The claim from Trump will soon be:
• The tariffs will be on Chinese goods;
• The revenue will go to the government;
• And, The Mexicans will pay for them!
2
We must have tariffs. American businesses can't compete against countries whose governments provide for workers health care. Our for-profit health insurance industry is a very expensive tax on our businesses. If we allow the smart countries to sell their stuff here, it will bankrupt American companies and make us look stupid.
1
How many of Trump's "ideas" go back to the '80's or earlier? I think that must be when the last vestiges of his brain stopped functioning.
3
The problem here is that the 45th president is not thinking of Americans or the American economy but rather himself and his family interests.
2
I've been saying for some time that Trump depends on tariffs because he has few other tools to offer. This article seems to bolster that claim.
Trump presents tariffs as a tax on the other country rather than the consumer. In the end, the consumer pays, whether Trump admits it or not.
Too bad that in all these decades Trump has learned so little. We are paying for that now.
If Donald Trump really wanted to help US businesses and industry he would support Medicare for All.
Removing the cost of insuring employees for healthcare would make American businesses more competitive worldwide. Domestically prices of USA made goods could then be lowered and the average American consumer would benefit twice, buying Made in USA and having free access to healthcare.
Then he would really be a great president.
5
Everything Trump does is based on his beliefs and never on thorough research and mastery of facts. And to make it worse, his beliefs have their origins in some combination of his narcissism and his paranoia. And yet he has legions of enablers like Wm. Barr allowing him to accrue ever more unitary power. The risk of dictatorship is too great to ignore.
1
Let's be intellectually honest: America was built on tariffs in the 18th and 19th Century. There is no "free trade" per se, as each nation places national interest above that purely academic notion. With the failure of the Uraguay Round of GATT, namely because of Japan, the US moved on to China without fixing the Japan trade problem. BTW, who assisted the Chinese from riding only bicycles and wearing Mao jackets just 30 years ago? Japan did by moving manufacturing to China, along with SE Asia, and Mexico to avoid trade disputes with the US. Is not Japan the leading maker of cars in Mexico for the US market? This same example of third party manufacturing can be found all over Asia. The US has a trade deficit with the Philippines, primarily in semiconductors. Who owns those factories? Manila or Tokyo?
America has 100 cumulative years of consecutive trade deficits with Japan, Korea and China. In return, the US has spent blood and treasure to ensure the East Asian Fat Cats recieved oil form the Middle East for their export economies while not lifting a finger for security. Simply unsustainable. No wonder a "disruptor" was elected President!
3
Japan took over the world economy all because the United States didn't impose tariffs, right?
1
@Vanessa Hall
no , because after WW 11 Japan had no defense budget, It was written into the peace agreement. Just think about how much $ we would save if we stopped funding the military complex.
2
That's the problem. Not only do his views not evolve over time, but he carries hate for decades as well.
6
But I am guessing that, over the years, Mr. Trump had no issue taking Asian buyers money for his condos.
7
It's a kind of regression to government finance in the 18th and 19th centuries, which depended on regressive import duties rather than progressive direct taxation. After all, this president has never paid any income taxes.
10
Yes, a fairer trade policy between the U.S. and China is a topic that needs to be addressed. That said, it takes much more than simply placing tariffs on Canada, the E.U. and China. Start by addressing the egregious and unfair practices coming from China (theft of intellectual property and currency manipulation) before using such a blunt instrument that not only misses the mark but works against our own economic best interests.
3
Interesting how one uninformed, uneducated person can latch onto a fallacious idea and, three decades later, be shrewd enough to read the anger and frustrations of a political base and ride that belief to the White House. There's a very American novel to be written from this, if Sinclair Lewis or Robert Penn Warren were alive to write it.
6
Trump's preferences for tariffs and fantasies about taking the United States back to an earlier mythical paradise could be a lesson for Americans about facing up to and addressing reality.
When Trump first found his love of tariffs to push back foreign inroads in the US, the GM President was fond of boasting about achieving 60% market share and a $60 GM stock price on his 60th birthday. Today that share is 17% and the reissued share price is in the $30s, after the original shares went to zero.
The US car companies tried to paper over their poor designs and quality with slick "Buy America" campaigns, while begging for protective cover from tariffs and buying steel from US WWI era mills (still operating under tariff protection today!)
