A lot of produce comes from Mexico, and some is already scarce because of drought in California. Will Trump be helping people on Foodstamps to buy vegetables?
11
@dr. c.c.
What does he care about vegetables. I betcha the only one he eats is corn. They're likely something he has to tolerate on his plate at dining situations, and will happily do without them, and he shares the same attitude towards the poor on Foodstamps.
5
@dr. c.c.
He could not care less.
3
Yep, he only eats “hamberders” followed by pie with two scoops of ice cream (his dinner guests are only allowed one scoop) along with “covfefe”.
2
This idea just occurred to me and I think this might be a little out there, but hear me out.
He has wanted the Fed to lower interest rates. He now is threatening tariffs. The Fed is now talking about lowering interest rates to stabilize the economy due to his statements. Could this be a way to get the Fed to lower interest rates and then he’d call off the tariffs?
11
I don’t think Trump planned it but no doubt he will brag about it if/when that happens.
2
@Jen That's giving him too much credit for actually being able to think something through to conclusion. At least that's how I am leaning. But you could be right.
5
“Look, millions of people are flowing through Mexico,” Mr. Trump said.
Hey NYT, how about calling out the president for such an obvious exaggeration and providing some context. And you let him have the last word.
I mean, the catalyst for the tariff threat was that just over 1,000 people surrendered at the border in one incident, correct? It would take about three years of similar events every day just to reach 1 million.
2
Why not just fine/incarcerate "employers" who break the law by hiring cheap, non-U.S. labor- law-protected, undocumented workers in the first place to dry-up the jobs so they self-deport? The Republican supporting U.S. Chamber of Commerce is afraid to lose these workers due to employers not having to fairly pay them minimum wage, overtime, a 40 hour work week, etc..
4
@logic Come to Virginia. The chicken plants are staffed by immigrant labor. Americans don't want to do the work. They would shut down the entire industry. I doubt that our paid off politicians would allow that to happen.
1
Imagine this for a moment. Imagine that Trump declared the attacks from foreign governments on our elections, on our system of governance, as found in the investigations, and even admitted by Trump ('it happened but there was no collusion on our part in it'), were an emergency and the same amount of energy and effort being put into combating those attacks as there is into people coming into the country illegally. Or even if the effort was split 50/50 between them. Imagine that.
One could argue over which is the greater threat. Additional people coming into the country or turning the Constitution and our way of life a quaint artifact to read about - if you are allowed to. Is America still America with extra people in it? Is Is America still America where the principles and freedoms that were established by our founding fathers and defended for generations are forsaken and abandoned to the desires of foreign power and oligarchical control? Which is America in name only?
The justification for the tariffs that Trump makes up require that he declares there is an national emergency. Luckily for him he can declare anything to be an emergency. Thus the end justifies the means. The question is why an attack of individuals is considered an emergency and an attack by the entities of foreign powers is not an emergency or even a concern that needs addressing?
Why can't Trump address both problems?
1
How opposed to the tariffs are Senate Republicans? Perhaps Speaker Pelosi should ask Mitch. There may be a deal here. Just saying. I mean, it would solve a lot of problems.
Is Marco up for reelection in 2020? Is Lindsey Graham? Senators who once opposed Trump now praise him and cuddle with him. Shame on them for selling out America. Vote them out even if you have to vote for doorknobs. At least doorknobs can't actively harm you - you have to run into them to get an owie.
6
@Angelsea
As far as the Senate is concerned, Republicans will have to defend 22 seats in 2020 -- Lindsey Graham is up for reelection, as is Mitch McConnell.
Marco Rubio is not up for reelection or a declared presidential candidate...at least not for now.
5
@Mark American greed is the source of these imbalances. People want cheap goods so they can keep their wages in their pockets for more cheap beer and vacations in Cancun. Corporations want cheap goods so they can mark them up more and still appear to be charging less than they would if they were made in the USA. It's a shell game all of America has become expert at, especially Trump. And still we complain that we've lost jobs and can't compete with cheap labor and immigrants are stealing our jobs. America lives in denial, denying we are the cause of our own misery, that our own greed and inefficiency drove us to the precipice we now face. You can't have it both ways. Our country's name is the United States of America, not Lotus Land. If you want a better nation, Work for it. Don't expect politicians and other grifters to do it for you.
5
Trump asked his gofer Giuliani to ask Putin, who approved Trump's tariff on Mexican imports.
McConnell asked his wife Chao to ask Xi Jinping, who approved a Senate vote against Trump's tariffs on Mexican imports.
It's a Mexican standoff.
8
California is the example of Dem economics. 11% of the U S population with 34% of the welfare recipients, 25% of the homeless. Lead the nation in HS dropouts least home ownership highest taxes. Sanctuary failure state
3
@LiberalsRaHatefulLot As usual. you "cherry picked" the stats to make CA look bad. California has one of the fastest growing economies and job growth. It is number one in agriculture and is a net contributor to the federal coffers.
13
It seems as if Trump is really trying to destroy the economy on purpose, rather than just being incompetent. If he goes through with these Mexican tariffs, I'll believe it's on purpose because this is just plain crazy. The only question I have now, is it just out of plain maliciousness or is he being directed?
8
Listen to the difference in tone between Trump and cowardly Senate Republicans like John Thune. Thune, speaking in the passive voice, is only able to posit his “guess” that Congress “will want to be heard from” as Trump continues to run roughshod over US interests and Congress’ constitutional prerogatives. Trump, on the other hand, knows that his quivering Republicans will obey no matter what he tells them to do, and is able to definitively smack down their “foolish” fantasies of disobedience.
2
Most people seem not to understand Trump tactical moves. Trump knows businesses and corporations control politicians both in Mexico and the US.
By threatening a 25% tariffs, Trump is making sure that pressure would be put on politicians in both capitals to find a solution to the crisis. Especially Mexican businesses that don't want to lose their share of the US market.
I predict that illegal immigration will decline by more than 50% by the end of the 2019.
5
@Chaks
I respectfully disagree. Most people understood enough about Trump's tactical moves not to vote for him in 2016.
And that includes the majority of voters in New York City.
11
@N. Smith
Fortunately there were enough votes elsewhere to sink Hillary.
2
@AZPurdue
The fact that you say "Fortunately" merely connotes your subjectivity on the matter.
But that doesn't change the fact that Hillary not only garnered the majority of votes in New York, but the popular vote as well.
And if you need a reminder of what managed to "sink" her, start with The Electoral College, Citizen's United, Voter suppression, Republican gerrymandering, FOX news, phony Facebook accounts and of course, Russian interference.
That's hardly the hallmark of a healthy Democracy.
9
I would suppose that all you people condemning him want things to stay exactly the same, 30 plus years of inaction by ANY administration. I am kinda getting the feeling that it was all lip service, that they don't really don't want any changes to be made, they're making plenty of money off "The poor victims of gang violence". And you guys keep throwing up the, "What about the children being separated..
.", well, don't put your children in these kind of situations.
3
Boris Roberts, you should educate yourself on immigration. if you did, you would know that, thanks to tens of billions spent from 2007-10 we reduced illegal crossings now on the southern border which peaked in 2000 and dropped to very low levels historically beginning in 2007. You would also know that mosr illegal entry is due to people flying in and overstaying their visas, something Trump has ignored. Now the problem is Central Americans legally seeking asylum a problem Trump has exacerbated. Otherwise, Trump has failed to address immigration by legislation even when both Houses were GOP for two years.
6
I've always known that Trump is a bully.
What I'm only just now realizing is that that is all that he is. That's all he knows how to do. His solution to every problem in his life, his business, and now in government is to bully someone else into fixing it.
He can't come up with actual solutions to the problem at the border, North Korea, Iran, his interactions with the Democratic House, his interactions with the Republican Senate, the Russia investigation (and threat to our democracy), trade issues with China, or anything else.
His answer to each and every situation is the bluster, threaten, turn red in the face and stomp his feet.
The only weapon he's found that he can wield with seeming impunity (even though it is a power granted to Congress, not the President), is tariffs, so that has become the one and only weapon in his arsenal. It is his solution to everything.
In the end, Donald J. Trump is, and is *only*, a bully.
6
The lexicon of the words in the President's foreign policy playbook is thin. It comes down to bully, punish and/or tariff (unless you are a preferred strongman). Stronger economies resist and fight back. Smaller economies must navigate through the President's ego which involves giving the appearance of acquiescing to his demands so he can claim victory. These smaller economies will long remember how they were treated. Meanwhile lower and mid level consumers and producers here will watch their tax breaks melting away with higher costs. The treasury will take in tariff money. The people will foot the bill.
3
@richard wiesner9
Trump is lazy. He won't work with Congress or the relevant governments to solve a complicated problem. So, he uses one of the few presidential powers he has in this arena. Tariffs on Mexican imports to dissuade immigrants from Central America? Classic Trump.
1
There has always been a strong anti immigration wing in the GOP. Bush or Obama tried and fail to pass immigration reform. Opposition to immigration existed before Trump and has only grown since Trump took office. Any GOP senator who will dare oppose Trump will have hard times winning his/her primaries. Illegal immigration is a subject that matters to GOP primaries voters, and the reason Trump is president.
Trump has politicians in Washington where he wants them to be. If tariffs go up to 25%, the donors class who control our politicians ( Democrats & Republicans) could push them to pass immigration reform. Most of them have too much to lose if tariffs go up to 25%.
And businesses in Mexico that don't want to lose their US market share will pressure their government to go after central Americans who up to now are able to travel easily through Mexico. Mexicans businesses will not risk losing their livelihood because of some illegal immigrants from Central America.
For those mocking Trump, I think you are making a mistake, the same mistake politicians in Washington and around the country made when they understimated him back in 2016.
If Mr Trump manages to reduce illegal immigration by a wide margin, he could be difficult to beat in 2020.
2
@Chaks Opposition to illegal mass migration has zero to do with legal sane controlled immigration
1
This article shares the front page (digital edition) with Trump's offer of bilateral trade deal to the UK.
The UK, in light of the experience of Mexico and Canada, would be foolish in the extreme to enter into an agreement with this president.
And those of us concerned with the Atlantic alliance would be nuts to permit such an agreement to be made, for if it were to be broken, a la Mexico and Canada, that vital security alliance might be threatened.
