for the fall.
1
I think the president's flawed numbers are the result of willful ignorance. He is constantly looking for issues and facts taken out of context to boost his image as a tough guy, certainly a tougher guy than Obama.
In his own mind this is not lying: it's effective marketing. It's also a way to get even with people who consider him a 6-time loser that no banker in America trusts anymore and citizens should not trust either.
Repeating off-the-cuff exaggerations and untruths is his stock in trade. He believes telling his base what they want to hear and stoking paranoia pays off, and so far it is working, like it or not.
3
If you put Trump's hyperbole aside for a moment, his essential attack on a world trading system that has higher tariff and non-tariff restrictions on trade outside the US has merit. Trump is careless and brash, so he says all kinds of outlandish things. But his essential point on trade, particularly with respect to China, is valid. I am not at all suggesting protectionism is a good idea - everyone is worse off in a trade war. However, the current system of tariff and non-tariff barriers have distributional consequences - the rise of Chinese labor has come, partly, at the expense of US labor and higher US income inequality. China has an industrial policy that is focused on maximizing domestic employment through such policies. The US can, and should, respond with increased investment in human capital (education/training), but it should also challenge protectionist policies outside the US for distributional reasons.
4
So why does not the NYT educate all of us. It is pretty simple to me the president is making political speech for political reasons. Now to me if we are running a deficit with any developed country or one we don't want to be charitable towards that needs to be addressed. We need equal (within some tolerance) trade. We buy from say China, they but from us or else.
1
Remember when Trump said he loved his 'undereducated'?When talking about tariffs, could it be that when Trump is talking to his supporters he is talking and they are hearing only 'arithmetics', when tariffs require an understanding of mathematics, algebra, calculus or even a higher numbers equation?
Trump seemingly like the use of higher numbers and most people seemingly compare the US to other countries especially the European one.
Considering the size and population of the US, of course, we would and should pay more.
Most European countries are about the size of some of our states, England, perhaps NY state, Sweden perhaps Massachusetts.
Overall, Trump is trying to help Putin and Russia in the eyes of the world.
Whoever said that the President of the US words is 'Godlike', should have never said that to a person like Trump.
He has taken those words to heart.
3
He's on a mission, alrigh... not one that is wise to pursue:
"There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to Him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that run swiftly to evil,
a false witness who breathes lies,
and one who causes strife among brothers."
(Proverbs 6:16–19)
10
Misled. Malarkey. Come on NYT ... STOP resorting to veiled synonyms and simply, truthfully use the word LIE. The public needs to see that simple word. Every time.
5
"Malarkey", NYT, really? Trump lies. The more often you say that clearly without pussyfooting around it with creative synonyms, the more effective the message will be.
6
I like the word “malarky.” It says that someone is lying, but with much more.
1
Malarkey is the acceptable version of the noun the editors clearly would like to use, but can’t.
As a proud citizen of a country that your president (small p intended) constantly rails against i.e. Canada I take umbrage at the New York Times writing that the president (there is that small p again) falsely claims. That is not what he is doing. He is lying and liars should be called liars. Sometimes you also write that he thinks blah blah blah. Your president does not think - he reacts.
18
Like who is the someone who should tell Donald Trump about high American tariffs?
Ivanka Trump? Jared Kushner? Wilbur Ross? Steve Mnuchin? Sean Hannity? Steve Bannon? Melania Trump? KellyAnne Conway? Mick Mulvaney? Paul Ryan? Mitch McConnell? Don, Jr..? Fox and Friends?
10
How many times does he have to be told how to spell “C-A-T” to understand that 1st grade math does nothing to explain trade balances. Can he not understand or just refuses to do so?
The old saw about lies, damn lie, and statistics applies here. Any datum, true or not, can be manipulated into an argument that is borne out “by the numbers.” His purposely selection of “facts” wis a time tested ploy of politicians and others, but they are his only strategy.
There appears to be no one who’s willing or fearless enough to prep him with the truth, not that he has the constitution, intelligence, or inclination to listen, since he’s the “smartest man alive.” And after all this, his “base” may end up suffering most by his efforts to appease them or shield them from the harsh reality that his behavior and actions will ultimately yield - a country alienated, with dying industries that will never return to their former glory, and a market for goods and services made too expensive for anyone earning a middle class or lower wage.
3
In keeping with the headline NYT should be breaking news on how Ivanka and the other 5th Avenue Grifters in the Trump orbit are benefitting. How about Wilbur Ross and his stock plays. Are you looking into others? Trump is a well-known serial liar, shine some light on what we don't know, please.
3
Why didn’t the NYT do a better job of informing readers about these subjects in news stories rather than opinion pieces.
"Mr. Trump thinks that it’s in his interest to paint America as a victim of cunning foreigners." No, Americans are being taken to the cleaners by an overgrown toddler and his power hungry party. Americans don't seem to understand how governments work which is why we have the logjams we have now. Government is paid to step in where family can't. Government is paid to deal with and ameliorate the inequalities that individuals can't and companies won't. Government is supposed to work for us, not for those who cheat us, lie to us, and keep all the money. Government is supposed to see to the safety and well being of the citizens. Trump and the GOP have failed to do that and not by accident.
Tariffs sound great until the country pushes back. It gives Trump an easy way to say America First. What he doesn't mention is that first can easily become last, especially in this sort of game. We have legitimate grievances against China. We could have coordinated with our allies and gotten results. Trump's actions closed off that path because to him every country is the enemy. It's another example of how little Trump cares about America unless it's white male and rich.
2
Just as the president has no deep background in the law and the constitution he presides over, it's the same with tariffs, quotas, imports and exports. Hopefully he will consult with such experts as the Commissioner of CBP Kevin McAleenan, who he finally appointed a few months ago perhaps reluctant to name him to his job for political reasons. The Commissioner is highly knowledgeable and able to bring complexities down to digestible and accessible portions. With some more insight as to how the trade regime really works, we may see a more informed and intelligent approach.
3
Ignorance is no excuse. Trump is surrounded by people who know the facts. So, his lies must either be attributed to sheer willfulness or seen as a deliberate strategy. I don't find it plausible to think that Trump simply shoots his mouth off like an out of control six year old, however much that images pleases his critics. Rather, I think his disparagement of America's allies is deliberate, as are the lies he tells in order to paint them as brigands. His objective seems clear enough and it's not to get a better deal on trade. His objective is to break apart the western alliance. This conclusion is resisted by most commentators only because it's difficult to imagine what he hopes to accomplish by shattering the liberal world order that has worked to America's advantage for so long. The question we need to ask is this: who will be advantaged by its destruction?
7
The headline is totally misleading...NO ONE can tell Trump about anything, because he is, like "Really Smart". Except he has absolutely no clue about the complexities of tariffs, international trade, diplomacy (and a bunch of other stuff that the list is too long to display here). My 1 yr old granddaughter has a longer attention span. Oh, forgot; Donald can go on and on and on about how great he is.
3
This is happening because the general public is out of touch..with everything revolving around its own life. Especially the general public life. It votes depend on who has the most "general appeal" and this time it went to Trump. A man I personally cannot stand because of his personality in broad terms. He is a huge cheater! On women on goods on services on the truth. I remember having arguments with another gay man! about whether people should vote for him or not. He is a huge huge fraud and one which the United States will record as a turning point for the worst in its career.
2
Trump's Chicken Little tariff talk is in line with his talk about immigration and environmental and financial regulations: all key to his m.o. of stoking a massive sense of grievance among the millions of Americans who continue to support him. Factually full of holes and wildly overstated, this script leads to the equally obvious conclusion that Trump is the only one to tell it "like it is," the only one who has the fearlessness to fix it. Citing accurate trade data (as well as accurate data about immigration and regulations) is important. But until people in power - especially Republicans in power in the corporate and political worlds - are willing to call Trump out for the liar and demagogue that he is, we may well be stuck with him for quite some time.
2
just maybe Trump could rip himself away from"Fox and Friends" and learn something. I doubt it. He's too busy listening to the echo of his own voice to even know what he is talking about. Stupid and dishonest, sad!
3
He's not misleading. He's LYING! Tell it like it is.
6
it's not a bad thing to try and negotiate a better deal for your domestic interests, but at some point the President is ignoring the potential for diminishing returns in the bigger picture, sort of win the battleand lose the war. The reality is that all of our allies in Europe and Canada have domestic politics and the President is either palying chicken with friends on the tracks or is willfully obtuse. Either one can lead to calamity.
2
It is obvious this ill informed man, called Trump, has an agenda which is supported by few truths, and is aimed directly at his provincial base, His strategy is to bulldoze over any attempt to challenge his fabrications, by constantly repeating lies, ignoring media criticisms, or accusing the critics of'fake news'. This is the same strategy used by dictators--and would be dictators.
His base is his power, and they are immune to facts and figures. Trump stokes their innate feelings of having been abused by foreign nations-- whether friend or foe.
Let's not forget the cowardly GOP Congressmen and women. These people have cravenly surrendered their power to a an unhinged man by directly ignoring a basic tenet of our Constitution-- separate, but equal governing bodies.
3
There's a single flaw in this editorial's logic. Mr Trump is seeking ratings for a reality TV show and this is merely a way to improve ratings. Every thought of his is parsed through that lens and he knows he'll be protected by the top billionaires not just in the U.S. but abroad. Continuing to author material like this plays into his hand. The NYT needs to focus on educating the American populace at the local level, using language they understand and presenting facts in a manner that rekindles critical thinking versus tribalism inside all Americans regardless of party affiliation. We need to protect our form of government and desperately need the NYT to help.
2
Trump misleading (lying to) the public is not news. He has bludgeoned his detractors and gratified his base with his personal take on reality. In this nation’s history it would be unimaginable that a president, the most respected elected official, would willingly misrepresented reality with the regularity that Trump does and be immune from criticism. But here we are. Blaming it on tribalism lets Americans off the hook. Too many are willing to accept the destruction of a civil society for a rising economy, a tax cut, a tilting of the playing field in our direction or as long as the tilting doesn’t hurt me. What will it take to offend the American public? Lying and kidnapping some one else’s children didn’t.
3
trump, besides being a gritter and a criminal and a traitor is also lazy and quite unintelligent (to be polite). Not only has he no idea about economics, he clearly doesn't care to learn anything. He's a national humiliation and we will pay for his idiocy for generations.
4
Donald Trump hates facts, scorns the truth, attacks allies, and spreads falsehoods. He has always done that and won't change now.
Are Republicans so addicted to power and so fearful of Trump's uninformed or fanatical base that they will make no move in Congress to protect America from an irresponsible pathological liar and ignoramus?
With his tariffs, Trump is only (as the Chinese proverb says of the fool) lifting a heavy rock to drop it on his own feet.
3
Any good con requires a greedy mark. Trump knows that instinctively. All his lies do is to remind us North of the border about the the bottomless pit of greed that the United States has become.
3
We can't help but wonder if the Editorial Board has ever heard of the words "Rust Belt"?
Could be that the "enfant terrible" has workers in mind.
The president and his enlightened base are destroying America with their uniquely monomaniacal purpose: proclaim as policy a multifaceted paranoid "idée fixe": FOREIGNERS ARE BAD. Foreigners are all non-Americans, but also Americans who happen not to worship the fetus and disdain the baby, or are less white European than Trump, or read the New York Times, or simply have some (very) basic decency and not necessarily a lot of money. Are we in the middle of some kind of psychiatric emergency? Is there any remedy?
4
Poor Donnie - life is SOOO UNFAIR!
1
‘Facts? We don’t need no stinking facts! The Deep State is always trying to confuse us with the facts! Trump, he tells it like it is!’
— Prototypical member of the Cult of Trump
6
The President misleads the public, says The Times. You mean he's a liar. There, I fixed it for you. Hope that wasn't too uncivil.
2
Thank you for telling it like it is. So many lies and dis-infornation from Trump and his sycophants. So much of even the main stream US mefia play clips of his lies and don't provide corrections or refute them. Keep up the good work NYT.
1
In the end, it would make no difference; Trump and his administration have shown themselves to be virulently allergic to facts. They develop some narrative based of half- and/or misunderstood data, which they then hold onto come hell or high water. As there can be no rational discussion with this lot, and the feckless Republicans in Congress are useless, our hopes must rest in flipping Congress in November.
On that note, protest marches and "the Resistance" might be emotionally cathartic, but they are no substitute for voting. If voter-turnout for previous mid-term elections are any guide, apathy or laziness will doom the Democrats (and America, and the world) to at least two more years of this evil buffoonery.
3
What does Sean Hannity think about this?
After all, he's the real brains in the White House.
Trump just does what he's told to do.
2
Many thanks for this editorial...I will print it and give it to the two Texans who keep banging on about Mr Trumps 270% Canadian tariff on U.S. dairy products.
I will highlight the part "U.S. dairy farmers sold $792
worth of dairy products to Canada in 2017, and Canada sold only $149 million to the U.S."
It will give me a certain amount of joy to watch them read it.
And...hello Tillamook Oregon...will I still be able to buy your delicious two year old cheddar at Costco?
Has the 25% Mexican retaliatory tariff on cheese killed your export market?
My 10 year old Mexican nieta is visiting and she loves
Tillamook cheddar. Yesterday she asked "please buy some of the delicious queso cheddar that comes in the black package."
I explained the tariff story and why I can't buy any queso cheddar that comes from Tillamook Oregon in a black package...she was puzzled and a bit dismayed. She probably knows more about tariffs"aranceles" than any other ten year old and she is not happy.
Then she watched the Tillamook video. "Nice cows"
she commented.
I will ask Chedraui to buy Canadian cheddar.
Hello Mr Trump...you are making a mess in the marketplace.
David Andrew Henry
ancient Canadian economist
1
Gosh darn it NYT, there you go again, bringing facts into politics. When will you ever learn?
2
WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE:
Ford sells it's top-of -the-line Navigator in China for $174,000.00
Mercedes and BMW can build cars cheaply enough in America that they can export them to China.
How can it be that a country can be considered 'developing' by the WTO has enough people who can easily afford a $175,000.00 SUV?
How can it be that a country can be considered 'developing' by the WTO can buy German cars made in America?
The Chinese economy was built on 4 pillars:
1. Intellectual property theft
2. Counterfeiting
3. Cheap labor
4. Currency manipulation
WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
1
Moderator: oops...my comment should read "$792 million" of U.S. dairy exports to Canada...I forgot to put "million"...would you kindly note my error.
thank you David Andrew Henry
Yes trade is “complex” far too complex for Donald Trump to comprehend or master. But the EU is quite guilty of unfair trade practices including banning or restricting “GMOs”, meaning genetically modified organisms, to block cheaper and higher quality U.S. agricultural products from the European market. The plain fact is that almost all foods we consume are genetically modified and the consumers have been sold a phony bill of goods about GMOs. The New York Times needs to do a far better job of discussing how the E.U. has used “GMOs” as a suberterfuge to keep U.S. agricultural products off E.U. markets. And by the way these so called GMOs use less water, less fertilizer and less pesticides to produce higher quality foods. Come on New York Times do your job and discuss this issue in the depth we expect of you.
It would have to be Putin. Putin is the only one that jackals listens to. We are in so much trouble and McConnell and Ryan are plying their fiddles while Washington burns. God help us.
3
Just like Trump’s lack of understanding of healthcare....”who ever knew healthcare is so complicated”, ....his understanding of trade intricacies and global economics is infantile. Just add that to his ignorance of environmental sciences, history, law, ethics and his absence of a moral compass or capacity for empathy. Wow, what a narcissistic disaster this man is and yet absent a compelling and comprehensive Democratic message or messenger we are likely going to have to deal/suffer with him for years to come.