Fast forward to today and the fantasy continues but with even more dire consequences. The Trump Administration is doing absolutely everything possible to prop up the fossil fuel industry, from regulatory rollbacks to opening off-shore tracts to oil drilling, while denying climate change and criticizing alternative energy.
Its one thing to admit to your grandkids that we used to dominate in making scrappy cars until we learned some things from other countries.
But its a whole different thing to imagine telling future grandchildren that we knew about climate change and instead elected Trump to make it go away, in our minds at least.
6
While Tariffs end up being a tax effects are complicated. As long as no raw materials and production comes from overseas this effectively lowers the price on domestic production. All of U.S. funds for government was paid for by tariffs before 1913. We protected our production before then with up to 95% tariffs. Trumps love for tariffs suggests he believes that American industry is weak and cannot compete overseas. Its a desire to raise expenses for consumers and protect producers. This dynamic here hasn't been discussed since Teddy Roosevelt
1
Perhaps I should give Trump so credit for being the most successful carnival barker in NYC. But it comes so easily to a sociopath, as described in the book, "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump," by Bandi Lee. Her tome consists of the analyses from 27 top mental health professionals who concluded the Donald's total lack of empathy and compasson for ANYONE, and his rejection of having friends because he can't trust anyone to be loyal to him, makes him a classic sociopath. He has, and will, sacrifice anyone for any reason, to make money and to satisfy his narcissism.
Thus, his foreign policy pronouncements have more to do with his ego-fragile style of "management" than pragmatism or justice.
And now, thanks to a venom-dripping base of support, along with just enough Democratic voters who assumed Hillary's victory by not voting, or who voted in protest for third-party candidates, it has come to this. We have the most unfit president in our history. But it not from mere incompetence, though there is plenty of that.
Nope. The greatest danger to our fragile democracy come from absolute corruption at every level of his administration. And when you include support from Republican members of the House and Senate more fearful of his tweets than from nuclear holocaust, the election in 2020 has more to do with the survival of America's grand experiment in democracy, than politics.
8
When it comes to Trump: It’s more the ‘roots of hatred’ rather than an actual strategy.
His is always the origin story...
5
We Talk about China and Tariffs, but where was everyone when American companies left for cheap labor in China and Asia? It started with the Garment industry in the early 70's. Americans were so excited when they were getting goods from China Cheaper. TVs. A/C's cofee makers etc.. So Now we make noting other than farming and ranching. And now we want to put on Tariffs?The Importers pay that tax and it gets passed onto the American Consumer. Then Farmers and Ranchers find their products are hit with a Tax from China. So what's the Long term Plan? China has been working us for years but they export hell of a lot more to us than we to them. You know China has a long term plan . I don't believe we Do.
4
Japan though was a much less formidable adversary.
To begin with, it was (still is), an "ally", i.e. a vassal. All it took for the Americans was to schedule a meeting and order the Japanese to value the Yen against the Dollar. This meeting really happened and is called Plaza Accord (1984). After five years, Japan's aspirations were effectively over. To top it off, it entered into a huge recession in 1989, which dipped it into a prolonged depression, which lasts till nowadays.
China has much more tools in its box than Japan, the two main ones being 1) it is a socialist, not a capitalist, country, so the bubble-like depression Japan entered in the end of the 1980s is unlikely to happen and, if it does, be much shorter and have lesser consequences and 2) it has a bigger consumer market than the USA, so it is much less dependent on exports than Japan.
2
We have a President whose ego needs are so controlling that everything begins with him and his sense of slights. Still his Republican Party and his minions in the form of William Barr and other autocratic right wingers are willing to undermine our democracy in exchange for power.
11
This proves those old adages: "A stopped clock will still show the correct time twice per day" and "a blind pig will sometimes find an acorn."
China is an authoritarian, draconian country with virtually no workers' rights nor environmental protections.
America and other Western Democracies have directly bankrolled China's "rise" while decimating the middle class at home and enriching the wealthiest and greediest.
Further, our current economy is too reliant on consumption. Maybe if there wasn't so much cheap (Chinese) crap to buy, American's would start buying quality over quantity, start saving more money, and shift us towards a sustainable future.