The issues at stake here are momentous and deserve, as Mueller said, the attention of every American.
7
Republican Congressmen (yes, they're virtually all men) appear to show some backbone at the moment but I'm sure it will fade quickly when they realize they have no more influence over this unpredictable, irrational President than the Democrats have. Trump sees them all as his tools, regardless of party. At least the Democrats have the courage to sustain their opposition.
2
@dan Courage of corruption and irrational Trump hate is a criminals courage
20
That’s the number of Republican senators that need flip on Trump. I know this is still unlikely given how things have been going.
But a general tariff on all Mexican goods is probably the riskiest thing Trump has done so far to test his support in the Senate.
I’m willing to bet that the tariffs would never even get to 25% before we start hearing serious rumbling in the senate about his support wavering (even if just threats).
We should all remember that whenever this chapter of America comes to an end, it will not be in a controlled and gradual fashion. The dark swan collapse will creep up on everyone, supporters or not. That’s why collapse crisis are crisis in the first places. Nobody gets time to get out gracefully.
3
Well, the GOP just said they have enough votes to override a veto. Finding a spine. Just imagine them cowering, waiting for the mean tweets.
Donald will now spend the next 24 hours raging, tweeting etc from the U.K. and Ireland. Hope it ruins his stay at his golf course in Ireland.
2
The good news...every time I worry about 2020--Trump makes some boneheaded policy move that assures me, no matter what some pundits are saying---he will be gone.
2
"...they will be paid..".' Yesiree, step right up the the tent of the carnival barker, a skilled grifter and con artist as he successfully convinces his adoring supporter that Mexico, China and any other target of his ire will pay the tariffs.
Yet, how many of those supporters, the blue collar workers who were overjoyed at getting fatter tax refund checks are willing to give up those windfalls to pay the tariffs, yes, a tax we the consumer, rich, poor, middle class, retired?
Yes, there is movement in Mexico in attempts to slow the march of the disadvantaged to our border.
However, what will the Mexican government do should those who are employed in industries that furnish parts and finished goods to this country find demand is down and the workers are without employment and head to our border?
Simple economics state there could be fallout caused by the "president".
But, we will see if Brokeahontus' theory proves out.
@Frank. Won’t you come down and I’ll take you to the border? You can then make your own judgement based on reality, not propagandistic narratives from either side. Yes, Trump and many employers should tell how many illegals they exploit. While we are at it, let’s find out all illegals employed by the companies our beloved democrats invest on. What a story that would be. But the real issue is Mexico enabling the human tragedy of traffickers getting people to the US. I guess the need for cheap labor is more important. Someone is making money on this.
4
Imagine how all of Trump’s bloviating must sound to people whose ‘lingua franca’ is the English version of the English language.
A “phenomenal” deal? That’s about as substantial as a quantum leap.
1
What do you have with a group of Republicans not in favor of tariffs for Mexico? A probably yes vote for the President's threat. This spineless group of yes men have been with him all the way. What makes one think they'll grow a backbone on this one?
2
Pay attention UK, and any other nations looking to deal!
Just a few months have passed since the "tremendous" USMCA was signed. No matter! Our President has a tool he just can't use enough. Tariffs for you if you don't act the way he demands.
Can you, would you trust in the USA?
UK, better not install those windmills in the water outside his golf course!
2
lets see if the price of a barrel of oil rises from say 50 dollars to 75 dollars, the haven't we all figured out that the price at the pumps will also go up. its the same regarding these tariffs, if the flat screen television that Walmart buys from China goes up 25 percent or more because of the tariffs, guess what Walmart is going to pass the increase onto us the consumer. come on people its fairly easy math. Tariffs are like a tax, and we always pay the taxes at some point.
9
oil cost increase stays in the US
Many of the electronic devices we use (including televisions) are assembled in Mexico. Many car parts are made in Mexico. Carrier moved some of its furnace manufacturing from Indianapolis to Mexico in 2017. fact is, a good deal of industrial manufacturing of goods intended for the U.S. is done in Mexico.
In effect, we will be taxing ourselves if these tariffs are enacted. It is unusual (although not unheard of) to use economic policy to force changes in another country's social or governance policies, but I believe they are called sanctions in that case, not tariffs.
is there anyone in the White House who understands how tariffs work?
17
Tariffs are taxes. Consumers will pay - but who will receive that extra money we are paying? Ivanka? Don Jr? Mitch?
11
@RP
Not to worry. Federal finances are in such red ink due to the Republican tax cuts on corporations that every little bit helps. But tariffs are a very bad deal for average Americans. It's a regressive tax. It's a tax increase on the many while the few (wealthy) get big tax cuts.
2
specifically, how much will your taxes go up? isn't it worth it to pay union labor in this country?
Trump was elected to shake things up..and he's shaking things up. What's the problem? This is why the Republican base elected him. Republican senators created this situation by villainizing Mexico for all these years, now they're stuck between their base and their wealthy business owning donors. Personally I'm enjoying watching them try to squirm their way out of this situation. But at this point Trump has the base firmly in hand Republicans will back down and let him have his way
7
@M Indeed. And those cheering masses that adore Trump apparently will not mind having their increased take-home pay that the tax scam reform provided used to pay another tax.
3
There is another reason that the Congressional Republicans won't stand up against Mr. Trump's tariffs -- despite their prior free-market and pro-business positions.
The tariffs are a backdoor means to get a national sales tax. The Republicans have always wanted a tax code that collected more from the poor and middle class, and less from the wealthy. They already have their income tax cuts for the wealthy in place. The sales tax (tariff) revenue completes the rest of their vision.
Don't believe me? Paul Ryan proposed a VAT-like national sales tax before he retired.
20
@MidtownATL
We all know the economic genius that was Rep. Paul Ryan.
1
There are many farmers who supported Trump although they didn’t want tariffs. However, many of them are willing to endure economic pain in order to have a better long term outcome on the behalf of the country— at least in regard to China, per the NYT. How they will feel about Mexico— and the cheap flow of labor from our Southern neighbors that makes so much of their business possible— May be different but I wouldn’t bet on it. It especially is demoralizing because Trump supporters, and I mean his base, are willing to suffer to hurt other people and promote the USA economically, but not to combat climate change, which will similarly (but permanently) cause widespread pain and economic ruin. Perhaps the Green New Deal, should we be able to put the brakes on this horrific nightmare we are living, will actually be the true successor of the original WPA.
3
@Farina
I used to have some degree of respect for farmers.
Just read the Mustafa Akyol piece on Arabic numbers. How delightfully ironic that the word "tariff" derives from Arabic!
@Carol P
The tariff we don't like it.
Rock K St.
Rock Penn. Ave
Well no problem for me. I’m not buying anything new. Live alone and don’t eat that much. But too bad for the rest of you.
4
All of this is just for show to con the Trump-cultists into thinking that he cares and is "doing something" about "the problems".
You got to give the man that he is a brilliant at one thing; the Con. He promise to waste $45 billion on a wall, presumably to stop the flow of people and drugs. Yet by the time it is build migrants will be able to take a $5 drone taxi ride over it and continue their journey without losing a step. This way Trump can both have cheep slave labor for his resorts and golf courses - and get the votes of gullible people hating brown people. Next step he "punish Mexico" for not doing what we in the US have never been able to do - stop the flow of illegal aliens from where they are to where they want to be.
In the mean time the one and only thing that will stop people from entering this country - ensuring that their opportunities here are no better than where they come from - is not being done or even discussed. Remember he wants the issue he doesn't want it solved. If Trump and the people who hire these people were forced to do an electronic submission of: name, photo, SS#, and a fingerprint for anybody they hire - and given huge fines or jail time for violations; the problem would be solved. Instead Trump has taken away all help to the countries they come from (making their situation even more desperate) to ensure a steady increase in the desperate refugees that he can use for his political exploitation.
6
Its going to be a Big Win Win for the American People/ there is not one product from Mexico that We can not make here in the U.S.A. better and for less with A.I. and Automation, We should have 100 percent control of our borders and it starts beyond our borders and those Nations need to get their House in order so that THEIR Citizens do not need or want to Flee to somewhere they Are Not Welcomed or Wanted!
3
@There for the grace of A.I. goes I
Where do we go to get US grown coffee for better and cheaper than Mexican?
1
@There for the grace of A.I. goes I Apparently you have not been keeping up concerning the issues facing our manufacturing base.
1
Why is the “President” punishing US citizens with higher cost of goods?
9
@Dan The question should also contain this: Why are U.S. citizens so gullible to con artists like Trump?
2
The voter will not forget that djt is the REPUBLICAN'S president. He represents the republican policy on all matters.
The voter must remember that they have the power of the ballot box to stop this republican nightmare and get back to sanity. Kick the republicans where is hurts, the ballot box.
Register, march, vote. Take your neighbor to the polls. Vote absentee. Over-flow the ballot boxes with anti-republican ballots. These parasites that want to control your wombs, your wages, your ability to support your family. Remember who gave a trillion dollars to the rich while you got a smaller refund check.
Vote against the corrupt republican liars. Vote. Vote. Vote.
27
It's simply amazing to this Canadian that Trump and his base still don't know how tariffs actually work. They have been told numerous times, yet they persist in their belief that the target country pays them.
If Trump does know, he is treating his base like idiots.
26
@Canadian Roy
Weally?
You never been South of the border?
These Americans know how an automobile engine works BUT they don't know how their government works. or is supposed to work.
2
This guy doesn't even understand tariffs!!!!! Literally, he defined them wrong. The fact that he talks like he understands tariffs when he can't even say words like "origin" or spell accomplishment ("achomlishment") is pathetic. He can't even close an umbrella. He has no fine motor skills and can't use big words without a coach. It's time the RNC buck up and own up to this mess they created, though I doubt they well. I mean, they have so many "achomlishments"... why stop now? It's not like it's our future or anything....
7
Pandering to jingoists. It's a theme for the Dear Leader.
1
Well, he should know about foolish.
2
Be ready to pay more at the store because Trump has found a way to keep his cult voting for him. We've got to get him out of there before he ruins everybody's life by his ill conceived inventions that are the only way he's found to get votes out of equally ignorant supporters. He rules by the gift of Electoral College fiat. Now he's inside the tent just ruining and mutating our institutions of Justice with what amounts of henchmen intent on overturning Justice and decency to prop him up. Begone ...its the overwhelming consensus.