1
...but he went to all the best schools...
Trump doesn't care about high tariffs, all he cares about is doing the job that Putin assigned him, to tear this nation apart.
1
The prez is simply following the "law of rule ..." (hint if you don't follow the thought: He is the 'rule')
There's only one solution to ending the nightmare of Donald Trump, VOTE DEMOCRAT this fall.
...even George Will is saying as much, and you know when that happens it's really bad.
2
Once again for the one millionth time, he is a con man. Period. No more analysis is required
4
I don't know why the media keeps using the term "trade war" with respect to China. This is a "trade divorce". Divorce is permanent, war is temporary and has winners and losers. And every time the Chinese up the ante, or play the sleazy game of politically targeting tariffs, they make the divorce easier for Trump to justify. After three decades of poor and dishonest trade conduct, I don't want to see us ever do business with the Chinese again. They are not now, nor have they ever been free traders. With the highest reserves per capita of any country in the world, they are the very definition of mercantilist. Time to invest and trade more with India, Indonesia, Vietnam, South America, etc. There are better deals to be had.
As for NATO, we pay 70% when we should be paying 30 to 40%. Russia is a lot closer to their borders than ours. And Europe's trade surplus with us, pays for their trade deficit with China. Oh, and by the way, I despise Donald Trump. But I am a center-lefty who thinks that the NY Times is fast becoming as biased and extremist as FOX News. Get your heads on straight!
There is only one thing that exceeds trumps continuous lies, his ignorance.
3
Someone should tell the NY Times that, based on their track record of lies, distortions and omissions on all things Trump, they should first come clean to the American public on the intentional misleading which is central to their agenda.
The content of this editorial is spot on. But it would have a lot more relevance if the authors would bring their dialogue into the 21st century. ‘Malarkey’ and ‘bugbears’ are ancient terms. If you want to be relevant, upgrade your vocabulary.
2
Trump, lie, never happens. He is the most scrupulously honest individual to ever grace the White House.
Me thinks ... you make a sarcastic comment, no?
Someone needs to start a fundraiser to pay Fox News to read this important piece on air, word for word, over and over.
1
The US is a third rate country with a third rate government. The rule of law has been abandoned and we are now in the protection racket.
Listening to the President talk about our NATO allies reminded me of when NYC real estate construction was run by the mob. You paid to protect your construction. That was also the heyday of the Trump real estate empire.
2
Someone should send Trump Dale Carnegie's book.
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Oh, never mind. I forgot he has the attention span of a speed bump.
Of all people, the New York Times Editorial Board should know by now that Donald Trump listens to no one no matter what is said to him, because he thinks he already knows everything...and better.
Even though he also thought the countries he levied tariffs on would not retaliate in kind and it wouldn't end up having a disasterous effect on the average American consumer, and ultimately the entire economy.
He calls this 'winning'.
Trump, as usual is lying about trade, but, those lies turn into gaslighting and dog whistles his supporters hear and believe.
This is how he works-stirs his base, Fox "News" gets into the ring and the continuation of the nonsense that comes forth from Trump himself, the press briefing room, and his entertainer friends and policy experts at his favorite network becomes truth.
It is disturbing that given all of the statistics and the true information concerning trade if it is presented by reputable news outlets it becomes fake news and the public in this country will be saddled with the consequences of the lies.
1
We all know that Trump is a utter disaster; the proverbial bull in a china shop. He can do whatever he wants because the system of checks and balances assumes that there will be sufficient people with integrity in those institutions, but now we see that was a big assumption. He has been extremely successful painting illegal immigrants as the reason why in the heartland, people do not have a proper standard of living, while distracting them from the true reason, which is policies like his tax giveaway to billionaires. Unfortunately, the hatred towards immigrants is so big by now, that his base is cheering even a trade war that is harming mostly them.
Sixty nations have helped the U.S. in it's war in Afghanistan with men, women and material. Can't Trump discuss trade reasonably without insulting our allies. Someday they may not want to help after Trump insults them.
1
Why have "free enterprise" which is so oft expounded by the GOP when you can have a "rigged system" instead?
Power for the sake of power always seeks more power. And corruption is it's mistress.
And Trump is a feeding trough. "Sad"
Thank you for these insights, but President Trump has never been one to let the facts get in the way of a good argument.
2
Trump gets his policy from TV shows, and seems to do his research by using google or wikipedia.
The level of his laziness and lack of curiousity combined with the ineptness of his staff is startling.
It’s the laziness to learn about complex issues, just like the rest of the GOP, that will not get him my vote or support.
1
Trump doesn’t care about trade pacts. He’s all about breaking things including our trading system and our defense alliances all for his sponsor, Vladimir Putin. Trump is selling out the country and the GOP is happy to let him.
1
Okay, everyone. We're all kvetching about the prez and his mileau. What legal actions NOW must be taken? Can we afford to wait until November and its unknowns? How can one person and his groupies undo everything (you do know what 'everything' is, yes?). And so quickly? Shameful that we do not have votes of confidence or referendums as in some countries.
1
the us has a third world economy, exporting agriculture and raw materials
Trump's continued whining about non-existent unfairness is an insult to hard-working Americans. We don't need the protections of his nanny-state to succeed.
His tirades from the bully pulpit mirror his lifelong habit of whining about everything he disagrees with. Over the years his mouth has formed a permanent frown which belies his posing of self confidence. I'm sure these other rulers see right through him. It's embarrassing just to watch him mingle like an out of place miscreant at these world affairs. Hey, I thought being that being rich and privileged would be a path to inner peace. Not with this angry hot air balloon destined to destroy alliances that have served us well for decades. "How am I doing Vladi?"
2
The trick is to make sure the base thinks they are getting ahead while paying for a wall, paying more for products, paying more for insurance, paying more for ..... just about everything while Trump winks, sniffs, and lies because he says he understands tariffs. It’s a magic act and Trump is a master at it. Give the corporations a tax break, throw a justice at the GOP and he can play the tariff game since the North Korean one is not quite paying off like he thought. Misleading the country is an understatement...more like the card shark con at work.
1
Trump lies and misrepresents. That's what he has always done and will do to serve his purpose.
Most people here in rural Texas do not read the NYTimes editorial pages. Instead, they get their news from Fox and thus only hear and thoroughly believe what Trump says. That’s Trump’s genius and it works. Even the threat of economic pain resulting from the tariffs has not made a dent in Trump’s base devotion.
At a 4th of July party in my neighborhood, a neighbor said that Trump was chosen by God and was guided by Jesus Christ in his actions. There you have it. When one believes that God himself is guiding one’s choice for president there is little if anything that can be done to change that belief. Not the lies, not the cruelty against immigrant children, not even economic pain. This seemingly irrational idolization of Trump may be enough to get him re-elected in 2020. I could say “God help us” but apparently “God” already is helping Trump.
2
Accusing foreign powers of maligning the US is neither an accident nor born out of ignorance. It is a calculated technique for riling his followers and building a more jingoistic culture. The same sort of propaganda worked well for many other despots throughout history.
2
What about sugar.....the tariffs the US imposes are huge.
it's about the nyt did an editorial on this. be nice to see a comprehensive news piece too.
I read recently that the usa has a 300% tariff on Canadian tobacco and 132% on peanuts.
both industries are centred, I would assume, in the southern states which seem to wag the dog in proportion to their population.
3
Trump has bankrupted every business he has ever run. It is inevitable that he will also bankrupt the U.S.A. He has certainly already bankrupted the country morally.
1
The Times Editorial Board recognizes that the US had a 550 billion dollar trade deficit. Their take is the problem is that Trump is dishonest because he said it was 800 billion. In fact, deficits are bad for the American workers and for economic stability. At some point, the trade and budget deficits will cause the economy to collapse, In the mean time, these massive transfers of wealth to foreigners make America and Americans poorer. We are living high on the hog while our wealth is being spent. I don't see the NY Times running huge deficits and taking on debt and issuing new stock so that they can pay more benefits to their owners and employees.
Trump only cares about applause lines.
Trump only cares about applause lines.
Seriously.
Trump only cares about applause lines.
Trump just wants to keep his base mad into the mid-terms. Europe, China and Japan will tell their people not to get mad, just get even.
So, POTUS rants that traditional U.S. allies have been taking great advantage of the U.S. for many years. Thank goodness Trump can rely on his friend Putin, who would never be so greedy with his friend, the American President. After ripping into NATO and following his pit stop to the U.K., Trump and Putin can get together in private and have a good laugh about all of those greedy little allies.
1
Obama, coherent and competent, should have championed industries hit by globalization instead of the current blow hard. Instead he (and Hillary until someone read her the polls) was pushing Trans Pacific Partnership, which would have only led to more low skill jobs going away.
What made the Democratic party think TPP was a vote getter?!?
The Democrats, in the short term need to figure out how to keep West Virginia, Dakota, Indiana, Missouri and other vulnerable senate seats, otherwise SCOTUS will be gone for generations.
In the medium term, they need to figure out how to win in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania Florida.
Trump, who has no core principles, identified lost jobs and trade issues as #1 in the toss up states and attacked single mindedly and bluntly.
Trump is ruining America. And the GOP is complicit in his actions.
Yes but the states that export services didn't vote for him. Punishment !
The biggest impediment to the international trade in American-made manufactured goods is the rest of the world's insistence on using the metric system to measure the sizes of nuts and bolts and other things on cars, etc. If only those nasty Europeans, Asians, Canadians, Mexicans, other Americans and Africans would would put aside their silly system based on 10s and join the USA, Myanmar and Liberia in using a good old system based on the length of a royal thumb, then we could have our goods exchanged without artificial impediment.
1
It is common knowledge that Trump does not understand.... well everything. He knows how to cheat and bully as was his way when building things. He hurts the US and Republicans are constantly complaining about him, but do nothing to check his behavior. Trump will be meeting with Putin who will say nice things to him and Trump will give something to Russia before telling anyone else. The Republican party would rather win the midterms with the aid of Putin than to lose because of their own policies. Good Luck
1
Once again, the Ed Board of the NY Times wants to paint Trump black: "All told, the United States exported nearly $530 billion worth of goods and services to the E.U. last year, about $100 billion less than it imported. Clearly, many American farmers and businesses are doing quite a lot of business in Europe."
In this case, the NYT Ed Board concludes that for this alleged $100 B surplus (who knows what the real numbers are?) American farmers and businesses are doing quite a lot of business. No, this doesn't mean American FARMERS are part of the deal which is what his tweet says. And I think that Trump and his team are FAR more aware than the NY Times is about what the real numbers are.
1
It must be devastating to Europe to have faced 25% tariffs on pickup trucks for the past 50 years. Oh the inhumanity of it!
Let's pause in praise and comfort with the knowledge that our future is secure and also that of all blue collar workers because Hollywood exports movies to the world! The editorial staff has truly exceeded all expectations with this piece.
Fact vs Truth. Ask 100 economists any question on the economy and you’re going to get 100 different sets of facts. That’s human nature. That’s how and why politicians operate. This isn’t new in society. It’s been going on since the beginning time. The biggest difference now is that instead of having to travel to the Library to check something out, you can now do that anywhere,anytime instantly on your smart devise. That’s also the biggest problem because you’re really not sure who wrote it and if it’s really true. Is everything the New York Times writes true? No, but in most cases, it’s held to a much higher standard then say Fox. Trump relies on that!
3
Interesting to see if car tariffs create enough of a black market for a surge in car thefts and violent car jackings. Thieves would probably export American cars and “used parts” like Jeep and Cadillac, to Central America as usual, but in higher quantities, retitle them there, and send them to Europe or the Middle East. Would think online auction vehicles will fill in the demand for affordable cars internationally, strengthening the fixer upper market overseas. Would think this coming year would be very good for U.S. used car lots selling imports. Wait and see if American luxury buyers step up and buy new German, Italian, and English most expensive models without complaining.
Talk about his other gripe "Technology Transfer" American has been raiding the rest of the world since WW2. Rocket technology for one. More recently because I know of it personally, hormone technology from a company called Organon in Oss the Netherlands, Truck technology from DAF and Volvo. The brain drain to America from universities abroad, evidenced by the high number of foreign born Nobel prize winners and CEO's of American companies. But he does not want to bring that up.
the problem regarding the goods deficit is that the wholesale departure of our factories to lower cost countries has resulted in significant job losses in USA that has resulted in higher unemployment, hundreds of US towns and cities being decimated by the impact and all for the consumer who "deserves" the lowest price. that is absurd. Would I as an american want to support the health of my fellow citizens and the country as a whole? Of course i would...and if it means a rise in the cost of goods to me it is far better than the costs of supporting laid off workers via unemployment insurance and general social payments (which no one ever calculates that amount and adds it to the cost of a product from a low cost country.
The NYT knows better but again is unwilling to provide context to its readers on this complicated issue and instead simple say economists disagree...get off your backside and actual find the facts and report them accurately and with context...
It's great to hear the other side of the story, namely how the US taxes imports. A better article would have presented a list of product and the import duties assessed on them, not a series of anecdotes. Unfortunately, given the strong bias the NYT has shown against Trump since 2016 even when it is unwarranted (just look at your editorial section, 365 days a year), I am unable to believe that this is the full picture, either.
Must keep news media & journalists busy. If nothing else exciting to talk about, they would focus on the Mueller's investigation, which must be really close to the truth.
How about some high tariffs on Trump and Ivanka merchandise from China ?
3
The president claims that America is a string of closed factories, with unemployment rampant because of aggressive trade abuse by foreign countries, while at the same time having "the greatest economy of all time". Which one is it, Mr. President?
Can you please, please quit passing along Trump's tweets, verbatim? If I wanted to see his tweets, I would follow him on Twitter. I look to the Times to report the news, not to be press agent for Trump. Thank you.
never assume that truth will refute The Big Lie.
didn't work in the 1930's in Germany
didn't work in the 1940's & 50's with McCarthy
not working in 2016,17,18 with "the base"
1
The President and his loyal voters have bonded by playing the victim. He is the victim of a "witch hunt" that has no basis in fact whatsoever, even thought there have been over 20 indictments and some convictions. He and his followers are the victims of "fake news" that is consistently proven to be true. He is the victim of lies by others. He is totally disrespected by everyone but his loyal followers.Evangelicals are victims of the LGBTQ advocates. Whites are the victims of affirmative action. The wealthy are the victims of "class warfare." Farmers, who benefit immensely from trade are really the victims. We are the victims the NATO alliance that has kept Russia at bay. Trump's trade war is just another version of that. I just can't wait to see who the victim will be when we really see the North Korean deal.
1
Trump's "confusion" has a direct and almost perfect 1:1 correlation with his ignorance.
Why is it that a guy who has everything wakes up every day in a rage?
And why does anyone listen to him pontificate about US financial matters when he's filed for bankruptcy a zillion times?
1
Some of my fellow Canadians have a tendency to go on about how they can buy milk for $2 US a gallon when wintering in AZ, so I did a little comparison using an online major grocery store circular....
$2 AZ price of a gallon (3.8 ltrs)
US subsidy is 35 cents a quart,
CDN price for a 4 ltr bag $4.25 CDN, yes it comes in bags.
CDN subsidy $0.
Factor in the exchange rate and the price is pretty much the same!
While looking at the circular/flyer I went through some of the other items listed, particularly pantry items... in most cases CDN price were on par if not cheaper.
There's a very good reason why previous Presidents have not taken the route now being enacted - it doesn't work.