The less we import from China the better.
2
In a global economy, high wage islands such as the US are unstable. Manufacturing will flow to where it is cheapest.
This is why we have tariffs in agriculture since the 1920ths. The US has over 3000 of tariffs and quotas
Otherwise the 10% ethanol that goes into a US pick up (domestic production protected by a 25 % import tax as the result of an agricultural trade dispute) would come from Brazil.
At some point, countries make a decision to protect vital industries - against those willing to work for less than th,
Which is more than 3/4 of the world's population in case of the US
3
There is definitely more "meat on the bone" now, although methinks it is probably more blubber than meat. And, unfortunately, more air between the ears.
4
To describe Peter Navarro's views on tariffs as "outside the mainstream of his profession" is a generous understatement.
He is viewed as lacking insight and creativity and he stands out among his academic peers not because of his unique analysis, but because his analysis is completely unsubstantiated and unable to withstand peer review.
In other words, Trump's key policy adviser on tariffs is a kook in the world of economics.
7
Your're overthinking this and giving him way too much credit. He's a simpleton. He knows of no other economic levers, nor does he have the patience to see through anything in the long term. He's just a fool, stumbling along without a thought to his final destination. Which I hope is a dark and sparse prison cell.
21
Interesting how this guy who says “we have to tax... to protect this country” evades paying taxes himself, arguing that “this makes me smart!” He sees no virtue in supporting the country he leads with his own tax dollars. Yet it seems that the vast majority of Republicans think he is a great president.
8
Let me get this straight: Our President's obsession with the belief that we are being 'ripped off' by foreign countries was because he was outbid by a Japanese businessman for a collector's item. So in his desire to exact revenge, his only weapon is to raise tariffs, not encourage US companies to make better products more efficiently or be innovative, or to address the cost structures that both increased the prices of US goods and influenced US companies to source materials and labor abroad. No, that would have required thought and reason.
Too bad he never bothered to understand how tariffs work. I imagine that he once read (or, more likely, heard) that a tariff is 'like a tax' on foreign goods, and assumed that it is collected like a tax (hence his insistence that tariffs are 'filling US Treasury coffers'). Also too bad that his ego is such that he can't get over not acquiring a movie prop.
22
@John D
It all makes one wonder just how much Fred paid the Wharton School of Business to let his son take those classes. The current scandal rocking some university campuses is nothing new. And Trump's simplistic views of everything not only exposes his lack of intellect, it shows us how much he depended on his father's money to keep him afloat for so long.
But a bonafied sociopath knows how to work the crowd, now to keep the con going with showmanship when competence goes missing. He was lucky to land the NBC reality show gig. Otherwise, he would have been broke long ago, and we would be in Hillary's third year in office.
7
Trump and much of American business believe in the "build it and they will buy" merchandizing philosophy and accuse other nations of unfair practices if they don't buy our products that don't match their lifestyle and budget. In the 1960's- 1980's Japan made enormous strides in the consumer electronics industry by offering less expensive quality products compared to those manufactured in the US. Whereas the first HP calculators were powerful mathematics-solving instruments costing many tens of dollars and optimized for engineering applications, Japan offered simpler calculators in the less than $ 10-20 range, yet suitable to most people and students. They steadily improved their calculators for enhanced performance, but kept prices low. The US lost that battle. The same for electronic watches, radios and later entertainment products and TV. The result was that our semiconductor devices manufacturing industry was seriously challenged and it took a concerted effort between the industry and US government to turn it around in the 80's and 90's. Similarly for the automobile industry, we don't manufacture cars the European and Japanese find suitable: most of the world does not drive SUV's and trucks. Even Ford will not manufacture them here in the near future. Tariffs will not induce foreign consumers to start buying American products, they will buy them if they fit their needs and are desirable alternatives to what is offered instead. This applies to us as well for imports.
14
Trump keeps insisting publicly that China is pouring money into US coffers to pay for the tariffs. This article says he got angry when Kudlow, after much prevaricating, finally admitted to Chris Wallace on Fox that American consumers will be paying the for tariffs.
I thought Trump's line that China is paying for the tariffs was another phoney sales pitch to his low information base. Apparently it is Trump who is low information - yet again. He gets mad when one of his advisors acknowledges facts that contradict Trump's opinions. It is hard to articulate how dangerous Trump really is.