9
Anybody else sick of hearing Kennedy of Louisiana spout his cornpone whenever he is asked to opine. Let's see if he has any backbone re tariffs on Mexico. Let the Trump Criminal Activity Investigation begin. He has gotten away with too much for too long.
14
Why don't the Senators just pack their bags and go home. They are toothless tigers anyway and have accomplished nothing that benefits the country in years.
14
Tariffs are a blunt instrument wielded by an unsophisticated buffoon who would rather bully his allies than seek a nuanced resolution to an intractable problem. Trump has neither the time, patience nor the acumen to seek a real solution. But it feeds his base and that’s all he really cares about.
15
This guy is a economic menace. Very disappointed there aren’t any real challengers for the Republican ticket. John Kasich, where are you?
14
"Toxic" Trump is at it again. Where are all his deal making skills he brags about? All he has accomplished is imposed tariffs!
This so called president is a disaster. How many days to go?
9
Do Republicans in the Senate actually care about our country or are they only about trying to hold on to power? I am ashamed of every Republican who supports Trump. Regan would have hated him and his tariffs. Time to leave the GOP... The Senate has become a swamp full of Trump critters.
13
@JLT
No, they don't care an iota about the United States of America. The GOP has been destroying all of our institutions since Newt Gingrich and have been lining their pockets all along. What we have now is the monarchy that the writers of the constitution feared.
6
Tired of the Trump "Monarchy".
Tired of poor negotiation skill masked by bullying.
Tired of Trump just slamming the US each way he can, while trying to cover it with more lies, daily.
MAGA = Make America Grossly Altered (for the worse).
We need to vote this guy out. We each need to vote, and help others to register and vote in 2020. If you think what is going on now is bad, wait until the election.
Brown Shirts, anyone? Don't be surprised.
11
@Janet
They're going to be plaid this time.
And just like the last time when those guys ruined khaki for everyone, they're going to ruin plaid for everyone.
I shot the tariff, but I didn’t tank the economy...
6
@Daniel
Oh What's that?
The walls are falling down?
You tanked the economy
But I swear it was in self defense
Regardless of political leaning, one has to admit illegal immigration is up and it’s political ramifications easy for politicians to use for their own selfish purposes. It is a major problem Mexico can help solve for both countries, but has been reluctant to do as the new government hypocritically wants to project an aura of brotherhood and respect for human rights. Still, as the Mexican government and society as a whole protests against the impunity of those who break their laws, they have no qualms to allow those migrants intent on breaking US laws to freely enter the country and pass Mexican territory as the move to the US border. Only economic pressure will motivate Mexico to tighten their legendary strict immigration laws. The tariffs, even if ultimately paid by US citizens, are cheaper than paying for the wanton disregarding of our laws.
4
@George Hawkeye
What proof do you have that immigration has increased? No facts have been released or noted that it has. It is Donny telling you it has, but does not support. We will all pay for this. Maybe Trump should discuss how many employees he has working for him that are illegal?
3
@George Hawkeye
In fact, it's not.
https://www.pewhispanic.org/2019/06/03/facts-on-u-s-immigrants/ There were about 12 million illegal immigrants here in 2007, the highest number in the last two decades. The number has been declining since then, down to about 10.7 million.
3
@George Hawkeye
One does not have to admit any such thing.
https://www.pewhispanic.org/2019/06/03/facts-on-u-s-immigrants/ There were about 12 million illegal immigrants here in 2007, the highest number in the last two decades. The number has been declining since then, down to about 10.7 million.
3
Trump is not an economic genius by anyone's standards. All he understands are taxes and tariffs. Thus these are the economic tools he uses to try and invoke change or achieve his political agenda. To paraphrase...If all you know how to use is a hammer, everything looks like a nail..
4
@JB And he understands neither.
2
We need a Robin Hood. Trump is taxing the poor to pay the rich. The tariffs are a negative tax return. Someone has to make up the deficit caused by the tax breaks to the wealthy.
10
@Barbara
Compare the tax tables...or find someone who can help you. Taxes went down for all.
He may just take it to the brink as it would get attention (he likes that). Getting the Senate mad enough to override him on this tariff threat could be the way forward for all the rest. He really can't be trusted with this power unlike most all other Presidents.
4
Gosh, why does Trump put the Repubs. in the Senate on the spot?? Making them choose between their loyalty to him, and the costs to their supporters is so unfair...
4
Trump wouldn't know the truth if God came down to earth and told Trump what truth is. As anyone who has done business or had a personal relationship with him would attest. Lying is all he knows how to do. As the leader or the Free World he flunks miserably. He's got to go before we lose our country altogether.
3
He needs to be impeached, or the 25th amendment called upon. He's getting out of hand. Completely out of hand. Time to put an end to this. The only way he knows how to preside, is as a volatile dictator, rallying for headlines and seeking dominance by devious manipulation. Ultimately he's just gaming the system. Likely just to line his and his cronies pockets. He's got absolutely nothing to lose by wreaking havoc. But we do. We've got everything to lose.
8
Tariffs have NOTHING to do with immigration.
WHY do Republicans in Congress support this president who obviously has no idea what to do about immigration problems or how to manage trade between Mexico, Canada, and the US?
8
Mexico should promise to stop illegal immigrants as soon as US stops importing illegal drugs (to great detriment for Mexico). Both are clearly things that governments cannot do much about. If we cannot stop illegal drugs from flowing into (and throughout) our country how do we expect Mexico to stop illegal immigrants from entering its southern border and moving up to its north?
9
It's satisfying to see Senator Rubio, ever the consistent purveyor of good deeds, fall right in line behind this absurdly destructive policy of imposing a new tax on the American people to assuage yet another spur-of-the-moment presidential twitter tantrum.
5
Regarding "millions of people... flowing through Mexico"
https://www.pewhispanic.org/2019/06/03/facts-on-u-s-immigrants/
There were about 12 million illegal immigrants here in 2007, the highest number in the last two decades. The number has been declining since then, down to about 10.7 million.
1
@don salmon It is still 10.7 million and that is a large enough number to be concerned about.
@Margo
Margo, I didn’t post to assess whether it was enough or too much or too little. I simply posted as a reference for many commenters who have been claiming that Trump’s numbers (millions coming in) are correct.
Can you at least acknowledge that Trump is not presenting accurate facts?
trump's in Britain to build a trade deal.
While there he announces tariffs on another major trade partner for not enforcing the trump political agenda within their sovereign nation.
Is the British government Tory Party arrogant and ignorant enough to engage in a trade deal with trump? Is it possible for post-Brexit Britain to survive any trade agreement with the US?
4
Well, after they crash out of the EU with no trade deal the Brits will only have one of two choices for their primary trading partner: the US or China.
The objective of this tariff is to make Mexico to stop facilitating illegal immigrants from reaching the US border. Trump has a very good chance to achieve his goal. There will be economic benefits as well. When supply chains leave china, we want them to come back to the US, not to other countries like Mexico or Vietnam. By showing the unpredictability of the tariffs, corporations will think twice to move their supply chains to any place outside of the US.
5
@smith. Please re-read your own post. Arguments should be based on demonstrable facts. You have presented none. Why not?
1
Why does Trump want to make me pay more for all the goods that have Mexican components, and for the organic produce imported here from Mexico?
Does he not understand that tariffs only hurt American companies and consumers?
Or does he just not care?
Impeachment proceedings should start immediately, and let's hope that the GOP senators will turn against him now.
6
This tariff doesn't have anything to do with commerce or promoting industry. It's an economic sanction that should framed as war powers, not trade policy.
5
This is more or less a tax increase on the middle class and lower classes. If we can't source what we buy from Mexico elsewhere then the suppliers will raise the price by 5%.
Since this economic boom is largely fueled by tax cuts, this will dampen the mood as the middle and lower classes who do most of the spending on the goods coming from Mexico.
American companies who compete against imported goods from Mexico will immediately raise prices by 5%. I guess on the positive side the deficit will go down as there will be a tax revenue increase.
Maybe secretly Trump doesn't want to be re-elected. Now that he has made given his kids connections to the British Royals maybe he thinks they are set. I am sure that there are a lot of grifters and hangers on around the royals who have access to money to spend with the Trumps.
1
Trump is laying down a precedent that will, one day, allow a future POTUS to take decisive and much need action against a much larger threat to national security and economy: climate change.
Tariff on carbon imports, tariff on carbon exports, tapping the grotesquely immense military budget to build a renewable energy infrastructure for the 21st century.
He doesn't know it yet, but Trump will "Make America Great Again"...some day in hopefully not so distant future.
3
Earlier today I was thinking about how even though the President may hire sycophants to surround himself with giving only the advice he wants to hear that our constitution calls for a separate, elected body, that is charge with providing the president with advice and consent when it agrees.
This body is the US Senate that has abrogated its constitutional responsibility and has become another of the yes-men (and women) that Trump has surrounded himself with.
I read that Trump is unilaterally imposing taxes (tariffs) on Mexico and tell the Senate not intervene.
Article I, Section. 8 of the Constitution:
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
Trump is installing himself as king and Congress is going along with it and the Senate is fully enabling it.
4
This is not a tariff, it’s another Trump tax on the middle class. Let’s start calling things by their names.
10
Tariffs on China is one thing - but even a relatively small 5% tariff on Mexican made goods is really going to throw sand into the gears of current US commerce, starting with the auto industry.
5
Did Trump just put a tax on Canadians also? If a Canadian manufacturer, or supermarket, has goods from Mexico being trucked up through the US, are those now getting hit with a tariff because there is no way to send them through on a truck and not guarantee they will offload in the US?
1
Mexico can do several things to stop the flow of illegal aliens and asylum seekers at the U.S. border.
1. Sign a formal Safe Third Country agreement like the one between Canada and the U.S. This will allow the U.S. to return all asylum seekers to Mexico. They will be required to make their asylum request in Mexico.
Once this enforced, the number of asylum seekers will drop drastically, because most just want to go to the U.S. for economic opportunity.
2. Strengthen Mexico’s southern border. This will involve a reinforcement and expansion of physical barriers in high traffic areas as well as increased border control personnel.