It's one thing to point out unfairness, discrepancies and questionable trade practices - it's quite another to create and implement a solution which, at the very least, doesn't make the situation worse.
Prepare yourself for higher prices and lower product availability.
Welcome to the world of shallow policy creation unencumbered by the thought process.
1
Are the Editors finally figuring out their civic responsibility?
It is important to call Trump out on his lies, confusion and conflation.
But it is just as important to clarify for those who are bewildered and confused.
Trump’s tirades about the unfair advantages many countries have over the US find a warm reception by those who don’t know the numerous subsidies, quotas, tax advantages, and other government preferences given to American businesses.
In fact, if they understood all of the tax breaks and government preferences given to Trump, the real estate developer, they might have regarded him as the leach that he is.
1
Why is it that Trump can unilaterally impose tariffs, which are really just taxes spelled differently, without Congress voting on it? What he is doing is little different than a President imposing a 2% sales tax on shoes or raising the gas tax by 10 cents a gallon without Congress passing a law.
This is even more worrisome if you consider that there is a process for specific companies appealing for hardship relief, which allows the executive branch to pick and choose which companies to reward or punish. The potential for mischief in that is obvious.
It seems like Congress should be involved in this the same way it is on "normal" taxes.
what is not discussed is the bottom line, which is the "profit" or value added in the trade account. The US exports goods and services that are far more "profitable" than its imports. The real numbers may (ironically) show that it is the US that is taking advantage of the rest of the World by overpricing its exports (taking advantage of its monopoly in many sectors, such as Hollywood or graduate education).
Trump claimed that it is within his power to pardon himself. This one statement should convince anyone not convinced that we are watching a well orchestrated performance.
We have been watching this show for 2 + years. To think that something will change, be it due to Mueller's probe or the midterm election is insanity.
Call me a pessimist, though I believe I'm a realist. Apparently, this entire situation is out of the populace's hands. This and Trump the front man, the Congress and sadly the Supreme Court is being controlled by some very wealthy people/powers.
These days, I choose to rarely watch the news or read the papers; I believe that following this "made for TV" drama is not good for one's health.
1
But, for those who choose to live in the world created in their minds by Trump everything he says rings true. Because they want them to be true even if the statistics show otherwise. This is the danger of belief- and dogma-based thinking and learning. There is no room in their world for data and science. And, until a way is found to bring reality into their world Trump's misinformation will continue to enlighten them.
1
Tariff = Tax
Guess what, Trumpees? Donald just raised your taxes.
Tax and spend, Republican style.
6
We'll see how that plays out, but at least I have a choice, albeit a limited one, whether or not to buy a product with a higher tariff, with the tax and spend Democrats I have none.
This public interest over trade and tariffs is an excellent opportunity to shed light on the bigger issue of what industries and products get some form of subsidy and which do not.
We favor private businesses by either protecting them from competition with a tariff or subsidizing them with tax breaks. Sometimes both.
We also support them with new roads, energy subsidies and a host of other services paid for by the tax-payer.
Some of these subsidies go to company's that are already enormously profitable. Most of those profits go to stockholders and 85% of corporate stock is held by 1% of the population.
I'm all for supporting American farmers. But we should be supporting the smaller family farm, not agribusiness giants.
I'm also for supporting small businesses, which are usually overlooked in the subsidy game. But I'm opposed to spending tax dollars to support giant, multi-national corporations that are quite profitable already.
My tax support and subsidy for them is simply corporate graft and greed.
How about an investigative report on who is getting what, who deserves it and who may not?
And of course, follow the money from their pockets along the campaign trail.
13
On the milk, one of the reasons the US exports as much dairy to Canada is that Canada allows imports access to 10% of it's market where the US allows access to only 3% of it's market.
8
The only reason Trump plays up the trade deficit with Europe in goods is because manufacturing impacts Trump voters more than services
3
Someone is telling Donald Trump the truth about high tariffs- the Republican CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue, said that Trump's tariffs war puts 2.6 million US jobs in jeopardy. That's the truth that his supporters, who voted for jobs, do not want to hear.
15
The US has a trade surplus in service despite tariffs, not because we do not face them! China heavily restricts access to its financial services markets, denies our ability to make goods without giving up intellectual property, sponsors state run economic espionage against US tech firms, limits the number of US films per year that can be distributed to handful and the list goes on and on. These key industries are where we have our greatest advantage (for now). The miracle is that we have any trade surplus in this category at all.
2
As I observe the American media's tolerance of Donald Trump's lies about international trade....there may have been a time when he was ignorant but now he simply lies.....I do wonder why, as he rants on about Canadian tariffs on dairy products, Justin Trudeau simply does not challenge him to rermove all US subsidies from American dairy products. Canadian critics complain American dairy producers "farm the mailbox". i.e., are in business largely for the flow of resources from government. When will President Trump tell American dairy farmers to get off the government teat (pun intended)? Will president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador remind Trump that Mexican corn farmers were undercut by the massive flow of subsidized American corn into Mexican markets? End US subsidies of corn production, watch prices rise, and perhaps there will be fewer former Mexican farmers heading north looking for work. American failure to reduce narcotics consumption serves as a stimulus and price support to Mexican narcotics suppliers. How about some aggressive action there.
A major problem is media refusal to point out tariffs are simply federal sales taxes. Part of the reason for the current enthusiasm for tariffs is they serve as a federal sales tax to help offset the huge loss of revenue by last December's flawed legislation. In effect Donald Trump is substituting a sales tax on goods the middle class buys to make up for his giveaways to corporations. I am a Republican and see the sneaky scam.
15
It will be interesting to see how the new tariffs on steel and aluminum affect our auto manufacturing industries, which are primarily located in Trump country. The list of auto manufacturers includes Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, BMW, and Mercedes, in addition to the US corporations.
The Alliance of American Auto Manufacturers weighed in on the proposed tariffs in an opposition letter to the proposed new tariffs in which they detail the possible loss of a number of manufacturing jobs with ranges from over 100K to 600K.
https://autoalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Alliance_Comments_On...
These numbers are based on the new tariff proposals and the possibility of retaliatory actions by affected nations, and if anyone needs be reminded Ford was a huge proponent of the GM bailout even though the company itself did not require government assistance. Their rationale was simple, lose a large producer and supply chains dry up. In the case of the aforementioned international manufacturers they import many of the supply items necessary to complete US assembly for their products, and the possibility of large scale layoffs is very real, especially given the fact that the auto industry claims their orders have been flat for the past two years.
On another, but related note, the reason Trudeau does not engage Trump in a Twitter war is because unlike Trump he is not an immature petulant child, and he actually understands how government policies work.
4
For many like myself, trying to understand the complicated topics of trade and tariffs involves reading, discussing and evaluating. Unless this can be done for trump and his base in the length of a tweet they will never grasp the intricacies of this very complicated topic. For trump screaming at rallies or in capital letters in a tweet are the only means of true communication he understands. How many times can it be said that he is a dangerous embarrassment.
3
The US is no country for honest men. Trump's tweets are red meat to his base who love his sarcastic and hateful bomb throwing.
Any efforts to make sense or refute his nonsense is simply seen as"fake news" to his followers and that is how its going to be for the rest of his time in office.
With the world on the verge of a nervous breakdown after less than two years of him in office, its impossible to imagine what state it will be in after (god forbid) two terms.
4
Tariffs are the taxes on the 99% used to help offset the tax giveaway to the 1% last December. Yet another mechanism to continue the transfer of wealth from 99% to the 1%. The other recent mechanism is the Volcker rule. The 1% can now engage in proprietary trading (gamble) with FDIC insured depositors money (privatized gain, socialized loss).
Our ignorant president has demonstrated beyond question, and for decades that he does not understand how to run a business (multiple egregious bankruptcies). Now he is demonstrating doesn't know how economies and trade works either. He has NO idea what impact tariffs will have. Retaliation would be one obvious impact. How about re-alignment of trading patterns and trading pacts between countries, cutting us out. America's customer base shrinks from 7.5 billion (world population) down to 300 million (America's population). Really smart, not.
7
Trump likes to paint himself in superlatives, including being “such a victim” - which is what he’s saying about the US.
This makes me think of the soccer players who moan and groan, trying to get the officials to charge an opponent with a Fault. It irks me no end to see grown men playing the victim.
And that goes for Victim Trump!
It doesn’t play well. In soccer or politics.
2
What about no tariffs from both sides and free open world markets?
We live in the world of cheaters that is doomed for the catastrophic economic crash.
No Nobel Prize laureate knows how all of this will end because the globe has never seen it before. We are entering the uncharted waters so be ready for anything and everything.
What has started as good and positive trend has slowly evolved in something bad and harmful.
The trade used to be the exchange of the goods between the different regions of this planet. No empty caravans were crossing the land in any direction. They were bringing the spices and silk to Europe but carrying back cloth and textile.
America used to be the global manufacturing powerhouse and fiscally responsible so the rest of planet saved in the dollars because they knew they would buy the airplanes, cars, truck and food with the banknotes.
That world has changed.
“The smart and brightest” have assured us that the free trade and the US deficit spending are sustainable in the long run and got us addicted on such extremely stupid behavior.
If the world buys the goods from China, then we need renminbi for the trade. In the same way the dollar replaced the British pound as the world currency after the Great Britain stopped being the most dominant economic power, the same will happen with the Chinese currency. The time is working on their behalf.
The question is simple. What’s going to happen when China refuses to sell us their goods for the dollars?
Are we ready?
1
"Someone Should Tell Donald Trump..."
Who might that be? The only one's he might listen to are those red-hat wearing members of his base and they might very well do this in the ballot box this fall.
The rest of us need to get this message out to the farmer, the auto-worker, the whatever that will be directly impacted by Trump's ignorant attacks on multi-national trade.
This will require a campaign of ideas and equally important critical questions these people, his base, need to ask themselves.
1 How is that massive tax cut working for you?
2 Has you health insurance gotten cheaper or better?
3 Are Trump's trade policies causing you to worry more or less about your business or job?
Forget questions regarding safety from either Latinos or Muslims. Forget questions regarding worries about China, Russia or North Korea.
Stick to issues that matter to people's everyday lives. I recently re-watched the movie "Three Billboards". We need three million billboards asking these three questions in places were the Trump base is strongest.
4
I don't know what's more concerning: Mr. Trump's baseless and insulting tweets, or that he appears to believe that NATO and the EU are the same organization made up of the same members when they are not.
2
Trump is able to lie and keep lying because a vast majority of Americans are uninformed about many issues including tariff and trade.
Actually, they're very well-informed by FOX views. FOX is pulling in advertising dollars hand over fist. Having a bacchanalia while their boy burns down the "city on a hill".
Maybe the solution is simple to a problem that has escalated throughout the world:
No Tariffs by Any Nation
Anyone excusing or defending this idiotic behavior of tariffs by any nation is part of the global problem.
1
The smartest man in the world (NOT) still does not understand, and never will, that what is now a global economy cannot be dismantled without doing untold damage to all involved, including the country he claims to represent -- the United States that is, not Russia. He can opt us out of the global economy if he truly desires, but we'll then be sitting on the sidelines burning coal and riding Amtrak while the rest of the world makes solar panels and rides bullet trains.
3
He’s not “misleading” the public, he’s lying to the public and deceiving the public. He admitted months ago to lying to Trudeau. It’s a matter of record.
2
If trump's idiotic trade war goes on long enough, Americans will learn that we need Canada, Mexico, China and the EU more than they need us. Global supply chains can be realigned to exclude America and a global boycott of American products will damage what's left.
3
When Adam Smith referred to the "invisible hand of the market," he meant manufacturers would be too patriotic to ship production overseas and import everything. Guess he could not imagine late 20th century Republicans, who wanted to rid themselves of union jobs and destroy support for Democrats. Now that they've accomplished that, what's left is complaining and blaming someone else. How "Christian" of them.
Invisible hand of the market, indeed. It's in your pocket, fiddling with you now.
4
Trump tries to run the government and foreign policy like he ran is business...by lying, not paying his bills, and bullying. He sold the American people a "bill of goods", at least the ones who voted for him in 2016. Hopefully, it won't be long and Mueller will expose his shenanigans with the Russians, his economic idiocy will come home to roost, and he and his lackeys will be shown the door.
2
I only wish that leading Democrats would come out against the Trump tariffs. Their silence is deafening.
4
If I were China, I would start selling off US treasury bonds they hold resulting in higher interest rates and a panic on Wall Street. By then the billionaires who got their tax cuts will get rid of Trump.
2
I accidentally tuned in to a Fox News program I could only stand to watch for a minute. BUT it was very informative. A video clip showed President Trump striding across a stage lined with diplomats, with posture and a facial expression that reminded me of soldiers at the changing of the guard ceremony. The commentator intoned how completely prepared Trump was to assert himself , and was too astute to be distracted by the noise of the "Russian investigation" (her air quote) This fawning hero worship propaganda is what passes as news and firms the mind set that he and his trusted news outlets are the only ones to be believed. There is a wide swath of America that no amount of fact and explanation can reach. They would never think to fact check a thing he says.
11
Fox Views is the de facto government. What they say is what he does. Whatever he does, they spin spin spin to make it look right.
The only time Trump ever tells the truth is when he's making racist comments. That, and when he said during his campaign that, "the election is rigged". I can't think of a single solitary time, other then those, when he wasn't lying. NOT ONE.
If his lips are moving, it's a 100% certainty that he's telling one whopper after another, after another, after another.
The term "pathological liar" doesn't come close to capturing his distortions of reality.
2
The ploy is far more devious - When the bill for tax cuts comes due in the form of lowered growth, cuts to the safety net and wage stagnation, there will be a ready made bogey-man - those duplicitous foreign governments that are taking advantage of the US supported shamelessly by Democrats. It also advances the anti-immigrant agenda without seeming so completely race-based
1
We need to begin dealing with US loses with a moratorium on the flow of US taxpayer cash to Trumps pockets. Dealing with any "problem" starts at home and this particular problem should never have been allowed to begin in the first place. As we will eventually fully understand every aspect of Trumps actions all trace to Trumps self-dealing one way or another. One can only be a fool to think Trumps dealings with Putin have anything to do with anything other than criminal enterprise.
2
Trump is a conman running a scam. We make a big mistake when we treat it as if it is government. He doesn’t and hasn’t ever cared about the our country or it’s people. He runs his con on those who are susceptible and he runs it only for himself. We need to pay attention to his scamming and learn from it. It is showing us where our democracy is most weak.
1
Trump has oversimplified trade because his base is over-simplistic. Simple answers for complex questions, why didn't anyone think of that before?
Because in the string of logical analysis, other leaders have considered broad consequences. He promised he'd get tough, and that is all he needs to accomplish. It is a crowd pleaser. And if they don't care about complexity now, why should he worry that they will associate future problems with present actions? Just tweet that it is all Obama's fault, crooked Hillary's and viola! he is in the clear.
And Trump can tout the winners, and ignore the losers from his policy, giving a fact-free diet to all and sundry about how well things are going. Best trade deals ever! Anything the media reports will be lies from liberal elites.
It must be nice to live someplace that is reality free, almost like being released from the need for gravity. Trump's nirvana has no unicorns, at least not yet, but it has no basis in reality either.
1
A president who fulfills campaign promises. Sounds like integrity to me. I wonder how all the 'findings' in this story would have played out if they were used on industry big wigs when Trump was doing his campaigning? Picture it... industry big wigs are telling Trump the problems they're having within their own industry. And Trump were to reply with all the 'findings' ... telling them, they don't realize the big picture...how everything balances out. Trump would not have gotten their votes.