15
A guy with serious OCD, a guy who holds grudges for years, a guy who doesn't read or study various viewpoints, and a guy who runs businesses into the ground as often as most of us drink coffee, is a guy we are allowing to run our country?
The US is so dumb, so digging its own grave. I suppose we will get what we deserve.
40
@Tricia
It's up to us - the ones who are not part of his cult - to drag the country forward. Don't despair, do something productive. Maybe you have friends or family in swing states, give them a call and ask what they're up to. Try to influence your contacts and their contacts. We had better work hard against the Trump trash and the doom they would bring to our country.
6
There is free flow of capital, but not goods. This sums up the trade picture and the failure of global trade. Global trade is good as long as it is played fair and benefits all. It needs to be fixed and it is not easy. Similar headaches are our healthcare and immigrations systems.
ACA Obama and Tariff Trump are just the beginnings to attack massive problems that no one from bottom-up can solve. None of these should be partisan battles. It's the life of all Americans!
6
To the pundits who argue that deficits do not matter kindly answer one question: How does China accumulate such huge surpluses? Simple math would suggest that accumulating such surpluses would mean that money is being drained from other countries. China's accumulation of surpluses is through dubious means; an unholy alliance between cheap labor and world-wide wholesalers who then make enormous profits. There are many who profit from this alliance including, possibly the owners of the media who choose to close their eyes on some very dubious Chinese practices such as the subsidies and intellectual theft. Has transferring manufacturing to China impoverish or empower? It does both but on balance it is perceptible that a slow slide to impoverishment is becoming more evident.
2
@Gram Massla asks: "How does China accumulate such huge surpluses?"
China has valuable goods, and they are giving these away for basically nothing. All they get in return are ugly mugshots of Ben Franklin printed on cotton.
1
So uplifting to know that after a thirty year love affair with tariffs, this imbecilic former reality tv celebrity masquerading as president still doesn’t understand how tariffs work or who pays for them. SMH
25
Trump thought Frederick Douglas was still alive.
He has trouble pronouncing words that are longer than two syllables.
The tax returns that we HAVE seen clearly demonstrate that this buffoon has no idea what he's doing.
Why are we even calling him a strategist.
He's a human wrecking ball.
20
"Mr. Trump railed against .... Saudi Arabia ...saying these allies were cheating the United States."
But now the Trump administration is just doing whatever the Bone-Saw Saudis tell it to do, even after Saudi money has spread a violent interpretation of Islam through the world, attacked us on 9/11, and is using our weapons to slaughter civilians in Yemen; thanks to their help bailing out the Trump family debt, including recently on 666 5th Avenue, Trump is giving the Saudis access to nuclear technology.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-10-17/trump-and-kushner-put-saudi-arabia-s-money-ahead-of-khashoggi
https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-us-approved-sale-of-nuclear-power-technology-to-saudi-arabia/
16
@Lynn
Trump has already sided with Sunni Saudi Arabia in its battle with Shiite Iran to spread competing "interpretations" of Islam. Now the Saudis are manipulating Trump into a war with Iran (as are Bolton and Netanyahu). Trump may not want a war with Iran, and he campaigned about the stupidity of regime change in Iraq, but he's put the US in a position to start a war. All it takes now is one rash decision.
1
Apparently, the only way we can get Trump supporters to dump Trump is to let him destroy our economy, causing unemployment, business and farming failures and stock market collapse. We know he has decades of experience mismanaging his own enterprises. Only his ineptitude can destroy him.
17
So many issues here! First, as to Japan and its trade with the US in the 1980s, let's keep something in mind: we (the US) bought Japanese cars, electronics, etc. for the simple reason that they were vastly superior to the local products then being pedaled by American manufacturers-- better quality, price, etc. (And, Japan did manipulate its currency exchange rate value to make its goods more affordable-- and appealing-- to foreign buyers.)
Second, we wanted Japan to do well! The US in the immediate post-World War II era essentially created a democratic and capitalist Japan as a buffer to Mao's new Communist China, and as such we desired a viable and strong ally sitting so close to that nation. We accordingly gave favors to Japan to encourage its growth and prosperity.