3. Establish detention facilities in southern Mexico to hold illegal border crossers, including asylum seekers, and add judges to quickly handle their cases.
4. Restrict the movement of illegal aliens along highways and railways through extensive patrolling and fines for transporting them.
Once these are implemented, there will also be no need for tariffs or a U.S./Mexico border fence beyond the 280 miles requested by the Customs and Border Patrol.
Mexico will choose to be a full partner with the U.S., gaining the economic benefits, but also doing their fair share in drastically limiting the entry and migration of illegal aliens through their country.
We should welcome this full partnership.
4
I’ve got a much simpler and better idea for stopping illegal immigration. Enormous fines for any US employer found hiring them. Sure, that would cause some serious pain to employers (like the Trump golf resorts) but just think of all the money that would be collected and go into the US Treasury!
1
As I'm straight up middle class, I saw my tax return decreased significantly this year. My accountant told me, "oh, you probably received a bit more in your paycheck... you know, 15 or 16 dollars per check, and that added up to what you would have seen in your return."
I did the math, it didn't add up. I didn't feel like I got a tax break at all this year.
26
Having given a massive tax cut to corporations and the wealthiest, trump plans to tax consumers with tariffs. Some in the middle-class saw a very, very modest tax reduction, which was often offset by loss of deductions. Trickle down economics has never worked, and it is not working now. There is trouble ahead...unless you in the donor class.
25
@MHW
Fine. Let's manage the nation just like Chicago and Illinois have been managed! :)
@AZPurdue: That's your answer. Really? Sad.
While this is a stupid publicity stunt intended to mobilize Trumpist forces against real Americans, it will also cause irrevocable damage to those of us who aren't millionaires claiming to be billionaires as well.
57
I have no idea how anyone can still be proud to be an American. We are the dumbest nation on the planet and proud of it.
114
@Mike, pride goeth before the fall. America should be grateful to Trump for saving it from that then.
@Mike
Those Americans who didn't vote for this president have every reason to be proud.
5
The proudest live in Red States that are subsidized by Blue States while complaining about "Big government".
10
Anyone waiting for congressional Republicans to grow a spine and stand up to the foolhardy strategies initiated by this out of control adolescent President will be disappointed. This latest tariff threat against one of our largest trading partners will do little to stem desperate people trying to gain access to the only first world economy available to them geographically. Small minds revert to the same strategy again and again regardless of outcome. Heaven forbid we look more deeply into the causes of this ongoing migration north. Could we please find a functioning adult to head the our government?
39
@Dennis W
You are absolutely correct. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome.
2
Many keep saying 45 hijacked the GOP, I believe this has always been the GOP yet this time they have no fear in showing their true colors.
1
Farm states: How much more of this are you going to take? He's killing your economies, destroying foreign markets and likely doesn't even realize the long-term impact of these destructive policies. As your farmers struggle to confront climate change issues -- like flooding and tornadoes keeping them out of the field during planting season -- Trump continues to benefit other grain producing nations, like Ukraine, Brazil and Argentina. How long will you blindly support him and his Republican cohorts who refuse to do their jobs in our checks-and-balances system?
54
@Kathy Chenault I don't think it's about economics for a lot of supporters. It's a backlash again liberalism, in general.
3
@Kathy Chenault
They'll just ask for more of that sweet, sweet farm bailout money. There's not as many consequences for them from the tariffs 'cus we just subsidize them.
2
@Kathy Chenault
Yep. There's never been any tornadoes or flooding until climate change. Sheesh!
1
Trump said in London that tariffs on goods from Mexico will cause the factories there to come back to the USA. I smell a campaign promise there, just like coal "coming back."
31
He won't impose the tariffs. He'll make up some idiotic reason, like that the Mexican government has promises to stop all its border under pressure from Trump and Jared and Pompeo. Then he will move on to some other self-manufactured crisis.
Time to ratchet up the squeeze on Cuba as a nuclear threat. He might suggest a military takeover of Hawaii or the Mariana Islands, or some such place.
15
@PaulB67 ... Newsflash! Hawaii is already part of the United States, and has been for the past 130 years or so. First as a territory, then as a state; and as the latter for past six or so decades.
@BD
Too true! But remember Hawaii is an island state, surrounded by a big ocean, a lot of water - it’s not a stretch to imagine Mango Mussolini isn’t aware of its status.
@David ... Yes, quite true, but apparently he is not the only one unaware of Hawaii's status.
Wasn’t it 10% a few days ago? And so much for Mexico stepping up its detention of Central Americans coming across their southern border in response to his tariffs. In the end, the plans by the Democrats to thoughtfully curb immigration will win out, and Trump will be cast into the well deserved dustbin of history, but in the mean time, expect to pay a lot more for those avocados on your dining room table!
4
“He’s serious as four heart attacks and a stroke. He’s moving forward.” {John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana].
What an apt metaphor. Four heart attacks and a stroke would leave someone dead. And Trump's tariffs will kill not only the economy but those Republicans who support them,,
17
Four heart attacks and a stroke!? That’s exactly what many American wish for tRump.
29
Tick the Texas off- even the elctoral college wont save the GOP if you do that...leading us right into a recession
8
If trump imposes tariffs on Mexico, Mexico would be crazy to ratify NAFTA 2.0.
15
The best thing about this is the fact that Trump has angered some of the members of the GOP with this idea.
Right now he's saying they're foolish but by next week they will be something worse and then maybe after that the'll be equal to Democrats.
Hopefully his royal majesty is putting nails in his coffin.
8
There you have it. Democracy is dead in America when a president, on foreign ground no less, threatens the U.S. Senate if they don't agree with him.
The timing couldn't be worse.
Not only because he's saying this before a country about to face economic hardship due to over-nationalistic Brexiteers, but they also have no idea of the impact future tariffs will have because they're too focused on anti-immigration.
The analogies between the two countries are too hard to miss.
124
This is bad, very, very bad. There is little Mexico can do to stem the flood of refugees, yes they are refugees, from trying to enter our nation. Mexico didn't cause the problem.
Consequently, the 5% tariff will soon become a 25% tariff which will be devastating to North American manufacturing and agriculture. Since NAFTA was enacted, Canada, the US and Mexico have literally merged into one gigantic hub of production. We have become each other's limbs. Not only that, but European companies manufacture in Mexico for sale in the US as well as Europe. NAFTA is a global enterprise.
These tariffs will wreck the whole thing. Producers of component parts don't have big margins. A 25% tariff, or more correctly tax, cannot be absorbed in production. All of it will be passed along to the consumer, all of it.
American manufacturing will be hit terribly hard as we use these component parts extensively. This will make European production much more competitive. Add to that, low Euro and our exports get hammered again.
Trump wants to fight China but fighting Mexico is essentially fighting ourselves. Bottom line is, Trump doesn't have the vaguest idea of what he is doing. He is so out of touch with the reality of the situation that his ability to reason must be questioned. Trump has become obsessed with the border to the point of becoming delusional.
His delusional rants will trigger a recession. People fear the unknown, they fear instability. They fear crazy.
236
@Bruce Rozenblit
Oddly enough, Wall street does not seem to care (so far). Trump has already done so many things that should have had more substantial negative impacts on the stock markets but the markets seem to not notice. Everyone seems to be under the spell of the Confidence Fairy while rational fundamentals are being ignored. When pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face is no longer enough to stave off market contraction we are going to have a financial hangover that will have us longing for 2009.
7
@arusso Printing lots of money and trillion dollar deficits have longer legs than anyone thought.
You are right, when it does crash it will hit hard.
Then Socialism will take hold in a big way.
4
Surely the Senate Republicans know this too.
Just a reminder that economic policy is currently being overseen by someone who has used bankruptcy more than a few times.
A significant number of Americans see Donald Trump as being a champion of democracy. I prefer to see it as a credit to the Founders that our Democracy was built strong enough to withstand said "champions".
112
@Mark Do you have any idea how common bankruptcy is in the business world? You may want to look into it before repeating the propaganda the fake news has been feeding you. If you had any idea how many Democrats in Washington are tied to businesses that have filed bankruptcy you would feel foolish repeating such nonsense.
8
@Ken sure, business bankruptcies are common, but the magnitude of Trump's bankruptcies put him in an entirely different league from your run of the mill varieties. His bankruptcies are enormous to the point that almost no bank in the globe will loan to him. Can you name anybody whose bankruptcies are of the magnitudes of Trump's? Can you name any "Democrat in Washington" to whom no US bank will loan $ due to their gigantic bankruptcies? You comment is like saying "lots of people get a flat tire", and that an 18 wheeler that has a blowout and goes off a bridge killing dozens is in the same category as a guy who comes out of work and sees that his tire is flat in the parking lot. No comparison.
13
Actually I don’t know how common bankruptcy is in the business world so please enlighten us. Let us know how Trump’s bankruptcies compare with the typical business man.
10
Trump lies so often that whatever he says is meaningless.
33
'Holy Guacamole, Batman; where're we gonna buy our avocados?'
20
Hey Brits! y'all watching this? Trump wants to make a trade deal with you folks.
Our apologies in advance-the United States
34
@Chrisinauburn
You mean the Brits who are going through Brexit because they want to protect THEIR borders as much as SOME of us want to protect ours? I am sure they are watching. If we fail to protect our borders what chance do they have to protect theirs?
2
Isn’t Congress in summer vacation?
1
Five will get you ten pesos he changes his mind.
14
His embarrassments have no boundaries. If THIS is who WE are, then I want off this ride, pronto!
Pardon, there's a hole in the ground waiting for me to face-plant. I must go now.....
8
This is the circle that is not talked about much.
---Guns are illegally smuggled from the USA (certainly not stopped by the NRA) to Central America. PS see the stats of origin of weapons in e.g.-El Salvador etc.
--- Americans mostly buys the drug coming in the USA from south of border.
---Drug gangs try to recruit young children into gangs and violence became paramount.
---- Gangs started in Los Angeles, mostly, and then infiltrated Central America and became worse with easy access to weapons and corrupt government .
---- Powerless families tracked north to safeguard their children.
----Now these families are at our doorsteps to seek safety .
----Even though we are part of the root problem, we don't want to help them.
---- Instead, we cruelly separate families, and due to lack of record keeping can't join them together.