The government today seems to be founded on bartering and favoritism. It takes forever to get bills passed because states want to throw unrelated guarantee's into the bill in order to get their vote. (Sure, I'll vote for YES on your bill if you include funding to have a bridge built in my state. ) Wheeling and dealing is rampant throughout the government. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. The big picture here is that state representatives are not voting based on what the people want, but rather what they can squeeze into a bill and make it look like they've accomplished something.
Why doesn't the media report on the big picture and let the industry big wigs realize their industry is what it is and nothing should change? Because if the media did this, they lose their advertising dollars.
In the simple world of Trump and his supporters if someone else is doing good it only stands to reason that someone else is doing poorly. World trade is complex and neither Trump or his supporters are equipped to understand it. Can’t see how this turns out well for any of us trapped in the clown car of Trump and his supporters as they take us off the cliff.
Mr. Trump also doesn't mention all the manufacturing facilities built in the US by foreign companies, employing many hundreds of thousands of US workers. Mr. Trump has little understanding of economics and trade, even in his own field of business, as shown by his many bankruptcies. When the trade war starts hitting his base with layoffs and they dare to complain, I wouldn't be surprised if he started calling them "ungrateful freeloaders."
2
I must admit that I am somewhat puzzled why opinion writers continue to opine that Trump favors certain policies and actions because he sincerely believes that such positions are genuinely good for America. This is largely wrong however. As a malignant narcissist, Trump does this, not because it is in the best interests of America, but rather because it is in his own self-interest, not others.
It's not that the USA has high tariffs.
The problem, as always with the Americans, is the hypocrisy: while it doesn't have official high tarriffs or even tarriffs at all, it readmits them through the back door with the "social dumping" mantra.
According to the USG, the principle of the "social dumping" is that poorer countries use their poverty as a commercial advantage in the world market (because their labor force is much cheaper and they don't have rule of law, so they don't have regulations etc.). That would mean not only that they are poor on purpose, but that they use trade to get poorer, not richer (a contradiction of terms accoring to mainstream economics theories). This ironic, since it's a veiled admission that capitalism indeed produces misery at the same time it generates mountains of wealth, albeit in a morally inverted key.
So, although the USA doesn't impose high tarriffs per se, it imposes very punitive quotas, which are de facto very high tarriffs, because those quotas are invariably ridiculously small, to the point of absurdity.
Trump creates problems that are unnecessary. Trump has the support of 90% of the Republican Party and a whole bunch of others who voted for Obama. He has never gained the approval of half of those polled and has disapproval rates of a solid majority. Yet, Republicans who criticize him are at risk of losing office in the primaries, so they stay quiet. So, unless the Democrats achieve majorities in the Congress, Trump will continue as he has.
This is a very complex issue. I'm not sure anyone really has a handle on it, although I was impressed by Commerce Sec'y Wilbur Mills' recent testimony to a congressional committee. The Senators generally also seemed relatively ignorant on the subject, only familiar with the particularities of one tariff or issue important to their state, and using catch-phrases. So, what to do? I don't know. Trump is looking for a simplistic solution - no barriers to trade. The problem with that is it doesn't let countries protect certain industries which could ruin them and leave the country vulnerable. It doesn't sound realistic. Maybe this ever-changing mixed bag is the best that can be done.
There is a problem with trade, especially with China, which is linked with our outsourcing. And, there is a very serious problem with the way Mr. Trump approaches the solution of these issues and also , of course, with his analysis of the nature of the problems. He demonizes the actors, lies about the nature of the problem, and uses the problems for political purposes. But please Editorial Board, do not ignore the nature of the problems. Otherwise, why do you think Trump won in the "blue wall"? This service economy you are talking about is not working for the working class. It is working for the financial markets, and all the companies which are outsourcing labor and becoming immensely rich with the low salary they pay to foreign workers, and now with Trump's tax cuts, which they are not investing in our country but buying stocks back.
Mr. Trump is a demagogue, great at bashing people, but we should no fall in his trap and confuse analysis with political attacks.
1
It is in HIS interest to paint us a victims. The voters he counts on swim in a sea of resentment and victimhood. He is their white-knight who is going to save them from evil (liberals, foreigners, non-whites etc.). Since they tend to believe that "the truth" is to be had only from Trump (and his sycophants like Hannity), they hear and swallow what he says all else being labeled "fake news."
So, it is in HIS interest. However, the interests of the nation are not even in sight. All that matters to Trump is "Trump wins."
1
I think Mr. Trump should consider that perhaps American made goods are just not as good as he believes them to be, and perhaps that's why other people don't buy them?
The reason people in Europe or Japan don't drive American cars isn't tariffs, it's that in most cases they're not anywhere near as useful to us as European, Japanese or Korean made cars, which are smaller, cheaper and more fuel efficient. Tesla is doing well over here, so maybe if other American companies saw hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles as something worth manufacturing, they'd be doing better.
5
Are the trump campaign materials sourced from China subject to the tariffs? What about ivanka’s name-brand products?
This whole episode is like an organized crime story and the tariffs are a substitute for protection payments.
I guess it also shows that if you yell it loud enough, and with great conviction-correct or incorrect - some people will actually believe anything you say.
In the meantime, I haven’t heard any crowing about stock market gains. That’s because they’re dissolving.
Not a bad distraction from the Russia/obstruction of justice investigation.
3
While I am sure there is plenty to complain about in regards to Chinese practices, especially in the realm of intellectual property, allow me to present at least one side of the solar panel conversation.
Solar panels are made of PV Polysilicon (Photo-voltaic grade). Back in 2004 and 2005, China actively recruited solar production experts from the US. I worked as a supplier in one of the largest US producers of polysilicon and observed this directly. Workers offered multi-year million dollar contracts took those jobs to help China get their PV polysilicon industry off the ground. There was no way that American manufacturers could have offered similar deals to keep local talent.
Presumably those workers were under non-compete and NDA agreements regarding intellectual property, and they kept those agreements. But much knowledge may not have been proprietary. Is this theft, competition, or putting food on the table? We have been seeing the results of those specific actions for a decade now, with price reductions, declining American production effecting the entire supply chain and reduced competitive ability.
Is this market competitiveness or theft? Can we live, grow, and learn in a world economy? We better figure it out.
3
Neither Trump or his advisers can dispute the facts. So they cherry pick and hope that his supporters will not fact check him. Their strategy is to take credit for the healthy economy that they inherited from Obama and when the economy goes into a tailspin blame it on the Democrats. The base will buy it, hook, line, and sinker.
1
Trump can create alternative realities all he wants, but we can’t change the laws of accounting and the reality of economics. When his trade and tax policies result in an exacerbated recession or depression, real-life reality will thwart his perceived realities.
Then the question will be where he targets the blame and how much support he will acquire in taking more drastic means of addressing reality. At some point, he will have to be held accountable. That’s up to the citizens of the U.S. and no one else.
1
Without addressing the structural bottlenecks of the US economy and its mounting fiscal deficit, or correcting the serious governance deficits of his own chaotic rule, wolf crying and accusing others, allies and adversaries alike for the problems at home will simply add to the US isolation and decline with deep disaffection of Trump in the world that's learning to live and progress without the US, at least till Trump is at the helm.
7
Misleading is not even close to reality; reality is far worse. Soybeans, not included in this article, have dropped in price by 24% as of today. China’s retaliatory tariffs are impacting my neighbors, small farmers not agribusiness. Their decision now, do they maintain this crop and harvest it or do they cut it and let it mulch the fields. No farmer can absorb a 24% drop in prices of a crop. The question that is being asked locally is whether the fuel and equipment costs of harvest warrant clearing the field. Some farms may not survive.
8
Amen.
Trump’s temper tantrum tariffs make it difficult, if not impossible, to make strategic decisions for next year.
1
I do not understand the NYT position here. First, if you believe in global warming, why would you want heavy industry pushed to China where they emit 50% more CO2 per unit of output than the US.? That is before it is put on huge cargo ships that are environmentally unregulated. Second, if you believe that the wage gap in the US is a major problem, why would you want a system where companies can just move manufacturing overseas instead of paying workers better wages? Trump is right on trade. His stance helps the environment and middle class wage earners. Maybe you pay $1 more for a tee shirt, but if you make $1 to $2 per hour more, it is a better deal.
Another point is that you could argue that the Euro is a way for Germany to depress the value of its currency. It teams up with weaker economies, so it can keep its export juggernaut working. Then, like in Greece, the weaker countries become indebted to Germany and it influences great control over them.
2
The NYT position is anti Trump. Their daily childish ranting is getting very tiresome.
Every demagogue needs a bogey man to whip the masses into a frenzy, almost always entirely fictional. Trump is the walking definition of demagoguery. He does not even try to appeal to reason, as there is none behind his "policies". It's all gut reaction, all the time. America, our gut is showing, and it isn't pretty. It's time to get fit again.
13
For those of us in the service sector, we do provide our professional services to all who are able to pay for it. This includes domestic and foreign entities. We do this based on the unique "know how" that we have.
The US has maintained an edge in "knowledge based" enterprises, but this advantage IS NOT SUFFICE to offset the deficit in manufacturing.
With respect to The Times Editorial Board, we (as a nation) generally cannot do the same thing with goods, especially durable goods. The cost to build plants, the cost to comply with regulations, the cost to properly compensate a talented staff/work force, etc. often make it virtually impossible to compete with those whose enterprises are based in other countries.
What I stated in the previous paragraph has been the driving force to manufacture products closer to the point of sale.
The basic fact is that WE (the USA) helped to rebuild Germany, Japan, et al. after World War II. This WAS the right thing to do (after the devastation/horror of war was made known to all). The reality that POTUS Trump understands (even in his ham-handed way) is that THE WORLD IN 2018 IS A VASTLY DIFFERENT PLACE THAN THE WORLD THAT EXISTED IN 1948.
Seventy (70) years is a long time and tweaks in how international trade is done ARE LONG OVERDUE.
2
@dmanuta
Waverly, OH
Ever heard of comparative advantage? At one time the US had a comparative advantage in the manufacture of many of the goods you describe. That started to erode in the 60's. I'm afraid even the constantly lying Trump cannot lie comparative advantage out of existence and any attempt to do so via the medium of higher tariffs will simply increase the price of goods to American consumers (you think US made washing machines will be cheaper?) and reduce the overall global level of trade so that other countries will be relatively poorer and thus less able to purchase those goods (eg. planes and ag products) and services where the US does enjoy a comparative advantage. Compris?
3
Trump is hardly doing “tweaks”!
He's trying to *blow up* the international economic order — for Putin's benefit!
Re-read the editorial —Trump is lying outrageously about tariffs and trade and hiding the U.S.'s own high tariffs!
1
Just because CNN and/or MSNBC commentators stake out a position does not mean that it is correct.
POTUS Trump should not have alienated our Allies if the primary intention is to make the playing field more level with China.
In the meantime, Ivanka's products are all made abroad and are not caught up in Trump's tariffs (much as Trump himself bought the steel for his buildings abroad).
A family of shameless grifters
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/07/09/ivanka-trumps-chinese-made-p...
14
Have you read the label on the back of your shirt lately? It's not made in the USA!
Informative and didactic editorial by the NYT.
I want to add a unique privilege/feature of US international trade. America is the only country in the world who pays imports with its fiat issued currency, the dollar.
America import essential goods and services and ship back tons of $100 dollar bills (nowdays the operation is done electronically).
Dollars spent on import of goods and services are, eventually, recycled back to the American economy. As long as US trading partners continue to accept the greenback, trade deficits are irrelevant.
Remember the energy crises of the 70s when the Middle East oil exporting countries or Japan in the 80s were poised to take over the American economy?
The US face off is not to eliminate trade deficits. The challenge is how to create millions of well-paid jobs in a new era of stiff global competition and labor-replacement technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence.
12
For years the GOP and it’s right-wing think tanks and pundits railed against Obamacare because of the “uncertainty” it was causing to businesses they were unable to invest and expand.
What is this trade war doing to create uncertainty, not to say, paralysis when it comes to business investment and expansion?
Can the US economy really afford to withstand several years of retaliatory tariffs against our goods and services? Moreover, will the chaos caused by lobbyist-influenced exceptions to our own tariffs make US trade policy seem not only corrupt but completely incoherent?
The answer to both questions is “yes”—and the purpose that it serves is to stir up even attacks on immigrants and the environmental as the cause of this self-created disaster. Then come cuts to Social Security and Medicare because of the dire effect a depressed economy coupled with unnneccessary tax-cuts will have on our deficit.
Is deliberate malfeasance vis a vis the economy a high crime or misdemeanor?
9
At this point in his presidency and life I find it amazing that anyone would believe anything trump says or trust he will honor any deal he makes. I believe the world is holding it breath just hoping we here at home come to our senses in November and 2020.
19
Trump offered at the last G7 meeting to drop Tariffs to zero between all G7 economies.
Nobody thought he was serious and ignored him.
He seemed serious to me - in one fell statement, he resolved the issue.
Maybe the other members of the G7 actually like Tariffs.
2
save the farms, where did you come up with the idea Trump offered zero tariffs at the G-7? I have read many articles about that summit and do not think he made such an offer. Actually he is the sole one to cause this tariff war. Why do you support higher inflation and lost jobs?
3
Trump says lots of things all the time; often, they are off-the-cuff, one-time comments, such as that about no tariffs.
He has never repeated that and instead rails against fictional issues, much like Don Quixote attacking windmills!
Re-read the editorial. Trump is lying — again — and ignoring the U.S.'s own tariffs!
He has also started a trade war that is going to hurt the U.S. economy and millions of workers...
1
"Scratch the surface of many of the president’s statements about trade, and it’s hard not to conclude that he is either trying to confuse the public or is rather confused himself."
I just think he's dyslectic when it comes to numbers, and what he hears gets transposed to fit neatly into his grievances.
Yelling that the US is getting ripped off and he, Donald Trump, will right the world's fiscal sins against us is playing extremely well at rallies.
Remember that rally-goers aren't fact checkers and are so in love with this demagogue that they take his words at face value.
But for a man who ostensibly understands the financials of real estate deals from his days studying in a special program taught by Wharton professors, he displays an incredible lack of fluency with the specifics of trade.
How can he continually leave out "services" when he should be including them in what we export?
I think maybe he just doesn't care because his base is easily swayed, and he's never seriously corrected by the cowardly Congress.
But his lack of knowledge on what should be one of his signature issues is, to put it mildly, a huge embarrassment on the world stage.
11
The US is the strongest and largest economy in the world. Even Trump should see that that wouldn't be possible if international trade and NATO agreements were placing the US at a significant disadvantage. Therefore, using anedotal, data driven, and eye witness evidence shows that it's not hard to conclude that Trump is both, "trying to confuse the public [and] is rather confused himself."
7
PS. Trump must think those farmers are pretty stupid if he expect them to believe him rather than their own balance sheets and bank accounts.
1
It's quite amazing how many people here in Canada are now avoiding buying American products. Yes, we're a small country and it won't make much of a difference but add in all the US' other allies and it will add up.
19
I guess reading The Times or watching a movie made in Hollywood does not constitute consumption!
The overarching reality of how free trade benefits everyone appears lost to Trump. Classical economics talks about how each country producing what it is best at along with free trade leads to the greatest good for all. To be sure there are knotty circumstances that complicate the picture but the fundamental truth remains. However, there is a new even more powerful reason for cooperation to work.
We are more than just on the horizon of breakthroughs in technology and medicine which is creating a slave worker force that can produce for all without complaint.