And finally, Japan vigorously engaged in global trade because it had to. The nation has few natural resources (other than its work force) to draw upon for domestic development, and this fostered a "trade or die" culture that strongly encouraged coordinated policies by government, business, and labor to sell its goods abroad. The US, on the other hand, was on the opposite side.
China, however, is a different. Its trade policies are instruments of the Communist Party that controls the country and its designs are bent towards enhancing China at the expense of others. Trump is correct in his broad economic goals towards that country-- though his means of attainment leave much-- much!-- to be desired..
13
Real estate was a simple way for Japanese companies to 'buy' American. Pebble Beach, Rockefeller Center and office buildings. At this time, the Dealer was convinced that it was a foreign plot to deny him his due. So...Japan were the enemy and now it's China.
Every thing in creation is a zero sum game to 1600. And he can't be a loser!
6
Trump is an ANARCHIST. He seeks to do all he can to disrupt & destroy. He’s this far succeeding at nearly every level.
Nancy Pelosi must stand up and lead. Enough is enough. Maybe American businesses will start sounding off finally- since companies like Apple and Boeing are going to get crushed.
10
As for Trump's " core " beliefs, I believe that he is rotten to the core.
14
Setting aside the question of tariffs for a moment. There remains a deep issue beneath the questionable economics of these tariffs. Japan, the world's third largest economy--and for some decades number two and drawing close to number 1, has no army, navy or air force to speak of. This despite the rise of a giant, assertive China with a living history of erratic leadership and a totalitarian-leaning one party rule; a wily, untrustworthy Russia that still refuses to return, or even discuss returning, Japanese territory seized in the last months of WWII; not to mention a North Korea that, after brazenly kidnapping Japanese citizens, repeatedly has fired missiles over Japanese territory while threatening nuclear strikes on American bases in Japan. Aside from the impact on their civilian economies, this arrangement is bizarre, its logic weakened by the end of the Cold War and surely cannot continue indefinitely, although there will be one devil of a time unwinding this relationship and establishing a more realistic one.
A differently twisted situation exists with regard to post-Cold War NATO. When will the economic superpower of the E.U. take over deterrence of a Soviet Empire shrunken into the Olympic-cheating Russian Federation?
Trump and his tariffs seem unlikely to be or have the answers to these strategic quandaries, but his very election and confounding policies may be signs that the antique post-war cart is falling apart.
5
@Son of the Sun
With the increasing beligerance of North Korea, and China's increased military spending, and the military island bases in the South China Sea, Japan has opted to rekindle its military with more naval ships and renewed developement in fighter aircraft. Rumor has it that, the NorthrupGrumman F-23 fighter, that lost their bid against the LockheedMartin F-22, may come out of storage as a high-tech choice for Japan's air capabilities.
Thus, an arms race in Asia seems all but certain. And our alliance with Japan is now more necessary than ever before.
1
Is the rests of the world "cheating and taking advantage" of the US.
It was admitted that developping coutries needed tariffs to protect themeselves against the competition developping counties.
Since we need tariifs, have we become a undervelopped county, unable to compete?
But how can it be that, execept from China possible abuses, the rest of the world, EU, Canad, Mexico, etc ,who should be as abused by China as the US, have not rersorted to tariffs, at least not as intensely as the US,
Why has Trump given up on the World Trade Organization?
Are all its participants and the whole world against the US?
Are we in a defensive position as the URSS was some decades ago,?
Are we producing "Lada"s cars, or deficient products as recently Boeing, or too expensives because of billionnaires and GAFA greed?
Is our "democratic" society is in fact "ploutocratic" societey, at least partly responsible for this sad state of affairs.
And are Trump "policies" going to make them better???
4
The problem is the tariffs will punish China but that will not stop intellectual property theft. Chinese hackers will continue to steal trade secrets. Chinese companies will make illegal copies of patented and copyrighted material. And China will not open it's economy to US business the way we would like it. Tariffs have never done those things. Tariffs are a lose lose proposition when it comes to economies. They force out efficient producers of goods in favor of the inefficient. The global supply chain will reorient itself and iPhones will now be made in Malaysia at higher cost. Apple gets less revenue (America loses). US consumers pay high prices (America loses). In China the workers at Foxconn start making Huawei phones and selling them to African nations (China wins). You can't get back the manufacturing jobs that were lost this way because the more that they come back the fewer goods and services consumers can afford to buy - the overall economy shrinks and taxes effectively rise. Sorry.