----- now our "leader" of the "free world" will impose tariffs to Mexico if flow of people won't stop, which will hurt our economy and businesses on both sides of the border. Extortion anyone?
Where is out responsibility as a humane country and look at the back story of this whole issue.
27
China is not bowing to the Presidents pressure ,yet just as well companies are adjusting by making business better for American companies.We cannot repair the damage from China and NAFTA trade policies overnight ,the correction of decades of abusive trade practices which have only made profits for less than one percent of Americans while destroying family wealth and benefits. Mexico will need to control it's illegal immigration or we need to shut them down ,completely ,this has to stop. We can build here we always have ,anything else has destroyed this great nation,our corporations are not even paying taxes Warren types should be all over this immediately.
7
@Alan Einstoss we can’t build here anymore, industry and jobs have gone to Mexico and China permanently!
1
@Alan Einstoss
.. except that Trump's use of tariff's have failed to change any trade policies.. and have been ineffective as a policy tool overall.. The only thing they gave accomplished is to rattle economies, and make trade agreements harder to reach...
..-- In other words .. a complete failure..
Illegal immigration would stop tomorrow if we slapped a $100,000 per head fine on any US employer (like the Trump resorts) found to hire illegal immigrants.
The USMCA is not yet in force - the original NAFTA agreement still prevails. NAFTA allows for the free flow of (most) goods between the USA, Canada and Mexico. I would have thought that the unilateral imposition of tariffs by one party on another would be in violation of a signed and ratified international treaty. Evidently, I would be wrong. It seems that Trump has been promoted from King to God. And in God you trust.
12
I think he’s doing it under the guise of a National Emergency.
1
Clearly, all these tariff details are not being thought out properly, resulting in another failed Trump administration policy blunder, that in the long run will only increase taxes for all Americans. Had enough winning yet?
13
@Woosa09
My 401k has exploded under Trump's administration. Unemployment is at historic lows. The Iran deal has been placed where it belongs - in the dumpster.
Yes, I like the winning.
3
Yes, I have a job, so to heck with democracy, the Constitution or the rule of law. To heck with 70 years of peaceful international alliances, respect for human rights, common decency and civility. I have a job.
2
@ azpurdue
Good for you. There are many more Americans that are not as fortunate as you, like our farmers and everyday citizens.
Republicans were once against any increased taxes of any kind. Hypocrites!
As for the Iran deal and the Paris Accords, Trump doesn’t have an alternative plan except to take the country to war and destroy the planet.
Enjoy your retirement.
3
Here's a thought: Congress works together and comes up with a process to filter the people flowing in to the country that want to work and get them work permits to help re build our infrastructure instead of sitting in tent camps or centers where they are doing nothing but over crowding. All the money they are spending on that could be spent on figuring out skill sets and assigning the immigrants that are coming for work, safe living conditions and better lives to areas infrastructure jobs we need and can't get enough people to do now or to companies like mine that can't get employees even at $15/hr+ to work in open jobs.
10
@Jeff: Thank you for providing a sensible process for Congress to put forward that would be a win-win solution for our country and for those wishing to migrate here. There is so much to gain in making this approach happen. This country, and those trying to migrate here, are losing so much with the continuous Trump gridlock that is truly ugly and cruel.
3
@JeffThe public sector infrastructure unions would never allow it.
Donald "One Trick Pony" Trump used to only have one approach to every problem - suing people. Apparently, he's learned a new one - tariffs. But, other than those two, he's still a vacant lot.
15
I don’t know how much an avocado costs so if it goes up 20 cents I won’t even notice.
5
Some people, (like Dan in Vermont) are blind to the immense expense illegal immigration is to to the U.S. It is amazing to watch people argue against common sense in order to disagree with Trump. Pay no attention to the cartels turning illegal immigration into big business while they simultaneously sexually assault the women and girls. Pay no attention to the billions of dollars in cash that flow illegally from the U.S. back to Mexico. Pay no attention to the tons and tons of drugs crossing the border illegally while resources are being spent on humanitarian needs. Pay no attention to the resources illegal immigrants have access to once settled in our own neighborhoods. This country is an excellent place to live because we have organized a low entropy system. Now that we are subverting our laws it will continue to become more and more chaotic. In 20 years from now people will not want to live here, let alone migrate here.
11
@Ken
No people are not blind to the costs of illegal immigration but some of us prefer to search out reasoned data rather than rely on hysteria and numbers from second rate publications or trump.
We would also prefer a solid plan to address the situation(s) while some in industry - such as AG groups weren't keen on provisions in dreamer bills.
It is somewhat ironic to mention illegal billions when the president launders money and self deals at our expense on a daily basis. So does his family. So does his immigrant wife.
Further, we have a drug problem in this country. Too many of us like em. This is not Mexico's problem. It is the law of supply and demand. Our lax gun laws arm some of the countries from which these immigrants are fleeing. Climate change is also causing people to flee.
Second generation immigrants actually add to the economy and plenty of private companies are making money off the situation and like it just fine.
Finally - my family goes a long, long way back. I used to think this country was a great place. Not so much anymore.
2
...and tariffs will solve this, how?
1
Keep digging Trump, Keep digging. At this rate even your recalcitrant Congressional supporters will revolt. If not we'll send them into the political wilderness in 2020 - for a long time.
10
If you can't trust the economic decisions of a man who filed for bankruptcy 6 times, and lost an average of $100,000,000 a year for 10 years in a row, often being the largest financial loser in the country for that fiscal year, then who can you trust? The answer is, anyone, ANYONE, but Donald "America's Biggest Financial Failure" Trump.
19
@Chicago Guy
Says the guy whose city and state has been run into fiscal disaster, due to decades of Democrat leadership.
4
@AZPurdue, the fact is that neither party has a monopoly on poor and sometime corrupt fiscal management. But the current topic -- which you are avoiding to get a little dig in -- isn't Chicago, it's our country, and Trump has no clue as to what he is doing -- see his worse than bad business track record -- and lies about the tariffs every five minutes. Are you telling us that you're comfortable with that?
2
@AZPurdue
His city and state alter the reality of what he said, how?
2
White House desperate to claim they accomplishing 'something' on immigration. NONE of this is legislation dealing with resident aliens or cause of migration from the assorted countries of central America. NONE of this will resonate to solutions or permanent integration of illegal immigrants. All of this is for show.
11
@Buddesatva
True for both sides and does not change the fact that Trump is Re-Elected in 2020 as a result.
The GOP goal is the Supreme Court, and to get Trump re-elected in that order,
They tolerate Trump , they get probably two picks.
6
@Independent voter
Absolutely correct.
3
“Mexico Will Face Tariffs Next Week, Trump Vows”
Promises, promises.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
4
The Punisher keeps punishing. God forbid he would help someone. Other than himself that is.
6
Cowardly POTUS talks tough and threatens His GOP from London. However, his insanity is exceeded by his party which lacks the moral backbone to stand up to him for what is so obviously right for America. Shameful!
102
Trump's presidency has survived as long as it has because he has delivered the money friendly, anti welfare state economic agenda that the Republican party's money men want. So it will be real interesting to see how long Trump survives when he actually shows how much of a threat he is to the current world economic order - the one that has allowed those money men (and me) to gain the wealth they have in the first place. My guess it that once Trump plunges the entire world into unnecessary trade wars, tanks the world's financial markets, and pushes the world into recession, GOP senators will suddenly have an epiphany. They will rediscover their backbones and call for removing the orange one. Why? They'll do it because the people who pay for their campaigns and post public life wingnut welfare will not want to lose through gratuitously generated economic mayhem the billions they have gained from Trump's corporate and personal tax cuts.
Money often clarifies what needs to be done with so many situations. Maybe for the GOP Trump's presidency will be one of those.
15
we now have a president who can do whatever the heck he likes, because no one - and I mean, no one - will hold him accountable.
Tariffs on Mexican imports because of immigration are simply illegal. But then, so are the human rights abuses perpetrated on migrant children at the border - as is Trump's obstruction of justice and his use of the office of the president to enrich himself.
Of course the GOP is complicit as they are truly in Trump's pocket, just like the congress or parliament of any banana republic (it's ironic how much they loathe the Venezuelan government, given its very own puppet legislature). And of course our "opposition" party is deathly afraid of holding the president accountable due to an absurd fear of angering Trump's base.
So here we are. With a lawless executive who can do whatever he wants, because no one will try to stop him.
60
I’m no fan of Trump but he has made a mockery of all the hand wringing by economists saying tariffs would wreck the economy.
10
How is that? It doesn’t happen overnight.
4
@eric masterson
Well hang on, these things don't happen overnight. The farmers, so far, are being bought off with our tax dollars. Prices will rise. Consumers will pay. There's plenty of past evidence to support those economists' views.
6
@eric masterson - Nope, you're incorrect. Reputable economists stated that the current tariffs are actually not so bad with respect to the economy; only cutting a couple of percentage points off the GDP. However, once the 25% tariffs hit with China, they retaliate, Mexico tariffs go up and they retaliate, then we have an issue.
All these tomfoolery could have been avoided if only Trump has the courage to call the President of Mexico and demand the money for his wall.
But Trump being a coward (bone spurs, fires his people by tweet and never in person, can be summoned by Putin with a single come hither look) he just cannot pick up the phone.
I cannot begin to imagine how Trump voters must feel about being reminded on a daily basis of his cowardice.
9
@Opinioned!
I should tell you then. Every time you remind me, I get a little more angry at.... wait for it... wait for it... Democrats. So, now you know how Trump voters feel every time we are reminded of his 'cowardice' in not making Mexico pay for a wall. Clear enough for you?
So here’s the plan of our stable genius:
1. Impose tariffs on one of our biggest trading partners.
2. Cost manufacturers, farmers and consumers billions and billions.
3. Alienate an ally whose help we need to bring a degree of order to our southern border.
4. Infuriate the GOP poobahs.
5. Do your best to slam the brakes on the world economy.
6. Punish American manufacturers and their employees.
7. Ignore the advice of everyone except a few wing nuts like Miller and Navarro.
8. Ensure that America can't be relied upon in the least for as long as he’s in the White House.
9. Disgrace the entire nation in the eyes of the world.
This is pure genius and only someone as brilliant as Trump could have thought of it.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
101
"Millions" of people?
Really? Millions?!