Machines with super artificial intelligence, robots with incredible strength and gentleness mean bounty without lifting a finger. And scientific cooperation mean cures for Alzheimer’s and cancer, and the million and one ailments which plague life.
When we are working as a team we are advancing these possibilities vs when we are working against each other. That is why free trade and the accompanying cooperation is so valuable.
If Trump must have someone to go to war with and conquer let it be robots – at least for now they don’t feel pain. Let him call for an alliance to have mankind conquer them.
The real threat is overpopulation.
4
It is the president's job to prepare Americans for the real world which begins with a globalized economy. In recognition of that, he would be wise to encourage US industries to identify jobs of the future, i.e., jobs that will remain in the US as the economy changes and help to train workers for those jobs. The US economy depends on consumption. If US workers can't afford to consume, the whole economy will fall apart. Even the captains of industry who are busy collecting their bonuses should be able to understand that.
8
All you need to know about Trump policies is that the strong arm tactics he uses don't apply to him or his family. The entire Ivanka line is produced elsewhere. There are no tariffs on any of her products and no American jobs will be created to manufacture her products here in the U.S. . And watch, her products will increase in price as if tariffs were being imposed on them. In addition, foreign workers are not welcome here. Unless they work at one of Trump's properties. Then they are fine to be here. More shots fired on Fifth Ave the base doesn't care about.
20
We don't need protection from China (much less Canada). We need protection from General Motors, Walmart, and even Boeing, each of which is doing everything it can to dispose of the American workers in its supply chain and replace them with low cost foreigners.
Even those of us who despise Trump should be able to agree that policies that push American corporations to hire Americans are good not just for the individuals who get the jobs, but for the communities in which they live.
5
Amen!
Not to mention that Trump continues to hire *foreign* workers for his resorts when there are readily available American workers.
2
In the time of global chains and their implicit value transfers among countries it does not make any sense to keep counting in traditional ways. Furthermore, counting individual prices confuses even more the unsuspecting public because there is always a difference between price and value (the latter more representative of the average of global prices)
1
Someone should focus on how all the corporate profits produced from this trade is taxed. The current arm's length pricing between subsidiaries is what allows multinationals to say (with a straight face) that their highest profits are "located" in Luxembourg, Ireland, Isle of Man, the Netherlands and other tax havens. Watch "The Town that Took on the Taxman" or "Taxodus" on YouTube to learn how simple and easy it is for multinationals to move profits to subsidiaries purposely locate in tax haven countries or British Crown possessions.
The remedy is unitary taxation aka worldwide combined reporting which determines which profits belong in which country by the percentage of sales, payroll, and real property in each country - a measurement of substance rather than form. Unitary taxation has been approved at the state level by the US Supreme Court three times but only the state of Alaska currently utilizes it.
7
Considering the CBO estimates on this year's budget and rapidly accumulating deficits, and Trump's penchant for trade tariffs, now the mention of another $ 200 Billion on China, expect prices to continue to rise (products produced in the US use parts from other countries) and loss of jobs as companies retool in a more austere economy. And layoffs. It will be interesting to see if the signs of a recession occur about the time of the midterm elections. I predict they will.
5
"Scratch the surface of many of the president's statements about trade, and it's hard not to conclude that he is either trying to confuse the public or is rather confused himself."
Take a good look America. This is where we are: There is reasonable debate about what combination of simple-minded delusion Trump suffers from as opposed to intentional confusion he chooses to inflict on the public discourse.
As far as I can tell, Trump has been correct about one thing: The rest of the world is laughing at us.
23
DJT: “I love the poorly educated”.
2
To the extent that the US runs perennial deficits, it means that foreign countries are effectively giving away stuff without ever getting anything in exchange. To me, that's a "win" and I wouldn't complain about it.
Just wait till the day when the US has to ship stuff back in greater quantities like Trump wants. That's a "lose" if you ask me.
7
Simplicity sells. How many Americans do you think can even follow the complexities of trade? What Americans crave is simplicity which is why Trump maintains his popularity. I know the world is complex and if you really want to understand something you have to do a deep dive. But that is difficult. Americans are exhausted with complexity. They would rather believe in someone who presents the world to them in simple terms even if it harms them economically. Populism I believe is the word.
20
I live in China. There are many American companies and products here - there is an Apple store right below me, a Subway down the block, Burger King, KFC, etc. Watching the World Cup on Chinese TV, I see constant ads for Cadillac, Jeep, and Chevrolet. I see those cars on the street (we don't do as well as the Germans - their luxury cars are as popular here as elsewhere).
The point is, China is a market of 1.2 billion people with a still emerging middle class. If I wanted to sell stuff, I wouldn't alienate such a country with a pointless "trade war".
41
China's trade rules are unfair. It politely acknowledges this and then does nothing to address it.
It's complicated enough for there to be truth in what Trump is saying. For example, China has restrictions that lead to unfair advantage. This is the status quo and the target of Trump's moves. I don't blame him. His critics will always find reasons to defend the status quo and argue why change is bad.
Trump generally isn't supported politically by high paid workers on the service export economy, from entertainment to financial to software to legal/consulting.
But his giant tax cuts most directly benefit those service economy workers and wealthy investors, so he needs tariffs as a cover to show he is helping workers in the goods industries.
But the tariffs actually will make things worse for US workers in manufacturing and agriculture, with high prices for steel, auto parts and other intermediate goods, as well as shrinking export markets for US agriculture.
Its vintage Trump flim flam. He always escapes with his medicine show to the next small town and blames his enemies when the truth catches up to him.
PT Barnum had nothing on Trump.
22
In the years 1974 and 1975, US Steal started to layoff its workers. US Steal had a plan.
That plan amoung other US corporate manufacturers gutted our manufacturing jobs.
It has never been about the foreign governments taking advantage. We, the US market place, and Wall Street, sought out China for one thing - cheap cheap cheap super cheap labor.
We started all of what exists today.
If China has in a material way taken advantage of the great opportunities that the US solicited them to take, then I say they are innocent of wrong doing because we so sought them out. Trump is deluded about the prime movers of the trade imbalances between the US and China. Anyone who worked in the steel industry in the 1970s knows.
12
You are right on, RR! I remember those days, too.
Increasing America's tariffs to protect American jobs and industry does seem to be a simplistic approach to a complex issue since it may result in many unintended consequences.
So far what the president has done seems to be leading to other countries retaliating with their own tariffs on us which is hurting certain businesses like steel and agricultural crops like soybeans in this country, increasing the tax levied on certain goods and services being imported which can drive up their costs, raising the price on imports, and it could lead to discouraging competition and foreign investment, as well as influence our international relations with trading partners, and may end up having a negative overall consequence on our economy so leading to a loss in jobs rather than protecting them.
4
Trump has used a similar tactic to what he is trying to do with tariffs in his real estate dealings. He has been known to negotiate a lease, and only after the renter has moved in and would incur serious time and money costs to break the lease, demand that the lease be re-negotiated in his favor. He has been known to use threats such as cutting off services that the renter expected (and that the lease stipulated) such as elevator service, heat/AC and the like as a way of forcing a re-negotiation.
Why would anyone who knows anything about his "standard business practices" ever deal with him?
Our "allies" and treaty partners are now learning that lesson. We will be paying the price for his misdeeds for many years.
38
Trump has said he wants to see all tariffs abolished. But if that were to happen, in many cases U.S. trade deficits might grow rather than shrink.
For example, Germans are not much interested in American cars while we love Mercedes, BMW's and Audi's. And as the article says, we have a 25% duty on pickup trucks, which are the most popular, and profitable, type of vehicle sold here.
If that tariff was eliminated, it's likely we would see pickups exported here, which obviously would put the market share for domestic companies at risk.
Currency valuation has much to do with trade balances, but the economic reality is that as long as we have the global reserve currency, which is something we definitely want for it's strategic value, the demand for dollars is an important factor which tends to keep it overvalued relative to other currencies.
15
President Trump repeatedly cherry-picks or misrepresents a selected element of a US trade relationship with other countries in order to scapegoat them for domestic partisan political purposes. He does this in a manner & with a frequency that leaves the inescapable impression that he:
(a) is intent on continuing the trade dispute for the foreseeable future rather than seeking a basis for an equitable settlement of differences, &
(b) sees no agreement the US has made during the watch of earlier Presidents or, presumably, even himself as having any continuance beyond the next moment he wants to reopen matters by an offhand comment or tweet.
The purported purpose of all this is to make America great again but it is increasingly difficult to see how these patterns of willful nihilism advance that end.
What is even more unsettling to foreigners is that no coherent, articulate, effective domestic opposition within the US appears to be coalescing. Surely the American democracy is capable of rising to this challenge.
22
The many protests against Trump and his administration are a start.
Much more action, coherent and engaging policies, and credible candidates will be needed , to vote out the Trump oligarchy. Plus a high voter turnout, of course.
It's not just the future of the US at stake here. The rest of the world is watching, waiting, and hoping for positive change in the US. The merry band of Donald Trump and His Mendacious Minions surely cannot Be Best....or are they?
2
Kelly, I hope you are correct.
A darker view would have it that over the more than 3 decades since the implosion of the USSR the US has been diminishing its participation through international institutions such as the WTO, NATO & the UN. Instead, increasingly, it has cobbled together temporary coalitions to project military force when the US concludes that its interests so require (i.e. Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Syria, etc.). The exceptions have been Afghanistan & the Balkans where NATO allies, including the US, acted in their common interest.
The same pattern (i.e. the US acting alone or together with its own pick-up team of the moment) was increasingly evident in international trade negotiations (negotiation of the TPP being a worthy exception).
In light of the foregoing, the dark view would argue that the Trump phenomenon is simply a crass, short-sighted, erratic, bombastic & excessive expression of the US unilateralism trend building up over the past 3 decades.
I'm of 2 minds on the question whether the US will trend back to its post-WW II commitment to collective security and rule of law in international trade or will continue down the dark unilateralist path after the Trump Presidency ends.
Trump has a personal relationship Chinese President Xi Jinping, and wouldn't have followed through on trade war threats without Congressional and popular support. Chuck Schumer, Marco Rubio, and Lindsay Graham are as warmongering as Trump, judging by their unremitting anti-China rants. And Trump’s base genuinely appears to believe that China is somehow responsible for some or all of their economic woes, despite the fact that the trade war will financially harm them more than China or any other Americans.
Trade wars will only result in making America economically weaker. History shows that populism, political misinformation, and trade protectionism were largely responsible for the Vietnam and the Iraq wars (not to mention WWII), for which Americans paid dearly. The 1930 Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, which raised US tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods, destroyed American manufacturing and jobs, and lead to the Great Depression. Blaming China for manufacturing and job losses is equally faulty because past policies toward China have only ever had the exact opposite effect.
The GOP has long been itching for military action to dampen China's rapid, massive accumulation of wealth and power, and perhaps this is the GOP contemplating future possibilities in that direction.
12
While there may be many areas to question on the Trump Administration’s trade policies, it is a bit rich to suggest that Canada is playing completely by the rules when it comes to dairy products.
When the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed to limit agricultural exports subsidies during the Uruguay Round, Canada was one of the first countries to violate the new rules to try to increase dairy exports (despite domestic prices that were much higher than US prices). The WTO agreed with the US when we took the issue to a dispute settlement panel. More recently, Canada undercut US dairy exports that managed to get around its high import tariffs by implementing a new pricing regime that most likely violates the WTO prohibition on import substitution schemes and may also be a prohibited export subsidy. Some reasonable people would call that cheating.
Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, doesn’t bellyache incessantly on Twitter about unfair American dairy tariffs, because the US dairy industry has pushed for years to eliminate tariffs in both directions (which happened for most other products under our free trade agreement).
3
You speak of the US dairy industry lobbying to eliminate all tarrifs. How about if that is done in concert with eliminating all agricultural subsidies?
1
Well, from day one - it was made clear that he was not really interested in briefings, or being surround by experts, or going through those briefing books (the ones Obama was trying to instruct him on) - so, how can he possibly be making policy decisions using facts? Tell him about Tariffs? Tell him about the rule of the law, maintaining alliances, all American history, the Scientific method, and the deleterious psychological impact of taking young children away from their parents. Talk about a learning curve - we simply can not afford that kind of time.
25
A competent top-kick executive, which Trump certainly is, does three things well: s(he) defines a direction, picks and empowers a good implementation team (who are the ones who actually get into the weeds), and rides them effectively to get ‘er done. Someone undoubtedly has explained to Trump that tariffs are far from a trivial matter, indeed are tremendously complex, but here an experienced top-kick executive also knows that there are endless lawyer-types and “experts” who will provide all the good reasons in the world why something CAN’T be done. If you want them done, you need to find ways to get around those very good reasons while staying out of jail. This usually means you ride your team harder.
There’s that, but then there’s also the buried lead.
The trade differences with our allies (but not necessarily with China) may not be what Trump seeks to resolve. He may be after bigger game, and he might be willing to largely disappear the trade disagreements with mere face-saving agreements if he can bag that bigger game. The trade issues may have been the necessary entry-point to apply leverage to secure OTHER objectives, because a U.S. president doesn’t have a lot of other direct leverage to get a German chancellor to dramatically increase defense expenditures, or a Euro Community to better support Israel, or to come to the table to negotiate a replacement for the Paris Accords that does more to combat Global Climate Change in a manner that is more balanced and …
1
… fair to prosperous societies, or to back him in a play to re-draft an Iran “deal” that TRULY removes the threat of a nuclearized core Middle East. At this level there ALWAYS exist wheels within wheels … within wheels. Now, I know that the Times editoriat certainly is sophisticated enough to know this, but I also know that they’ve assumed a “mission”, which is to destroy Donald Trump.
I don’t expect them to abandon that mission, but I DO expect them to leaven such attempts by a more penetrating spelunking of true motivations, and an honest attempt to map that confusing and complex set of interacting wheels.
Trump has enough balls in the air for inquiring minds to wonder what they all have in common.
1
Richard, I stopped reading at "A competent top-kick executive, which Trump certainly is ...." I was laughing too hard!
3
NATO members had already agreed to increase defence spending to 2% of GDP before the current "Top Kicker" in the WH; and are on track do so by 2024. Obama, and Bush before him, delivered the message without the trade "ice breaker" or too many "wheels within wheels".
Which brings to mind another ice breaking top kicker who said "Full speed ahead": Captain Edward John Smith of the Titanic.
Trump's destruction mission is doing very well without the help of the NYT. Full steam ahead.
Face it. Trump is actually right. He's just bad at finding solutions to the problem.
The US has one of the lowest applied mfn tariff rates in the world. (the EU's is 40% higher and China's is 300% greater). The US really did not start this trade war, rather other countries have been spoiled but the US low tariff rate (except for Canada which has a similar rate).
Then there is China. Besides the fact they debase their own currency for cheap labor, intellectual property theft in the country is absolutely terrible and needs to be dealt with. Just ask Micron - which lost a patent law suit (in China) by a Chinese company even though the the Chinese firm had stolen the info from Micron. Or Segway - which got bought out by a Chinese company using money entirely made from infringing on Segway's patents. The Chinese company only offered to buy because it was a better deal then facing Segway's pending suit. It's only getting worse as China tries to build up its chip manufacturing industry.
Of course, we will have to wait to see whether Trump's actions will fix anything (though I doubt it).
4
Isolated examples of higher US tariffs are indeed easy to find as the article points out - the 25% tariff on trucks. However, the overall average tariff rates published by the WTO show that the US has one of the lowest average tariff rates in the world at about 3.5%. Canada is close at 4.1% but the EU's average rate is over 5%, Mexico is 7% and China is 9.9% If China wants to play in the big leagues of the WTO, perhaps it's time to behave like it and cut tariff rates and stop stealing intellectual property.