4
China is not a free nation with free enterprise, but its ideology is centralized whatever is in China’s best interests and cheat if necessary and so Trump is right.
Mr. Trump is also threatening to raise
tariffs on cars, parts and other products
imported from EU and Japan. It has
been postponed for six months. With
China it is stealing intellectual property.
China pays $27.5 Billion in royalties
for IP to other countries. could
someone be specific about what IP
has been stolen? Any facts check?
Patent infringement is common among
US companies too. Apple just settled
with Qualcom. Apple and Samsung
have been fighting patent issues since
a long time. Many other companies
engage in such legal action. so if tariffs
are justified because China cheats,
why tariffs on EU and Japan? They cheat
too. This means whole world cheat.
Only USA and Mr. Trump don't cheat?
6
Actually Trump is illegally imposing a tax on the American people without going through Congress.
8
What kind of economics are they teaching at Wharton? It appears, from Trump's economic comments, that I learned more from my Econ. 101 community college course, than Trump learned at an Ivy League school.
10
So Trumpsky gave you a tax cut. He is now taking it back via tariffs.
And Trumpsky knows little of history and economics. I am sure that some of us remember (us older ones) GATT and the Kennedy round where tariffs were cut and trade agreements were constructed. So now one clown is about to make AMERICA UN-GREAT. I thought REPUBLICANS were for free trade and may the best man win.
6
I think he is trying to find a way to pay for the tax breaks he gave to the wealthy. Let China pay for them. The only problem is, the American farmers and people are paying for it in the end.
6
I am not a Trump supporter but I was ashamed for the NYT here: “And he has grown more insistent in his claims that it is the nation’s trading partners, not American consumers, that bear the brunt of the costs from what amounts to a tax increase on imports. No evidence supports that.”
No evidence???? We currently see a limited impact of the tariffs which is made clear in other NYT articles which mention that the supply chain and corporate profits have eaten the majority of the tariffs up to now. So there is obviously at least some evidence. Please try to remove opinion and sentiment from the article and have an open mind that gets to facts and numbers.
For me tariffs present a trade off. Do we support a tax that incentivizes companies from moving production from one of our most unreliable and temperamental nationalistic rivals to the US or other countries or do we support lower prices in the short term for more risks to our entire economic or even national system later. Trump's behavior as president is often unpresidential but he is correct in pushing for this
2
@Jorge R
You cite only short term absorption (by supply chain and corporate profits) of the price effect of tariffs. Unless the supply chain and the corporations involved are all trade counter parties (and mostly they are not), even the short term impacts US companies and thus American workers, albeit indirectly and not through a change in the price of consumer goods.
Long term, however, the supply chain and corporations adjust, and the pricing is passed on to the consumer. Period.
So the Times is correct - there is no evidence that foreign trade partners [in the long term] absorb the tariffs. None.
6
@Jorge R
Exactly how does a tariff (NOT a tax as you state) make a company move production to another country? Isn't it just easier for them to look to other markets? It would take several years to find another location, construct a facility and train a workforce - at minimum - just to see to the US. Given the rise of consumerism in Africa, it's not hard to see how the US will be left behind.
What Trump believes about tariffs is based on ideological fervor not on a careful and intelligent analysis of the complexities of global trade and the interconnected world economy.
It is simplistic and dangerous. It is amazing that our country would allow such an unqualified man with a track record of multiple bankruptcies and business failures to make any important economic and trade decisions. It is mind boggling and against our national interests.
44
Since we know that tariffs are paid, not by foreign shippers, but by American importers of foreign-made goods, maybe we could be excused for thinking that the reduction in corporate taxes is offset by tariffs that primarily affect the main recipients of the tax cuts.
1
@DMH
The tariffs get passed through to the consumer, who pays higher prices for the very same goods purchased prior to the tariffs..
In addition US manufacturers raise their prices to match the new higher prices being charged for the imported goods. The owners of the US manufacturers keep the extra "free money." So they get a tax break AND extra profits.