22
@Tony There are 22 - 30 million people here illegally. By the end of this year, there will be an additional million here illegally. And these are the people who were apprehended or presented themselves to Border Patrol. It does not include those who made it under the radar. It does not include those who will overstay their visas.
5
@Olivia. Nice try but its more like 12 million...been watching fox again?
6
@Tony The actual number is getting up there.
4
“Look, millions of people are flowing through Mexico,” Mr. Trump said. “That’s unacceptable.”
No, what's unacceptable is that you are sitting where you are. You're not fit, you're incapable of your job and you need to be gone.
70
@Edmund Focus. He is trying what hasn't been tried previously.
3
@Margo
No, it was tried previously, and because of the results, what he is promising to try and do (again) is illegal. Read NAFTA. Or read history - like about the run up to WW1, for starters. I agree he is "pro-active," but watch out for the results...
1
@Margo yes, he is alienating anybody not in his base, making idle threats, insulting Gold Star parents, the FBI, the Intel Community, anybody who departs his organization or dares say anything critical of him. He is also profiting from his business through his presidential connections - that has not been tried in a while. And he has the record by far for verifiable lies. He has truly broken ground.
Mexico needs to stop trafficking people into the US. All remittances should be stopped until Mexico steps up.
11
@willt26 Exactly right.
4
@willt26 Some history is always helpful in discerning REAL facts. In the '50s and '60s, and then beginning again in the '80s under Saint Ronnie and continuing into the '90s, the U.S., through the CIA, the State Department, and - interestingly - the Border Patrol, was instrumental in assisting the Guatemalan "security forces" in slaughtering the indigenous people, destroying their villages, and removing tenant farmers from the land. Mexico is not trafficking Central Americans to our border; we are. It's called chickens coming home to roost!! Also, remittances cannot be stopped. They can be routed through Canada or, ironically, Central American countries.
4
@Joe Gonzales We should tax remittances.
2
Trump is nothing but greed, fear, and racism.
50
I noticed the word tariff was not spelled correctly.
It’s ..T_ A_ X!
53
Everyone with a brain knows Americans will end up paying these tariffs, so we're all going to be punished by the president for a crisis he manufactured out of his own personal bigotry to pander to his clueless base while pretending to punish Mexico because human beings might dare to better their lives and their children's lives and safety. Trump is no leader. He is an ignorant and heartless bully.
44
Sounds great, I hope these tariffs are implemented. Since Mexico is our largest trading partner, this will have enormous repercussions and damage our economy significantly. All Americans will be faced with higher prices on a variety of goods. Americans have to really suffer, and our economy has to have a major downturn, so that we can decisively defeat Trump in the 2020 election. We need this fool out of office, and it's clear that the only way to reduce his support is by his supporters suffering from his idiotic policies.
35
I hate to say it but I actually started wishing for a recession before 2020 for the same reason. That’s how bad it is!
5
@Dan Stackhouse. You are right...they cannot see the forest for the trees, as my mom used to say. Im willing to suffer for a bit if it gets this monster out of office.
4
@Dan Stackhouse
Trump will blame foreigners and Democrats for any economic downturn. If I really thought it would help get rid of him, I'd be cheering for one too, but I'm not so sure. It's all about the spin, FOX news, and the Alternative Facts. A crashed economy, in and of itself, will not hasten his exit.
It would seem the only time Mr. President deigns to have an actual, full-on news conference is when he is on foreign soil. Curious that, what?
Maybe if he travelled more we would get more answers to some very legitimate questions.
14
I said the same thing!! He does more press conferences on foreign ground than here! Funny thing is, Fox News is banned in England! LOL But it’s true, even his ever loyal press secretary was in England, and even SHE doesn’t hold press conferences in the states anymore. So, why is she needed at all? Just another useless salary we pay!
2
It's almost as if Trump wakes up every day and entertains himself by coming up with something new and malicious to do to the world, just to see if he can get the incredibly spineless Republicans to go along with it. And I doubt killing the economy -- the one bright spot in the reign of King Trump -- will even be enough to get the GOP to realize that maybe they'd be better off with Mike Pence.
7
@Brannon Perkiso But we won't!
1
@Brannon Perkison its true...and so many of the environmental policies he is dismantling dont even get coverage.
1
Republican Senators are actually a bigger part of the problem right now... then even Trump.
Complete and total obstruction of any progress on immigration reform.. and busy trying to pack the federal courts with a generation of conservative judges before they get evicted from power.
Grassley in particular needs to stop pontificating and actually stand up to Trump. But he won't because he too is a sound bite driven coward of huge proportions.
9
This is like a bad crime movie, where the gangster demands something, then threatens to kill one of his own people each hour until his demands are met.
12
We are fast moving into autocratic rule. The Republicans in both the House and Senate are rendered useless and cowards. They are ceding their right of checks and balances to a man who is corrupt, volatile, and unstable. I am not going to discuss tariffs per se. I am not an economist. However, what to me is more ominous is the fact that before our eyes we are seeing the demise and destruction of the legislative branch of our government, mentioned first in the Constitution and without a doubt equal in its power to the executive branch. And I am not only holding the GOP accountable to this move from a democracy to an autocracy, even a dictatorship. I am looking to my own party, the Democrats. Where is their fight in the House? Do they think that we are dumb enough not to see that they can no longer use the excuse of not being in the majority. They were elected in 2018 to not only legislate but to also stand up to Trump. Right at their finger-tips they have the means to bring this creature down. But they like their counterparts in the Senate are scared, lost in their own heads, and unable to be proactive. What a sad, pathetic government.
16
Border crisis? What border crisis? You would think that a crime wave of gangs extorting innocent people or engaging in drug wars was sweeping through the land.
Oh wait, that's what's going on in Honduras and El Salvador due to the destabilization of governments as a result of decades of CIA interference on behalf of United Fruit and other American companies. Could that be the reason thousands are fleeing those parts of Latin America?
Could it also be that a man who holds the author of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 (Andrew Jackson is Trump's hero) in great esteem is seeking to use his mantra of Mexicans (and other non-whites) as rapists to get himself re-elected in 2020?
Are Americans so stupid that they will permit themselves to be led around by the nose by someone as retrograde as Donald Trump?
Yes. And I challenge the people of this country to prove me wrong. Until then, have a Trump day, a Trump evening, a Trump breakfast, a Trump dinner, a Trump wedding, a Trump funeral, and please understand - you deserved every bit of it.
14
Republicans in the Senate are you going to do your job and block the tariffs on Mexican imports. It's about time you stopped protecting your seats and did your job!
21
@Jacquie and that would be followed by President Trump's veto.
“Look, millions of people are flowing through Mexico,” President Trump said at a news conference in London on Tuesday. “That’s unacceptable.”
And wrong. And a lie.
12
@stewarjt
No it isn't. In April alone 109,000+ were apprehended by border security. If you extrapolate that out to a year you get well over a million. And those are the people who got caught, how many more crossed undetected?
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/sw-border-migration
1
Congressional Republicans will fold like a wet paper bag on this, just like they do on everything associated with this administration.
Turns out that Trump was right referring to "Little Mario" who, just like Lindsey Graham, Grassley, Collins and the rest of them, will do exactly as told.
Oh, some will protest mildly, very mildly...then they'll fold. Even though they know this policy will be an economic disaster, that tariffs never work. And good luck negotiating other trade deals after this train wreck.
10
What is he doing babbling about Mexico when he should be concentrating on Anglo-American relations while in Britain ? He just cant stay focused!
14
Republicans Senators would be 'foolish' if they try to stop trump.
Well, it only took one day of sniffing monarch air for trump to presume he is king.
6
@say what
Someone has to graduate last in the class.
Is there a Schoolhouse Rock segment on tariffs someone can show this guy?
10
Actually Trump said the Republican senators were foolish . He counts on that.
5
If I were Mexico I'd say that s wall was needed at their southern border, but that they would need America to pay for it. If America wants immigrants from Central America to stop passing through Mexico, we need a wall, but Mexico doesn't have the money so Mexico will need America's help.
5
This guy really attended the U Penn Wharton School? Must have been a joke then, both he and the school.
9
@Moses
Maybe his father helped a little.
1
Nasty racist Miller confirming Trump's racist instincts lashes out at Hispanics again using his new found tool like pardons ,tariffs make Trump feel like a king. This is a harbinger of what life will be like if Trump is re-elected he will be emboldened to act as a Putin/Kim hybrid backed up by the evil sheriff Barr attacking dissidents in the name of King Donald.
6
Millions? Seriously? More fake news from the absolute master - a veritable connoisseur - of falsehoods, gross exaggerations and hyperbole. His nose should be about a mile and a half long by now.
8
Why is it that some people (read Trimp supporters) cannot figure out in their heads that putting a tarrif on Mexican imports is like adding a sales tax to American consumers? Is there no hope for these people?
50
@Wally Wolf
There is no hope for these people.
11
@Paul
None whatsoever.
2
Yawn .... This will all change depending on what Sean says he should do, and after he sees how it might affect his properties .
10
@John Hanzel HAHA! This! This needs to be the top comment of the day ! Brilliant, John!
1
I'm just wondering what POTUS is implying, that Republican senators would be "foolish" to act against him. Sounds nothing more than another bully tactic. He's going to drive this country into the ground, that's going to take years to recover once he's out of office. Perhaps the protestors in London parading the "baby Trump blimp" are right on.
8
@Dave
Their lord and master has threatened. They will cave. Full retreat, led by spineless Mitch.
8
@Tom In total agreement with you.
@Tom "Spineless" connotes a form of passivity whereas McConnell is proactively undermining our countries values at every opportunity
2
It surely has gotten to the breaking point with this erratic Fake President that we can (silently) hope that he defiantly, stupidly continues down this path of actually levying nonsensical punitive tariffs on the basis of unrelated foreign policy issues. Let Trump initially impose and then raise them to the max, with step for step Mexican retaliation on all American goods, thus ushering in the forecasted calamity across many sectors of our economy and depriving the Oval Office Genius of his only major 2020 election talking point. Although probably too much to expect, a serious economic downturn may, at last, produce cracks in his support amongst some of his core, sycophantic groups.
4
The United States is the world's most powerful and advanced nation, yet it has never been able to prevent the unlawful entry of millions of people, a torrent of narcotics into the U.S. and their distribution to every city and town this side of the border.