One thing not noted. President Trump already proposed total elimination of all tariffs as a solution. Anyone counting how may takers have volunteered for that deal aside from the German auto makers? You won't need both hands.
Every nation is opposed to tariffs except for the ones they love & impose themselves.
5
Trade and Tariffs, the basics
1. There has been NO free trade in agricultural goods since the 1920. The US is no exception .
2. The ONLY reason that FORD still is profitable in the US is because domestic US pick up truck production is protected from global competition by a 25% tariff. As the NY Times published on 4/25/18 Ford will end passenger car production , except for the Mustang, in the US, because it can not compete with imported cars made at Chinese and Mexican wages
The 3 best selling vehicles in the US in 2017 were the Ford 150 (896,764 sold), the Chevrolet Silverado (585,864 sold) the Ram Pickup (500,723 sold)
The top of the line GM car, on the other hand , the Cadillac CT6 hybrid, is now manufactured exclusively by GM in China at Chinese wages, and imported into the US at 2.5%
4. Protectionism had to spread from agricultural products to manufactured goods for reasons that Peter Drucker (founder of Management Theory) explained in 2001. It is a consequence of globalization, that in turn led to the election of Trump.
5. Econ 101 : In a global economy , with unlimited free trade, US wages must over time fall to the global average wage- roughly the level of China. That applies increasingly even for knowledge workers. See the NYT , 9/28/17, "IBM Now Has More Employees in India Than in the U.S." Key quote "The work in India has been vital to keeping down costs at IBM" . " Keeping cost down means" keeping wages down.
26
The wages issue is one reason why it makes sense to have universal health care. It is cheaper overall and provides support for employers, which is why many companies actually support it.
22
umm...canada and the EU have higher wages and benefits including universal healthcare. The US isn't a victim at all. Those countries should complain about unfair trade and labor practices !
2
Let us not forget the 131.5 % tariff on imported raw peanuts. This tariff is clearly in our national security interests. Not!
9
This really would have been useful to have ready
and be published the day he announced the first tariffs. It
could then have been republished for each and every subsequent tariff announcement, fine tuned to address
the ostensible purpose of each.
By now it may be too late to do anything to counter
the wave of propaganda that has accompanied each of
these diktats.
This also needs to be connected to the corporatization
of the economy, the way large corporations, in particular,
are able to tweak things ever so subtly to their competitive advantage by calling upon their armies of K Street suited warriors to convince congress to do their bidding.
On a different note, I am surprised the markets have
behaved as they have during all this tariff sturm und
drang. Is anyone else? There seems to be a type of psychological disconnect with the effects this will have down the road a bit in dampening demand, affecting profit
estimates, etc....but there hasn't even been
any effect on volatility. So this seems rather odd.
7
Stock buybacks account for a lot of the market activity.
9
I have a trade imbalance with Amazon. I buy from them, but they don't buy from me. I think I'll ask Amazon to charge me more money on some products I buy so I'll buy less from them and more from Walmart. That'll teach me! Thanks for showing me the way to prosperity Mr. President.
110
Brilliant!
1
Speaking of dairy, let's not forget that American dairy farmers are heavily subsidized by the government which gives them a leg up on the foreign competition.
84
Unfortunately, most people are too young to remember Nixon and his milk scandal.
2
Where the US lost in trade are areas where it is no longer globally competitive. Japan and Germany make better cars. Lift your game if you want to increase trade.
36
Methinks he "don't care" what we think.
17
BINGO!
1
This is the very silly narrative Trump honestly believes in. He believe only he the Genius Trump can save Americans from duplicitous foreigners. Most Americans know Trump expectations greatly exceed his abilities but he bets his minority of true believer will salvage his crusade. When the prices go up and the layoff commence he will blame Obama and all will be right in Trumplandia.
17
"Scratch the surface of many of the president’s statements about trade, and it’s hard not to conclude that he is either trying to confuse the public or is rather confused himself."
Most grifters are deviously smart and will recognize a rube when he sees one. Trump however, is vindictive, devious, and deviously stupid, as he attempts to con America's rubes into believing they are being taken, in particular, by our closest allies. Sad.
39
Sadly, whatever the truth is on any international deal, Trump talks to his dumb twitterers/red-state/Fox listeners and they hear nothing else. Not a word. If he says something is bad/anti-American/a rip-off, then that is all they will ever hear. Everything else is faux. (But of course, they don't know what 'faux' means).
As W.C. Fields would have said: "Suckers"
25
Not malarkey, the word is lies.
24
This is just more NYT political reporting. Publish the actual trade with China and Europe save the editorial. Drive thru Upstate New York and report the USA lost the trade war 20 years ago.
Thankfully we are finally pushing for fair trade.
2
If you read the article the facts and figures are there. They are not political but simply data. Learn a bit more about economics and economic history. Many of the same complaints lodged against China were lodged against Japan in the 1980s for many of the same political reasons. Would the US today be better off producing overpriced televisions? Just try to be open to ideas that run counter to what you want to believe or are based on your own anecdotal experience.
15
Trade deficits have many causes and Trump does not understand any of them. Basics for America is that other countries do not want to buy American goods. The other reason is that American public has a very low savings posture-all up front to buy, buy. Why is it so hard for Americans to understand that other countries do not want their automobiles.
19
So America has a natural right to be richer than the rest of the world?
1
"The American dairy tariff can in fact exceed TK percent." Surely there's a more sanitary way to make editorial sausage.
Two possible explanations exist for Trump's actions on tariffs: Either he's stupid or he's a liar.
If he's stupid, then someone, or some sort of congress (is there one still?), needs to step forward to explain the facts of life to him. But seeing as that's never going to happen with this impotent government, we are all basically snookered.
If he's a liar, and doing it solely for attention, then someone, or some sort of congress, needs to step forward to explain the facts of life to him. But seeing as that's never going to happen either, we are all basically snookered.
The third option, of course, is that Trump's a liar because he's stupid. Stupid because he cannot read; stupid because he cannot speak or write coherently, stupid because he's a raging narcissist with nothing better to do than Tweet bitter, insulting comments to an increasing number of people, peoples, and countries who are all a whole lot smarter than he is.
Being in a world of one has got to be awfully lonely, the poor dear.
34
Trump is a fool. He attacks with impunity and lies incessantly. When will his many supporters and enablers wake up and realize they have been duped?
22
The lessons of the fall of the Weimar republic are ringing in all this editorial and other articles that are being published. The question is will you be able to recognize what a modern day Reichtag fire looks like? And if you can't, how do you know it hasn't happened yet?
44
This ceaseless, systematic uttering of boldface lies, devious falsehoods, careless misrepresentations, and suggestive inaccuracies by Trump has gotten way out of control. It has now reached the climactic point where almost anything he says cannot be taken at face value. Never, in the history of our country, has the public been faced with a President beset by such a destructive and amoral pathology. Trump’s reprehensible habit is undermining the constitutional office of the president. This cannot go on.
Surely if he is impeached, this overwhelming history of truth aversion and duplicity should be placed as the first entry in his articles of impeachment.
29
Rather than writing this:
“Much of what the president has said is malarkey.”
the editorial staff should just come right out and write what everybody already knows:
President Donald Trump lies.
It will have no effect on Trump’s supporters, who know full well that Trump lies and have no problem with it. But the media should repeat it over and over again. Lies, lies, lies. There’s no reason to find unique ways to describe what Trump and the Republicans are doing. It’s simply lying.
57
"It’s far less obvious why he believes that countries he has subjected to such baseless attacks will negotiate favorable trade agreements with a president who has shown he can’t be trusted."
This is just a postulation and obviously not a knowledgeable accusation. The One reminds me of a "friend" who's not only a psychopath, the real and dangerous thing but also a pathological liar, likely the real thing as well. He lies about anything even when it's obvious. Aside from feigning indignation when challenged, anger can result. What's more interesting is there seems to be some thrill he feels when lying and the lie is obvious, some feeling of bravado, invincibility and immunity along the lines of some superpower.
11
Numbers are hard.
11
"And yet the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, doesn’t bellyache incessantly on Twitter about unfair American dairy tariffs."
The Canadian prime minister isn't 7 years old, or insane.
67
"Someone Should Tell Donald Trump about America’s High Tariffs"
He wouldn't understand.
16
I would just like to take this opportunity to clarify my position, and that of innumerable other readers of the Times, and media in general.
Nobody needs to tell Trump anything. It would be like mixing cocktails in a sieve.
Donald trump doesn't 'mislead' anyone. Some people believe anything he says, and the rest of us are, well...intelligent. Sorry.
Trump neither believes nor disbelieves. He neither knows, nor does he not know. He neither thinks nor does he not think. He is a reflexive, unthinking Me machine, and nothing he says or does interests me. If that sounds callous or irresponsible, please remember that he is only a reflection in a mirror. He doesn't really exist.
He is a concoction made from his followers and his enablers: the "mass" of his cult, and the engine of the Senate and House. He is nothing without them.
Just once I would like to hear someone respond to his idiotic rants about NATO, the economy, or any other serious subject: "Perhaps that's true, but how would you know?" Because he doesn't, can't, "know" anything. His philosophy, his insight, his essence was summed up perfectly on his wife's jacket: "I really don't care. Do U?"
73
This cunning foreigner play into Trumps own foolish fantasy the he is the miracle Americans Genius who is the anointed one. Only the Trump can solve this problem other mortals lake his genius. It is his and his handlers narrative. It is a very simple answer demanded by his base. Complexity and nuance are not his or his fan bases strong points.
4
According to trump university math 0.8 >1.6
That is how he ran his business.
12
Someone should tell Donald Trump to resign.
Better still, someone should tell Donald Trump he's been impeached and convicted, and now must face criminal charges.
14
Thisi all one giant deflection, accepting to create havoc on US business, covering up the looming Mueller revelation.
And he will not hesitate to go even further.
5
And we are supposed to believe this guy went to Wharton? Mr. President, didn’t Wharton teach you David Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage and why countries engage in international trade? Surely, you’ve heard of opportunity cost – which is why your Mar-a-Lago resort is requesting federal permission to hire an additional 38 temporary foreign workers. Anybody grudging the Trump organization for taking advantage of some third world nation’s cheaper labor there, Mr. President?
Mr. President, it’s high time you stopped playing these zero-sum games that divide us at home and create unnecessary friction with our allies and trading partners abroad!
33
Humm...Trump never went to Wharton, itis another lieTrump was at the University of Pennsylvania but not to Wharton.Trump is a liar, as all the people know.
1
Yup, I knew that - my opening line was meant to be sarcastic - Trump went to the undergrad program at the University of Pennsylvania, but he called it "Wharton" all through the presidential campaign! The problem is all the people don't know he is a liar - his base believe every lying word that comes out his mouth! Sad!
I see this only as more smoke to hide the fact that this president is just trying to keep from going to jail and to keep the fortune he has amassed by being an agent of Russia. Another reason that so far this has worked for him is that Wall Street is trading a record highs from the buy back stock that the tax cut gave to big business. This will be proven when the bubble bursts like it always does.
13
I just went to the small local lumber store. The owner said lumber was up 30%! He said steel was going up by 25%. I can't imagine building a house at this time especially for the hard-hit napa area. He said the money would go to only a few people. As trumps sister once said. He is P.T Barnum, selling dreams to naive people.
28
Excellent article. But sadly the only readers are those who know this. The far right doesn’t care and those who dislike Dems on social agenda or immigration issues don’t care either. So truth is ignored since there are other issues that matter to voters.
9
Editorial Board, please stop with the essays providing reason and logic. They're useless in the political climate we're in. The cult of Trump controls this nation. Nearly half our citizens could be told every fact in your essay, every day, and they would not care. Ever.
They know that but for Republican intransigence, our nation could have an affordable health care system for all of our citizens. They know that they'll never get their manufacturing jobs back. And they know Trump's tariffs will do them more harm than good. But repeat after me -- they do not care.
And as long as they control this country, no reasoned, thoughtful opinion will ever carry the day. Congressional Republicans are terrified of them. Trump voters are still in lockstep with Trump, for only one reason - race. As long as he assures them that as whites, they are the "true" Americans, and the rest of us are second class citizens, they're happy. They would gladly pay five times more for consumer goods because of his tariffs, as long as he tells them they're superior to the rest of us.
So save your cogent, thoughtful essays for another time. Another time far into the future, when the Trump regime is overthrown. Because his voters, many heavily armed, will ensure that he will remain in power as long as they want him to, elections or not.
We are very much in "Rhinoceros" territory. And we very much need an American Ionesco. Trump isn't driving our nation off this cliff, his voters are.
50
The GOP, hello?
1
Mr. Trump’s incessant lying - to his principal stakeholders, the citizens of the United States, is a breach of his fiduciary duty. Kudos to him, though, for having the nobility to resurface that argument by nominating its author, Brett Kavanaugh, to the Supreme Court. Of course, Mr. Kavanaugh was referring only to lies about adulterous behavior. Now we have that PLUS lies about policy, economic data and other official aspects of the presidency.
10
whaatever trump was doing at wharton, it wasn't studying economics.
40
When folks were warning that voting for trump would mean that you’re voting against your own self-interests, many shrugged. So shall ye reap.
25
What about sugar? We use corn syrup here because sugar is priced above market. Think of the consequence of that.
https://www.fas.usda.gov/programs/sugar-import-program
4
Wait, wait, wait.
Are you suggesting that trade is a nuanced subject and that neither Trump nor his supporters care to examine the intricacies?
I don't know, something seems off about that asser.... hah, no, but seriously. Stop the presses!
8
The rescue of the 12 Thai boys took the cooperation of an international team.
There is a lot of lessons there about international economics too.
In a world of inter-dependent countries, America can not win at the expense of the global community.
37
Another $200 Billion in the pipeline. Somebody should tell Trump that Trump Tariffs are a TAX on Americans. Its not the Chinese that are paying higher prices... it is the US citizens buying those goods. So many of these tariffs are hurting American businesses and American consumers more than China. China can sell to the whole world, but we can in many cases only buy from them or not buy at all. Can you say "recession"? Trump seems determined to undermine the international stature and prestige of the United States, and degrade and strain our international trade. And he's sure he's going to get along well with Putin... its almost like Trump is actively working against the interests of the United States. Of course the Trump propaganda is saying exactly the opposite - but how well are they going to convince the soybean farmers, nail plant workers, and soon the tens of thousands more facing job loss because of Trump's Tariffs? Lie, Donny, lie - and keep talking fast and throwing out distractions - maybe nobody will notice how you're degrading and diminishing the United States with your every decision. Putin likes it, though.
32
And while we're at it, how about all those subsidies the US pays its farmers? There are more ways to distort free trade than just tariffs.
63
Actually if the Trump administration would read the existing "free" trade agreements, they would find the agreements are already written in the US favor.
In fact, the trade agreements are negotiated in secret not to keep the information from US citizens, but because the trading partner's citizens might protest the agreement terms.
International trade has always been based on economic power, not on principals of fairness.
15
Donald Trump campaigned on spite and he's governing by spite.
Policy details are unimportant to him and the minority of voters who voted for him.
What's important to Donald is perpetuating a constant stream of resentment toward others, perpetuating grievances, perpetuating a sense of white male Christian American victimhood...who only Donald understands and will save with his 'incredible' business expertise and Very Special Snake Oil.
He campaigned on the Birther Lie...which encompassed Donald's personal white spite toward a black President 1000 times more dignified and appealed to the cancerous white spite coursing through Donald's voter base.