17
The price of Chinese made large screen TVs has been coming down and down for the past few years. A 25% tariff probably equates to about half that on the retail price. I can buy a 70" screen for $800. Would $900 put me off if I wanted one? I doubt it; and if it did I'd probably either go with the 65" TV or wait another few months for the price to come down to $800, tariff included.
This will of course be another of Trump's "Promises made, promises kept" boasts. What he promised to do was to revitalize American production through tariffs. Raising tariffs to be a tax on the consumer is hardly a promise kept.
10
This is an interesting article that shows how Trump’s mindset is dictated by his own personal loss. Given his mental state, it is not surprising. Tariffs in 80’ and current time have different impacts. The World economy is so much more intertwined that Trump’s tariffs on China and the many other countries will hurt the US economy. US is and will be isolated for many years to come.
35
@Chris Yes, his personal loss.......that piano really meant a lot to him.
@Kailas. assume that's sarcasm? It's not the piano that means anything to Trump, it's owning it so someone else couldn't. He did not "win" the piano. Everything is a zero-sum game to him. And, for Trump, the only way to deal with not winning, is blame, attack, undermine. There is 50 years of his behavior/methods documented.
3
Guess what. The US won in the 1980s vs Japan
2
@Wayne, That the US won in the 80's might well be true, today the world economies are much more intertwined than they were in the 1980's. Because of Trump's isolationism, the US is losing its lead on the world stage, there are many more countries looking to one another for partnerships to replace the US. This will not end well for the US.
20
@Wayne
The Japanese paid crazy money for real estate in NY, and Donnie could not compete. That upset him.
Their economy went into a stagnant period. Their population aged. They had internal real estate prices that were so high that they were "galactically stupid."
Maybe "Japan LOST" rather than "we won."
5
China does not have an election in 2020. The people of China are just beginning to rise out of poverty. You think their leaders aren't saying to them: Bearing a little pain now will pay off down the road? Remember "You will win so much you will get tired of all the winning"? Higher prices, lower agricultural sales and prices, paying for the trade war, and watching your 'tax cut' disappear all feel like winning, huh? While the rich and corporations just sit back and watch their wealth and profit grow. And if this feels good, Trump will throw in a $2 trillion infrastructure package and a war with Iran for good measure. Not to mention 30 million losing health insurance. More winning right around the corner. Then a Democrat will become president and Trump will blame that person. Oh wait. Just like with Jesus....you will hang on his second coming.
29
Thank you for this excellent and illuminating article, at least the first part.
I stopped reading it when i realized that i was spending my time on yet another explainer of Trump, master manipulator, when what I would really like to hear about is those he has manipulated. When he leaves office, we will still as a country have to live with them, and need a better understanding of how they view the world, their concerns, and how we might find common ground.
32
It is interesting that for most of this country’s history tariffs were money makers for the government. Only since WW 2 have GOP business men considered them bad.
The government bailed out Harley-Davidson years ago by enacting big tariffs on Japanese motorcycles. And Harley repaid the favor by buying machine tools from Japan rather than CNC or other American company.
18
@Rich Murphy tariffs don’t make money for the economy, they are a tax on consumers. Tariffs made the depression worse and extended the depression by years.
10
@Rich Murphy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Act
1
@Rich Murphy
See: Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.
2
This piece signals once again the dangerousness of runaway narcissism. Similar to the adage about inability to provide useful instructions to a person in the process of drowning, there is no constructive dialogue to be had with a narcissist because of the underlying flaws of narcissism itself. These involve delusion which is the most effective form of deception that being, self-deception. They also involve what the article describes as "personalization". There is no logic, reason or fact that will hold sway.
Unfortunately, there are too many narcissists for the labeled disorder of "anti-social personality" to be labeled a crime against humanity.
13
It is hard to understand why tariffs have been raised for products from Canada, Mexico, and the EU if the issue is
China. This would seem to encourage many other countries to unite against the US.
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@seattle expat
Considering how the market for soy beans, pork products, and corn and Lord knows what else (weapons? energy?) is now benefiting Russia now that China is buying from them instead of us, Trump probably meant to put the acronym MRGA on his hats but Putin told him he should wait until the Russians give him a second win.
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It's part of the Make Russia Great Again campaign to use a so-called populist in the US to drive as many wedges as possible through the heart of the Western alliance.
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