Only a lunatic would demand that Mexico, a nation with a GDP a fraction of California's, somehow do what the U.S to this day has failed to achieve.
Moreover, this thuggish action will do nothing more than engender anti-American sentiment in a nation that has for years worked hard to maintain cordial relations with the U.S.
3
Once again, our king has spoken. If it is still an option in 2020...VOTE!
9
Sheer madness, this obsession with an antiquated, blunt-edged trade policy instrument. And now the Fed is talking about monetary easing just to counteract Trump's policies. Is Trump just being vindictive towards the world, US included?
3
I'm not sure exactly what Mexico is supposed to do here? They've offered asylum to the immigrants. If the immigrants decline their offer, are they supposed to arrest and detain them on our behalf?
Not only is it not their responsibility to house immigrants who want to come here, but we're demanding that the Mexican authorities violate the immigrants rights.
Republicans idea of freedom and liberty only extends to straight, white, wealthy, christian males. Disgusting.
7
Republicans, "Resistance is futile." Stars Wars and now DT.
1
Fine, let him dig his own grave. Unless he wants to bail out the farmers again.
3
Don,
Except we are bailing out the farmers not DT.
1
I am also uneasy with those tariffs but then what to do? Is there a genius on the GOP side who will come up with some sort of reasonable plan to stem the invasion and the ugly laugh by Mexico who are letting those folks cross aaaalll over to bang on our door? And for years now, and with impunity, so to speak. It is easy to say 'Nah', always and everywhere, it is much more difficult to do something and be behind it. Not that I have any particular confidence in DT but he is trying hard to make it all stop, one way or the other.
I am not mentioning the Dems since they are the most trustful and faithful friends of the illegals from all over the world. You can always count on them taking the side opposite of that of the common US folks.
2
ss,
What to do? Let’s have the immigration experts provide counsel, increase the amount of judicial staff to sort out the asylum cases, create a cogent plan for obtaining citizenship, increase funds for technology at the border, work with both Republicans and Democrats in resolving the DACA population, etc. Eliminate Stephen Miller, the “immigration guru” who does know what he is doing, etc.
Democrats had a more pragmatic plan last August and DT dismissed it outright. Democrats advocate for legal immigration but not a haphazard, ill conceived plan that renders no results.
2
Rest easy.
There will be no tariffs on Mexican products.
Trump is posturing, wisely so. He is pressuring Mexico to shoulder its fair burden of preventing the flow of illegal immigrants through its country.
Mexico will accelerate its short term crackdown and tariffs will be delayed a bit. Then Mexico and the U.S. will discuss the necessary long term steps including Safe Third Country Agreement, strengthening of Mexico’s southern border, processing of Central American asylum claims in Mexico, and limiting the movement of illegal aliens within/through Mexico.
U.S./Mexican relations will be stronger and less contentious once these necessary steps are taken.
Relax and keep the guacamole on the Fourth of July picnic menu. There will be no shortage or price spikes for those wonderful Mexican avocados, or any other product.
3
@John Posturing is never "wise." It's risky, especially when you do it multiple times to just about everyone who disagrees with you. It's like waiving an empty pistol at a herd of angry bulls. Sooner or later even the bulls catch on to it.
As for the Mexicans, they will do what they've always done when faced with a bully. Make their own little "promises" and then ignore them once the bully is distracted by events elsewhere.
2
The sad thing is that if Trump returned from the UK and declared himself King, no Republican would object. In fact, all would cheer.
I wish the Times would drop the pretense that the GOP is a political party. It’s a cult, devoted to the worship of Trump.
21
Trump should also tax remittances. The money that illegals send home takes pressure off of their governments to take care of their people.
8
@Olivia - This is the smarter solution, should’ve been his first move.
4
Thune and Grassley talk a big game but ultimately will bow down to Trump. It’s no longer their party. Trump has their base wrapped up. When you back an ill equipped con man to get tax cuts for your donors, you reap what you sow.
4
I would be curious to know how these knee-jerk tariff threats impact Trump family fortunes. Betting it is quite different from the pummeling my retirement accounts are taking.
2
...and when the economy begins to decline, and the price of cars, vegetables, and other sundry goods increases dramatically, and when farmers can no longer compete in an open market, he'll blame...oh, I don't know...Obama???
6
It’s funny that Rubio and Trump both believe the majority of drug trafficking is walking through the border.
I guess we live in a world where my mom believed hundreds of thousands of poor souls overdosed on marijuana everyday. A world where migrants are stealing all your jobs, Walmart is king and privacy is just plain overrated.
Where are all the non-senile adults in the room?
3
The ultimate irony would be for Senate Republicans to convict little donny not for his abuse of power, but because he’s bad for business—
1
Trump is breaking US trade law by using a trade tool as a cudgel in a political fray with Mexico. This is just another reason to progress to impeachment against Trump. He has no respect for our Nation’s processes and laws. That alone is good cause to ban Trump from office.
9
As usual Mr. Trump's threat to impose tariffs on imported goods from Mexico to somehow leverage the government of Mexico into solving the twin problems of economic/social/political instabilities in Central America and lack of substantive immigration reform in the U.S. is akin to shooting your family member and next door neighbors in the leg to get rid of a toothache.
8
Trump's response about republican senators is an example why his base continues to support very strongly.
No nation can continue with trade deficits without an end in sight. The total amount of trade surplus has less than 50 billion dollars (https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/toppartners.html#sur).
That both parties champion tariff-free trade is a perfect example of legislators coming under business capture. It is reasonable to conclude that much of the benefits of free-trade has flown to the investors and as long as this continues we will end up with very narrow choices.
" I like people that don't understand how Tariffs work ". Yes, we know, Donald. Sad.
21
Levying taxes - of which tariffs are one type - is a role of Congress, not the President. Why is Trump allowed to do this at all?
Trump is not only abusing the powers of the Presidency, he’s making up new ones every week.
Abortion, guns, lower taxes on billionaires, the right to trash the environment - what’s the reason so many Americans find this acceptable?
10
It seems that despot Trump thinks he can rule every facet of our government, and all governments in our hemisphere. And strangely, republicans joined him in his crusade of absolute control of everything. But could it now be that republicans are having second thoughts? Who is really in charge? Stay tuned...
4
A Democratic president would have taken equally urgent measures to deal with a spike in illegal immigration, so don't get carried away blaming Trump. Border security is not a partisan issue. Barack Obama deported more illegals (and with equally harsh tactics) than anyone else pre-Trump.
7
Clearly, we have the weakest, most dysfunctional Congress in memory. Between Republicans afraid to buck Trump and Democrats unable to legislate without them, we're adrift at sea headed wherever the erratic Trump current carries us.
6
Trump thinks that taxing AMERICANS (which is what a tariff does) is somehow going to stop foreigners from coming to the US claiming asylum? REALLY?
How about the damage to flow of parts used in manufacturing?How many jobs is that going to affect?
How about goods that are assembled or manufactured in Mexico, like electronics, vehicles, home appliances and other goods?
The uninformed, headstrong, "I know better than the generals" fool in the White House is going to tank the economy.
And then he will undoubtedly blame President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Democrats in general. Of course. And the Cult of Trump will lap it up.
37
The GOP Senators show their true interests and moral stance towards Trump actions. Threaten innocent families fleeing desperate poverty and violence? Threaten our long time allies all over the world? Threaten the foundations of our country's legal system and Republic itself? Yawn. Doesn't matter. No biggie. We're still getting elected and in control.
But threaten the business profits, the donor gravy train, the supply chain that keeps putting money in their kitty, well, that's another thing entirely! We (grumble grumble) protest!
But, in the end, they will kowtow to the great Emperor Trump the Magnificent because Trump still has the support of 98% of the Republican Party. The reincarnation of the Know-Nothing Party.
8
Migration was trending down, which shows the system, while imperfect, was working. To lower this even more, a mature, stable president would look at how to improve the situation.
Numbers are again increasing. Why isn't anyone asking why these people are still trying to come into this country, with a hateful leader who will incarcerate them, separate them permanently from their children, and send them back across the border?
Sickening as it is, the conditions in Central America are terrible, deteriorating rapidly and this risk is worth it to these poor souls.
Instead of working to improve their conditions, trump is destroying everything and everyone in its path.
This story does not have a happy ending for anyone or this nation.
7
I wonder if even this will allow the Republican Senate to begin realizing that despite their promises that they would control Trump's more rabid impulses. Whether they will finally see that their dog has been off his leash since the beginning, and it is happy to bite anyone –anyone at all– even those who somehow thought that THEY were his masters.
2
Not sure why Trump is sell the UK on a post-Brexit trade agreement when clearly he has made any trade agreement with the US utterly worthless. The idea of placing tariffs on Mexico, the #1 trading partner of the US operating for 25 years under a free trade agreement, is insane.
2
Millions? Last I checked that was thousands. I read the news every day & I don't recall immigrants coming by the millions. Did I miss something, or is Trump blowing smoke at his believers again? I honestly think that he is trying very hard to see what it takes to destroy our economy. He's already broken any semblance of the norms and mores that were once our uniting principles. I'm not naive enough to believe that the USA has been a benevolent society where the needs of the many or the rights of minorities have been respected or cared about. I'm just saying that Trump's actions are so, over the top, vulgar and malicious.
4
Blue in red-
He is utilizing his business model of acquire, obtain loans, default on loans and then bankruptcy. Indeed he is trying to sabotage our economy with his proven “business acumen.”
2
Trump is making Mexico pay for the US policies that created this problem in Central America, refuses to hear what Mexico is already doing to control this flow of immigration without infringing on human rights glonal agreements, and also refuses to work with Mexico on pouring more funds and technology to create jobs and more opportunities for people there to avoid their need to migrate out of their countries. He is breaking a free trade treaty that was already signed, and on top of it punishing us Mexicans and the US people for this immigration problem that he is only making worse each day with his refusal to speed up the process with more judges and other means. Totally upsetting.