He campaigned on Hillary Hatred...channeling Mad Men misogynists nationwide who can't stand smart women.
He campaigned on 'Mexican rapists'...impugning the great people of Mexico and other Central Americans who do the backbreaking daily work that holds the American economy together.
And now he's governing by spite, ginning up xenophobic spite toward Canada and other allies while rolling in the mud with every dictator in sight.
As long as Donald feeds his clueless masses the Recommended Daily Allowance of white male Christian American spite, they will happily roll in the mud with him all the way to bankruptcy court, at which point a few of them will wake up and realize they were duped out of their life savings.
That's the way it goes with cheap Snake Oil Salesmen.
"I like the way he talks" says the proverbial Trump voter.
Sad.
545
"...the great people of Mexico", thank you.
It's too bad that decades of bridging two Nations together have been thrown to the dustbin of history. Some people here are now looking at the North with the same spite we've been thrown at.
Sad, very sad.
(Who gains from this?)
16
I would add one additional item included in the international trade in services: Service income earned by large corporations are profits they earned by producing overseas that get counted in US income. Profits not remitted are not counted as service income.
4
Trump lies through his teeth, but it doesn't do any good to mislead in return. Saying that other countries don't levy tariffs on our services doesn't change or excuse the tariffs they put on manufactured goods, precisely the kind of good that offers high paying jobs to blue collar workers. And your own newspaper ran a compelling article on just how obscenely lopsided our trade agreements with the third world are.
I would be here all day if I outlined all of the ways we are cheated by third world countries like China, from lopsided tariffs and taxes to intellectual property theft -- many of them, again, reported in your own newspaper.
And that so that American workers can "compete" with third world workers who earn starvation wages, work under conditions that would be illegal here, and breathe toxic brown air.
Say what you like about Trump (and there is not much to like), but the failure of the post-Clinton Democrats and establishment Republicans to address the harms of globalization and inequitable trade deals had a lot to do with why he was elected president, and why he retains his popularity among the suffering blue collar workers who watched as factory after factory closed.
6
Excuse me but what does your comment have to do with tariffs on Canada? At this time, Canada, not the EU, not China and certainly not a third world country, is by far and away the country which is being most harmed by US tariffs. And by the way, the US has a trade surplus in goods and services with Canada, not a deficit.
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You, and the people who recommended your comment, have either read the editorial very selectively or have chosen to pretend that most of it doesn't exist.
The editorial begins by referring to "every other country in the world" and goes on to say that "by and lare, the world is not ripping off the United States."
It then goes on to mention Canada -- and the moves on to the European Union.
It saddens me deeply to see the response to my comment. This is precisely the kind of ignorance that got Donald Trump elected. People complain about him, and yet are blind to the sources of his strength.
It is heartbreaking to see ignorance and willful ideological blindness put our country in the hands of an authoritarian.
1
Despite his truth and fact challenged character—or perhaps because of it—President Trump is a masterful political strategist. He has re-made the GOP in his own image and likeness. The GOP base supports him with unswerving and unprecedented loyalty. In Republican primaries, Trump’s loyalists torpedo his critics and thereby silence would-be GOP opposition.
He has GOP legislators right where he wants them. Has any politician ever so thoroughly transformed a major political party within so brief a time?
One of my guiltiest of guilty pleasures is watching Trump supporters and enablers attempt to defend the indefensible on cable TV. Do these people actually believe that all voters are “low information voters”? ( “Low information voters” is my nominee for “Euphemism of the Century.”)
An almost equally guilty pleasure: Listening to those who voted for Trump whistle their way past the graveyard that was the GOP, but which is now the Trumpublican Party.
16
This editorial is also a gross oversimplification of trade. In the space allowed, it cannot possibly cover all aspects of trade. But one omission is the content of exports that have imported content. In fact, this imported content is what allows many American products to be cost competitive on a global basis.
My little company uses electronic and electrical parts made overseas. Half of my sales are exported, mostly to the EU, Pacific rim nations and our arch enemy Canada. Trump's tariffs will put me at a severe price disadvantage and cost sales. Or I can eat the costs and cut my margins way down. Either way I lose and so will thousands of other companies, from the largest to the smallest.
The American consumer will lose and pay higher prices for goods. The tariff is essentially a sales tax that we will all pay. Super! That's one way to drive down the deficit. Give huge tax breaks to the wealthy and force the woking class people to pay for them with a new sales tax.
Then there are the supply chains where materials traverse many borders before they end up in someones kitchen. Ore may be mined in Peru, smelted in India, turned into refined materials in China, fabricated into parts in the US, then put into products and shipped to France. Materials constantly crisscross the globe. There is no such thing as sole source content. The milk cows may have been fed with feed from Brazil.
Trump doesn't have a clue what he is doing and all of us will suffer for it.
759
I so appreciate your incisive commentary Mr. Rozenblit. Each time I read what you’ve written I gain a deeper understanding of trade and business dynamics. Your comments point to the adage that theory without practice is blind.
3
In my darkest moments, I sometimes wonder whether Trump, wittingly or unwittingly, sets about to create the situations he now only imagines. The world was NOT against America before Trump started on his ... initiatives? But eventually all those other countries and blocs WILL fight back. If the American economy tanks as a result, and especially if the world gives up on the dollar as its reserve currency due to American unpredictability (and US government debt becomes junk as a result), the dystopian vision Trump painted in his inauguration speech might well come to pass. Will he then sell that to his base as having been right all along?
For all of our sakes, I sincerely hope this man is lawfully removed from his office before long and that none of this comes to pass.
3
Chilling report on top of the sense we're heading into a recession.
1
Even more importantly, someone should explain to Trump that large government deficits and trade deficits go hand-in-hand...And hence his tax cut package has helped ensure larger trade deficits for years to come. But even if he actually cared about either deficit, that type of analysis is way beyond our president’s abilities, I fear.
44
Fortune reported that none of Ivanka's clothing line (made overseas naturally) will be subject to tariffs. How's that for fair treatment?
http://fortune.com/2018/07/09/donald-trumps-china-tariffs-dont-apply-to-...
132
That's OK - we stopped buying them in Canadian stores long ago (even boycotting Canada's oldest company, the Hudson Bay Company, which refuses to stop carrying Ivanka), regardless of where they're actually made (China).
3
The bottom line is that it is impossible for Mr. Incompetent to tell the truth. It is always an exaggeration, a half-truth, or a complete fabrication. Additionally the man will shoot from the hip having a small bit of information that he will blow up and use to fit his own biased narrative. You will never hear the truth coming from his mouth. Awful that a man like this leads our country.
150
Americans don't study history. Americans don't study science. They do not need that stuff. They have Beyonce and Lebron. What else do they need? Oh, I forgot: netflix!
11
He is awful because the powers that corrupt and support him are awful. In fact he is the perfect president for the usa.
Awful man ; awful people ; awful country.
Perfect
6
Why the slap at Bey and Lebron? Not only do they have Nothing to do with this discussion, they are incredibly positive role models in their communities and industries.
The uninformed electorate is the problem, as is the skewed skewed skewed opinion-about-news media. Our fellow citizens are being brainwashed as we speak by twisted pundits who are laughing all the way to the bank. Color (orange) by number media outlets are doing irreparable harm.
2
Good explanation with this article, but I feel it leaves out one key component which really drives all tariffs (taxes) overall. - that is the buying habits of Americans.
Nothing can be ''dumped'' into the American market (predominately from China) unless there is immense demand. What happens is there is an influx of a certain product which is bought up at a significant pace, which dramatically hurts the bottom line of any business/sector in the U.S.
They invariably put pressure on their reps/Senators or trade lobbyists (with some arguments going as high as the WTO) and there is an reflexive reaction of some new tariff.
This is what is happening with this administration on a massive scale with a large deconstruction effect on the retaliatory tariffs/trade war being waged. There are winners and losers, but some are now questioning if the losers are being promoted to later snap up their businesses later for pennies on the dollar.
If you want to change all of the above, then simply buy local.
12
I, for one, will buy ketchup that is owned by a Canadian company, made of Canadian tomatoes by Canadian workers at a Canadian plant.
Heinz (and all of its products) is off the table completely.
26
Trump only plays to his "perpetually persecuted" base, who like Trump are constantly looking for scapegoats as to why their dreams of wealth have not been fulfilled. This scapegoating and victimization is broadly promoted by Trump's RW media sycophants.
Reminds of the student that never prepared for the test and then blamed the teacher for asking the wrong questions.
56
So if Ford were to import it's Ranger here that small truck would be tariffed at 25%. Which won't happen because Ford is stopping small vehicle production to satisfy American hunger for big gas guzzling pickups and SUVs. Another dumb move because gas may still hit $5pg during a major war. Or some other catastrophe. Then it's back to crawling for more tariffs on small foreign imports like they did in the 70's. History is not stupid. Those who repeat it are.
39
It's already over $4 per gallon in California!
6
As it should be!
$4 a gallon? And this is known as US self-sufficiency? Where is Trump? Too much coal legislation?
This piece ends with " a president who has shown he can’t be trusted."
But ... that's exactly what he HAS done! He can be trusted to do what he claimed in his campaign. E.G. what he did almost exactly 24 hours ago: nominate a staunch judicial conservative to the Supreme Court. He also promised to raise tariffs on countries that use non-tariff barriers on us.
It's not just tariffs that the US maintains that other countries can point to in order to show the weakness of Trump's position, it is also the subsidies that the US government continually gives out - with agriculture being one of the largest.
American farmers have a massive advantage over other farmers that don't receive such large subsidies. If Trump wants a level playing field, end the $20 billion a year in farm subsidies.
18
A man that lies on average six times per day cannot be trusted by any measure.
20
Good points all around, but sadly, the truth is dead.
20
In other words, Trump is claiming other countries are unfairly profiting off of the US in order to justify ripping them off in some way or another — one of a piece with his failure to pay so many people who worked for him. He's a crafty and avaricious pirate. Health Canada also promotes breast feeding babies — maybe Trump could use that to rip off another couple of percent on trade.
43
It would be helpful if NYT would publish a more comprehensive list of tariffs, both ways, and let the reader decide, rather than mention a few anecdotes. It should be easy enough for one of your journalism interns to do this.
24
That would be an impossible task, or at least would take up thousands of pages.
For example, take the "270% tariff" claim:
Yes Canada does impose this but only on "blended dairy powder" (on milk the maximum tariff is 241%).
This 270% tariff is the maximum tariff on US dairy powder imports above the quota.
This in response to the massive amounts of subsidies US farmers receive from their government: US government farming subsidies are approximately $22 billion a year and account for 3/4 of farmer income. Canadian farmers do not receive any government aid. These subsidies allow US farmers sell their produce far below production cost, giving them an extremely unfair advantage over their Canadian counterparts.
In addition the US limits imported dairy to just 3% of total domestic consumption. The US doesn't allow Canada (or any other country, including New Zealand that has absolutely no farming subsidies or tariffs making it the only truly free market in the world but still blocked by the US government while Trump spittles about how 'unfair' everyone is to the US) to sell dairy products in the US domestic market above a set (and very small) limit. In addition everything under this 3% limit is still subjected to tariffs, making foreign entry into the US domestic market very difficult.
Canada does allow the US to sell as much of its heavily subsidised dairy products as it likes, but with increasing tariffs.
There's more but character restrictions limit me!
37
The Trumpyssey
Take the man who is dumbest in class
A recidivist grabber and crass
,And with little notice
You make him your POTUS
One who second grade couldn’t pass.
You give him a Nation to run
A buffoon whose dimness would stun,
Signs writs with a flourish
Race hatred doth nourish
Most wrong choices made? He’s the one.
A worldwide trade war sets in place
Tweets torrents of tripe at high pace
His Cabinet choices
Avaricious voices
Of honesty nary a trace.
A base that on lies does depend
That non-white immigrants would rend
No soupçon of Science
On Fox has reliance
To believe every Trump lie does tend.
167
Larry, one of your best!
1
Larry,
What the President wants is clear!
What did Obama do here?
The “hot mike” with Putin was fake?
His Wall Street “friends” weren’t on the take?
The angst from the Left is clear!
Generations of work lost here!
Next time try passing laws
Using the Courts is a flaw!
Elections have consequences, indeed!
A candidate who can win, you need!
Some ideas would help that too!
Past we loath the President’s Crew!
Well, Robert, Canada charges an average of 0.8% on all imports, half the US average (1.6%). Which market is more open?
133
Those numbers by themselves don't really say anything about your question. Are they weighted by actual imported item value? If so they could be artificially low because they have tariffs or other barriers that result in 0 imports in certain categories. Whereas if that is a simple average of category tariffs it could be artificially low because of 0 tariffs on stuff that Canada has a competitive advantage in.
3
Thank you for this editorial. It is no surprise that Trump has been lying about trade as he lies about almost everything. The question is whether or how this information can be communicated to Trump supporters or even if it will make any difference. I expect it will make no difference whatsoever because most of the Republicans in Congress know this information about trade. Trump's supporters are unmoved by facts.
It is interesting that LBJ's tariff on pick-ups survives and Trump is not trying to undo it. Trump is trying to undo most of LBJ's legacy (Obama is his decoy). Recall that LBJ signed the civil rights act, the voting rights act, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, Head Start and the law which bars immigration discrimination on the basis of race, religion or national origin. All of those laws are to varying degrees targets of Trump. LBJ was president when Trump was at his beloved Penn.
13
Trump is confused or a liar or both on the US trade/tariff conundrum. Probably both. Trump is very much a false prophet and he therefore creates problems where there aren’t any to paint himself as the “guy” for everyman. He becomes the “usurper” that his supporters are seeking. He creates chaos to make more chaos and his supporters celebrate.
66
The US isn’t fooling anyone except its own citizens.
180
And this is exactly why Trump declared long ago "I love the poorly educated": he knows that they don't have the capacity or the motivation to look for the truth.
They're willing to blindly believe his lies and will follow him off the cliffs or into the deepest pits of hell, even if it causes them hardship. When they find out they can't eat their false pride, it will be too late.
232
"Let's make a deal Donny!" Donny chooses curtain number 3, tariffs and trade wars? What have the American people won Donny? Higher prices and fewer jobs for everyone!
When does all the winning start?
77
I love the tariffs. I hope he institutes even more and China et al respond in kind. I’m willing to pay more for stuff if it hurts the red state businesses and its idiot voters.
179
The tariffs and reciprocal tariffs will hurt everyone, here and in affected countries.
Trump supporters hurt everyone, they may have broken the world.
13
Yes!
1
The US beef and sugar industries are heavily protected to avoid much foreign competition.
I don’t hear Trump confessing to restrictive US trade policies.
285
"In accusing other countries of cheating the United States, the president misleads the public about a complicated subject"
Wow, that is a first! Usually he is so open and honest with his very knowledgeable base.
190
Thank you NY Times for this clarification. It would be great if you could narrate the script of this article at the next Trump neo-Nazi style rally. But alas, I don't think his audience has the brains to digest it. Maybe instead, the content of this article can be inserted as poolside banter on some reality TV show with a bikini-clad blonde bimbo discussing trade statistics. Or maybe have some Guatemalan migrants violating the tariff rate quota on butter when they try to sneak across the Rio Grande. The possibilities are endless.
38
Pres. Disgraceful is engaging in subterfuge by calling a new set of taxes unilaterally imposed by him 'tariffs' - they are taxes that will directly hurt his base, which pain will be compounded by retaliatory taxes imposed by our global trading partners.
The statement: "President Lyndon Johnson imposed a 25 percent tariff on imports of pickup trucks in 1963, which remains in place today" should be illuminating to GOP'ers, who aren't widely known for copying LBJ's economic policies.
93
I don't think the president cares about the American people except for those he needs to support him. I don't think his minions realize that he doesn't care and they will have to learn this from first hand experience via losing jobs and money. Too bad there is no longer such thing as "American Exceptionalism".
50
The problem with this editorial is that it does not dig into the facts. It sounds like the editorial board agrees that China is ripping us off. They do not offer broad statistics for the rest of the world. I am very curious how European tariffs compare to U.S. tariffs. Anecdotes are nice, facts would be nicer.
8
The question that always comes to my mind is that if we are being taken such advantage of by the entire world, how is it that our economy is by far the strongest? Maybe if DT looked at results instead of process, he would have a better understanding. He is obviously incapable of understanding the process, but the ultimate results are clear. If instead of worrying about how to preserve the past (coal mining jobs, buggy whip manufacturing, etc.) and focus on preparing his base for the inevitable future, we could move forward. As it is we have the irony that after DT we really will need to make America great again.
357
I'm corious about who if anyone proofs the authors writings before it goes to print. There is a sentence that I don't quite understand, The American dairy tariff can in fact exceed TK percent. What is TK percent.
But really, it's true that the US uses the same type of tariffs that other countries do, it's a way of leveling the playing field. The voting public can't expect a politician to tell the truth, especially Trump, he has NEVER told the truth, or any resemblance of it, not even a shred of truth, only his devote followers hang on his every word, then act like it's gospel, like Trump really knows what he's talking about. Remember, every business that Trump has touched, has failed in some cases spectacularly. Take the USFL for example, or his vodka, Trump couldn't even sell bottled water.
But the fact is, if the voting public really wanted to know any statistic, or whether an alleged fact is really a fact or is it a made up "fake" fact that Trump likes to tell, all the data whether it supports a position or not, can be found just by googling it. But Trump is engaging as one person posting said, he's engaging in subterfuge, why because it keeps his base right where he wants them. So when things start to go badly (and they will) he will have his base all prepped and primed with the lie he will tell his soon to be unemployed base.
And when the farmers that voted for him realize that they are bearing the brunt of his trade war, they may rethink their position.
18
All of the information that your looking for is easily found, Google is where you would look for government links. The WTO was created by the US. So this is a good source of information.
https://www.wto.org/English/tratop_e/tariffs_e/tariff_data_e.htm
9
Tariffs aside, years ago the 50's and 60's, if a product had a "Made in Japan" label on it, you'd avoid it like the plague. As time wore on Sony, Honda, and Toyota arrived, then France and the UK designed and built the Airbus. Then South Korea came along with Hyundai, then China and Mexico with inexpensive labor markets along with India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and a host of others. Yet the U.S. redesigned itself, over and over, and we continue to compete well in a world market.
We don't need tariffs, we just need innovation that is funded largely, yet indirectly by the Federal Government. As it always has.
What's going now is just outright stupidity to satisfy some campaign promise.
963
On the other hand, maybe Trump does know what he's doing. Who benefits? Follow (most important) the money and follow (also important) the riling up of the base. I'd like to see that analysis. I'm waiting
Thanks again, Bruce, for your rationality and knowledge.
1
Trumps rants are a reality show presented for is base. His base loves his antics and at each new presentation it enhances their devotion.
Unfortunately, that behavior works well when selling a reality media show, but not in real negotiations in international economics. The US needs international trade both for imports of items that we can produce inefficiently and exports, mostly services, that we do better than them.
Even if the US could become an isolated state and ignore the rest of the world it would take us many decades to generate the infrastructure, factories, trained workers, and educated consumers who could adapt to much higher prices for many products.
Trump's reality show clown act produces a frenzy among his base and contempt from our worldwide customers. We may be on our own, whether we are ready for it or not.
425
I wonder why the US media is not providing more factual information on US restrictions on trade, which are substantial. Most Americans believe that the US has been uniquely open in its trade regulation, but this is far from accurate. As an example I have pasted in below a Canadian description of US trade restrictions on sugar.
"Unlike Canada’s free market sugar policy, the U.S. government intervenes in its sugar market to support domestic production of cane and beet sugar. The policy artificially supports U.S. domestic sugar prices above world and Canadian price levels, restricts imports and uses a special “re-export program” to encourage exports of sugar and sugar-containing products.
The sugar program uses three tools to ensure that U.S. growers and sugar processors receive a minimum price for their sugar.
1. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) makes loans available to U.S. processors of sugarcane and sugar beets at set loan rates that support the market price above world prices.
2. “Marketing allotments” are set to limit the amount of sugar that processors can sell in the U.S. market but do not limit the amount of production so the excess must be stored or exported
3. Quotas (TRQs) restrict the amount of foreign sugar allowed to enter the U.S. market.
358
Absolutely correct. Sugar subsidies distort the market and increase the price of all commodities that contain sugar (which as we know are a lot, and they include things you may not be aware of - like bread, ketchup and so many other processed foods. Countries like Australia (zero subsidies for Australian sugar produces, who are the worlds most efficient) continually argue in forums like the Doha round of GATT, which deals in primary produce, that they cannot compete with US sugar on world markets. It increases the prices for US consumers for so many food products. It costs US taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. It leads to increased prices world wide for a basic commodity. All to appease an extremely small voting constituency. Of course would never get a mention from Drumpf.
2
The problem for Canada is that we have been content to not rock the boat, until recently. Unfair tariffs on Canadian lumber went unnoticed by almost all Canadian, except in BC. Canada is only now taking up the fight against a totally unacceptable NAFTA proposal by American trade persons. Needless to day that NAFTA will probably be dead in the water-and perhaps it is the best route for Canada. Canada must now become a more viable trading partner with China.
1
The news media here (a few exceptions) feeds Americans with what they want to be fed. If they like hearing that the moon is filled with blue cheese, then that's what they'll be told. It's all about sales.
The breathtaking and moronic hypocrisy demonstrated by the new American approach to trade tariffs makes negotiating with the US utterly pointless. In addition, it is interesting that the Americans never seem to acknowledge that the massive US government subsidies given to numerous American industries make tariffs a necessity for many countries. Ever wonder why American dairy producers can annually dump millions of gallons of milk and stay in business?
547
All countries maintain some market and industry protectionist policies, usually in the form of duties ir tariffs, in the US it appears these come about due to strong lobbies and/or political connections. A few examples...
- 81% on sugar,
- 100+% on nuts,
- 300+% on tobacco
Do duties/tariffs need to be addressed, sure the do, but not in the Trump manor!
1
I agree with your statement, but please don't mistake all Americans for trumps America.
2
Most trump products are made outside of the USA.
Trump's lies and hyperbole is nothing more than cheap rhetoric meant to stir up his emotional base. And, it works. Trump's base doesn't look at trump business practices, and FOX propaganda sure isn't going to report on it. Would be nice if NYT would report on it.
1
What is always missing from Trump's rants and tweets about real or supposedly unfair trade practices? The central role of many big, supposedly All- American companies in outsourcing so many manufacturing jobs. Think that your Ford or Chevy is US made? For years now, many are not. Apple Macs, iPhones, Dell or HP laptops, Nike sneakers? Almost none of these supposedly American brands actually manufacture their products in the US. Now, some of that is part of being a player in the global economy. However, the main reasons are a. because they make a bit more money this way, and - b. because they get away with it. Now, Trump could actually speak and tweet about that, shine a spotlight on Apple and others, forcing them to at least defend their decision not to manufacture here in the US. Alas, he isn't, because doing so would require some intestinal fortitude, which he seems to be sorely lacking.
269
Not one item that Ivanka sells from her junk bags, shoes and dresses are made in the US. Yet, all of her products were given an exempt status from the tarrifs. No one has to wonder why with this Congress.
Doing so would also draw attention to Trump family outsourcing of jobs to produce their products and influence to gain favored trademarks abroad.
2
Shining that light might also require his family to defend their decision to produce their products off shore.
The fact that tariffs are a big federal tax is lost on Trump and his devotees. For a president and party that pride themselves on cutting taxes in general - supposedly to help businesses, tariffs are taxes that harm businesses. It's not a sensible way to generate revenue and a tax is a tax, even if it's called a tariff. In addition, trade is an active process - the loose change left over at the end is the deficit or surplus - it is the volume that is important.
239
Actually this may all be a ruse intentionally undertaken at the advisement of Paul Ryan.
The GOP Tax bill has resulted in deeper cuts to revenue than originally expected and the tariffs would be a short term cash cow to offset those cuts.
Notice though that Congress has stayed silent on the issue.
1
Yes, it has been obvious that the President is lying about other nations cheating us. But he has been saying that successfully for two years and no one has stood up to counter that. Neither has the press insisted that Mr. Trump answer why he believes other nations are cheating us, at least so his reasoning can be evaluated in public. It appears we have allowed Mr. Trump to escape any kind of scrutiny or responsibility for his own actions, and we continue to allow that kind of behavior by the putative leader of the world. The narrative must turn on Trump's mendacity and ineffectiveness in advancing American interests, while he advances and advances and advances Russian interests all over the globe, including in North Korea.
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" no one has stood up to counter that" is not exactly true. Paul Krugman has published several articles contradicting Trump's tweets on trade, and the Times has published even more. I'm sure there are other journals so enlightening their readers. So who is/are the "no one" ?
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@Agent GG, the "putative" title is obsolete. Please don't use it anymore. The real leader of the western world is Chancellor Angela Merkel. Every other world leader is "small people."
I hope she survives all the assault on her to be removed or marginalized. She has brains, the smarts, a great governing philosophy and compassion among other great attributes.
Something our deal leader lacks. But let us wait till his performance review gets done in Helsinki, we can expect more egregious pronouncements and acts.
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Trump has never been held responsible for what he has done or what he says. The question is WHY? How does he does he manage to consistently get away with it?
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I find it mildly amusing that liberals and Democrats continue to cling to the notion that quoting numbers and facts, and debunking Mr. Trump's lies will somehow make an impact on him and his administration. He doesn't care nor do his supporters. This isn't about policy or trade. He craves sycophancy and adulation; they need reassurance that their problems are not their fault and that an iron-fisted leader will show it to the foreigners and return them to the days of high paying (in some cases, blue collar) jobs. They feed and feed on each other and they disdain politicians, academics and the media and their nerdy facts and figures.
Yes, Trump is a liar, a con-artist and an economic, social and environmental disaster. Yes, his presidency is more a reality tv show to feed his ago than a government for and of the people. But to connect with his base, address their fears and needs, to try to heal the partisan divide (and frankly to deny him that beachhead), we're going to need something more than trade data.
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Group Therapy?
Yes, absolutely true. Reams of data and balance sheet comparisons will not combat the histrionics and manipulation of a con artist like Trump.
..--- But let's admit it, Democrats really have no one with any grit, charisma, and true leadership ability.. Certainly no gifted truth-teller, no fearless leader, to rise up and stir people to action..(no offense Bernie)..
-- Democrats are stuck in the mud, railing about ICE, and still whining about an election they blew 2 years ago.. (Fighting a losing battle for a Supreme Court they could have nicely won..had they merely gotten out and voted when it mattered..)
---Trump has the reigns now, and given the shape of Dems..he's likely to lead the way for a long time to come...
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Actually Koyote, someone should explain that to me. Our trade deficit began to rise in the 1990's when our deficit began to shrink and continued to rise right on thru the Clinton surpluses. The two have little or nothing to do with each other. They simply do not correlate.
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Trump, the White House and his rant in Twitter is now the most watched reality show on earth. Though extremely entertaining, one can’t help to feel sorry for all his supporters for being treated like fools and for his supporters in allowing this to happen! I am not an admirer of Trump but have to give him credit on his understanding of our subconscious childhood trauma: That’s not fair Mum! That’s not true Dad! Need I say more? I sincerely hope that entertainment aside, we will not stand by and let him destroy the businesses and livelihoods of the Americans and the trade partners. The most at stake is America. The leader of the free world. Soon that will be history if he continues ......
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Rupert Murdoch is really the one Boss. Trump is despe
rate to keep him happy. He doesn't want to hear " your fired". Its sad that America is so easy to fool.
You are wrong. Trump is not the least bit entertaining, never was. As for his base, why would anyone feel sorry for them? They are standing by him no matter what. They cannot be dissuaded, so do not bother. Let them feel the damage of his bad decisions.
Work to get this Putin puppet and all the Republicans who continue to support him out of office. Moderate Republicans, walk away from this disaster masquerading as a human being.
You are so wrong. Trump is not the least bit entertaining, never was. As for his stanchest supporters, why would anyone feel sorry for them? They have their man in office and will not not be dissuaded by any reasonable argument to abandon him.
Let them feel the damage of his bad decisions.
As for the rest of us, vote this Putin puppet and the Republicans who continue to support him out of office.
Moderate Republicans must separate themselves from these extremists instead of leaving office.
We had a taste of the same dilemma facing America today during the administration of George W. Bush, although not to the extent confronting us with President Donald Trump.
The dilemma is trying to decide if our president is chronically dishonest or simply very ignorant.
On the subject of international tariffs, President Trump demonstrates both flaws, and he is very aggressive about flaunting his faults on a daily basis.
At least President Bush did not regularly insult our closest allies.
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There are days that I would bring back Bush in a heartbeat!
You are correct in your observations.
Perhaps when the pain of the trade war is felt, the higher prices of finished goods, the surplus of soybeans, grain and corn due to no market, the evaporation of any personal tax savings due to the Trump War on Trade, may sway many Trump supporters and wake them up to the fact they were played by a skilled con artist.
Bush, who does not appear to be anywhere near as dense as Trump, presided over disastrous wars in the Mideast and the 2008 financial collapse. One wonders what fiascoes the even less competent Trump will engineer. It's difficulty to see the US having any international credibility at all after this run of fools.
Donald Trump simply doesn’t understand complex issues. Worse, he doesn’t understand that he doesn’t understand complex issues, but continues to carry on like he’s uniquely qualified to handle matters that are vastly beyond his grasp.
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Is anybody in the world capable of understanding the complex issues?
If you can understand them, those are not complicated at all.
The issues are complex only if we cannot understand them…
Please,
remind us again who accurately predicted the Great Depression and the Great Recession...
If the people understood what they were doing, they would not harm themselves.
If somebody intentionally created the crisis, those individuals should have been arrested and prosecuted.
Was anybody arrested in 1928 or 2008?
Is there anybody who truly understands the complex issues?
If we cannot do it, how can we claim that the other side is wrong if we don't know what is right?
So if Trump really feels we're being treated unfairly in trade with other countries, he could use his bully pulpit to exhort all of us consumers to check all product labels on items we buy and only purchase items that clearly specify "Made in America" or grown in the United States. I'm guessing his base, and many others, would not want to be so inconvenienced. And that would exclude Ivanka's entire product line. It is so much easier to play the victim than to actually solve real problems.
If this is typical of Trump's behavior in his personal interactions, he likely doesn't have many real friends.
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Hey commenters, would you get it straight! Trump DOES understand complicated issues, and exactly how to present them in simple but misleading terms. The man is highly accomplished. To suggest that he does not understand things, and that this is all somehow a mistake on his part, rather than clever manipulation and showmanship, is very naive.
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How do you know he is accomplished. We haven't seen his tax returns. But we do know he's gone thru 6 bankruptcies and 3 wives
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Dude, the wanna-be emperor has no clothes.
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Absolutely correct! And his base takes all of it in as fact.
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