1
The sleazy politics of humiliation and vindictiveness are on full display here, as is the jaw-dropping indifference Trump and his immigration apprentice, Stephen Miller, have for the consequences of this deeply flawed approach to US Border control. By any measure this Presidential edict will negatively impact hundreds of US Corporations, tens of thousands of jobs and millions of US consumers...as if that matters...he did after all cut off the incomes of 800,000 Federal employees just a few months back - remember? Trump wants Mexico to address an issue he is himself unable to resolve through negotiation and legislation. That's a failure on multiple levels and another sign of his utter incompetence as leader of the most powerful nation on Earth.
6
According to a study by the University of San Diego, an estimated 253,000 firearms each year are purchased in the United States expressly to be sent to Mexico. What does this administration plan to do about that?
4
We seem to be glossing over a glaring untruth that is evident in Trump's rationale for these tariffs: that the Mexican government is somehow responsible for the flow of migrants into the US.
So NAFTA, which led Mexican real wages to plummet and forced Mexican campesinos to give up there livelihoods to American agribusiness giants...that's not a cause?
What about enthusiastic American support for the butchers, torturers, and corporate sycophants that have run El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras for the past 70 years?
Many of the migrants entering the US via Mexico are fleeing Honduras, where the Obama administration silently backed a coup d'etat that overthrew a mildly reformist social democratic government in 2009.
Let's not let Trump and his cohorts frame this issues for us.
55
Congress owns this problem. Immigration laws are are their responsibility. Presidential candidates who are members of the Senate or House are grandstanding on an issue only they could fix.
6
He's going to impose tariffs because he's now a hammer and everything is a nail.
Maybe some century the legislature will step in and retake back some of their power.
9
Let me state it directly, again. Trump's use of the "national security" argument to unilaterally (meaning by Trump himself) raise tariffs on Mexico, China, Canada, Europe, anyone else.... is a clear abuse of power. This is an Article of Impeachment par excellence. And maybe, just maybe, an impeachment article that Republican senators would choose to convict Trump and throw him out of office. Remember, already 12 Republican senators voted against Trump's use of national security authorities when he chose to go around Congress and provide funding for the border. Now it is ten times worse regarding Mexico, given the huge volume of agricultural and manufactured goods coming across the border every day, in which thousands of American companies are engaged not to mention American consumers. To return to the main point: Trump is blatantly abusing power. “Abuse of Power" was one of the Articles of Impeachment against Nixon. Now it can be for Trump.
34
Mexico doesn't pay the tariff taxes, we do. Why do you all persist in incorrectly stating that foreign nations pay the tariffs?
10
Trump's use of tariffs to bend international will is as nuanced as a heart surgeon's use of a chain saw to repair an atrial septal defect. And history shows it will have about the same prognosis for success for both the economy and our international standing.
7
He's not imposing tariffs on Mexico he is raising taxes on Americans hoping they follow his rhetoric instead of the bouncing stock market. The best we can hope for is that the Dollar Stores raise their prices to $1.25 on everything so that the economics become clear to even the most disengaged voter.
7
It is easy to criticize Trump for everything. Let's hear Dems' solution as well. All I here from Democrats though (and I am a Dem myself) is just "Trump, Trump, Trump." instead of discussing everyday single day the issues that really concern American people like stagnating wages, enormous inequality in income, that 40% (!) of Americans (according to FedRes) don't even have $400 in their bank account for emergency, healthcare, etc, all I hear is T-word all the time from all the media. There are real problems that Dems (and CNN) should be talking about everyday, not Trump. How Dems are expecting to win next year is beyond me. Just by default? Unlikely.
7
The “Dems,” do talk about that every day. Loudly, as did Hillary Clinton. It gets widely reported, too, just like Joe Biden’s climate plan today.
And YOU...don’t...listen. You will not read.
It’s on YOU.
5
You are aware that Trump’s trade adviser resigned last week because of this boneheaded idea to impose tariffs on Mexico and that Senate Republicans are thinking about passing legislation condemning Trump’s tariff threat? It isn’t just Democrats.
5
@Robert Talk every day? Really? Doesn't seem so. What they talk everyday about is I- and T-words. USA is not a monarchy. It is a Republic. And Congress, including Democrats, is in control of money and hence policy, not Trump. What have the House Democrats have done since coming to power? Nothing.
1
Trump constantly says that he is going to solve an issue but implements policies that do nothing to solve that issue. Tariffs exist independently from a person's will to better their livelihood. Tariffs or no tariffs, nothing will stop people when their way of life is at stake, and when they are searching for a better future for their children. Let's say that Trump does convince the Mexican government to crackdown on migrants (which I don't think will happen), people will find another way to cross over. Best to talk with the Mexican government and iron out a solution than jump to the "nuclear option" and create further rifts in an already damaged relationship.
3
"Millions of people are flowing through Mexico" says the guy who has told thousands of lies as president, and just added another one.
US taxpayers, not Mexico, will pay these tariffs so Trump is taxing U.S. citizens because he wants to look tough to his "base". His "base" will be paying these taxes. His "base" supports him for raising their taxes?
18
If Congress is upset about what Trump is doing with tariffs to try to stop illegal immigration they should help him stop people from crossing our southern border illegally so easily. The lion's share these people who enter this country illegally are not eligible for asylum. We are being totally abused because Congress refuses to update our immigration and the Democrats do their best to get left leaning Federal Judges to stop Trump from stopping illegal immigration from our southern border. Yes I know about people who overstay their VISAs which is a separate issue and must be addressed by Congress as well.
5
Congress had major legislation set to go in 2006, and again in 2013. In 2017, Democratic leadership cit a deal that Teump at first approves.
And then YOU blew it all up. Each and every time. Because the only deal you’ll agree to is one in which YOU get everything, and nobody else gets nothin’.
3
@Robert Double negatives aside, those immigration bills were not complete, didn't fund border security and greatly increased the number of H1b visas. They did not address the actual needs of the country as much as work to help donors. No thanks.
4
When @Marcorubio says that "Unlawful migration & drug flow transiting through #Mexico into U.S. clearly poses such a threat." to justify POTUS National Emergency, he is ignoring the demand for drugs and labor in the U.S. Does anyone believes that the smuggled drugs are just sitting on a warehouse and that American companies don't need that labor? The U.S should fix their drug and labor demands just like Mexico should fix their part in the issue. But how tariffs will help? Drugs and labor move north because poverty and desperation, and tariffs will make this old-problem much worse.
6
The Senate at some point is going to have to stand up for itself against the bully that occupies the White House. But, it doesn't seem to be on this issue of Mexican tariffs. Yes, we see stories that come out saying republicans are troubled, that they worry about the economic damage this will do the the new trade deal with Canada and Mexico and how it will be impacted. But, nothing ever seems to move them to do something. The separation of families didn't do it, the deaths of young children didn't do it. The only thing that may, would be a huge loss of seats next year. Maybe a NEW Senate will finally get to work for the American people.
4
The republican party. The party of tariffs and business restrictions and government intrusion in the economy. Got it.
8
I hope that Republicans are forced to go on record in their support of Tariff Man’s Mexico Tax. We will then know exactly who blame for the next recession.
6
He inherited a good economy unlike Obama and he is destroying our markets to sell and trade let alone we will pay for the tariffs ourselves in the form of taxes. The idea is to promote our American brand that once meant something other than vulgarity. Our allies will trade with others not us, it should not be conclusive in any Americans mind that our brands or markets to sell our goods are secure if we act with chaos and bully our trading partners.
8
First of all, approximately half of all "trade" with Mexico since NAFTA has been intra-firm: GM (for instance) ships parts across the border, takes advantage of Mexico's slave wages and non-existent environmental protections to assemble goods, and then ships the finished product back to the US for distribution.
Placing tariffs on Mexican "imports" will only punish American consumers and drive down the wages of already-tormented Mexican workers. And what is the rationale offered for these tariffs? To stop undocumented migrants from entering the US via Mexico...
How about instead of putting a knife to the throat of the American and Mexican working class we address the root causes of the refugee crisis at our southern border: (1) decades of unconditional US support for Latin America's most barbaric, anti-democratic political elements; and (2) American corporations' post-NAFTA plundering of the Mexican market, which caused Mexican real wages to fall by 50% in under a decade.
10
The government of the US has been overthrown.
The question is, will we take it back?
6
@Grove
You bet we will. Viva La Resistance.
Rubio cites “unlawful” immigration as a reason to tax us with tariffs, but the crisis is in legal immigration and the US response: asylum seekers who have a legal right to cross the border and petition our government, and our government that is refusing to process the claims.
4
How will U.S. consumers paying higher prices for produce grown in Mexico fix immigration problems? As has been reported ad nauseum, tariffs are not imposed on the exporting country. They are imposed on the importing companies, who, in turn, pass on their increased costs to consumers.
President Trump has a one-sized-fits all policy for international relations - stick, stick, and more stick. There is little connection between policy and policy goals. Perhaps we can try a little more carrot now and again?
2
How impressive. Trump's "winning" may actually bankrupt this nation in a time of unprecedented economic prosperity.
5
He’s up against the pro-business never-Trumpers who would sell their souls for the sake of profits. Trump is for America first. There is a crisis at the Southern border but he finds his hands tied by pro-immigrant Dems and business interests that want cheap immigrant labor. It’s an unholy alliance which is threatening our middle class and is anti-American. Trump is fighting for our country and for American workers.
6
@Edward - Trumps products are made in China. Trump has spent his life swindling Americans. Trump doesn't care if the entire country burns to the ground as long as his tacky Florida McMansion remains intact.
5
@Edward I'm wondering how immigration across the southern border affects you in Hawaii. Some specifics please.
2
Immigration through Mexico from Guatemala and Honduras is a very serious problem and quite large. The focus here naturally brings out all of the critics of the president who offer comments that do nothing, offer nothing, suggest nothing about how to handle the problem. While the president regularly exaggerates numbers and makes hyperbolic statements, at least he points at the problem and in this case, offers a possible, if ugly solution. There is little chance that a tariff on Mexican goods will survive for any length of time. The issue is what will Mexico contribute to solving this problem.
4
The immigration issue is an excuse.
The Trump Wall st administration is more cunning than they appear outwardly. I contend that the Administration deliberately renamed the Ryan "Duties" of two years ago; Tariffs, after the public quickly recognized that the Duties were taxes on them. It was a deliberate deception of the public, a bait and switch.
The December 2017 Tax Cuts bill created a 150 Billion dollar annual increase in the deficit and the Trump Wall st Administration has been offsetting that deficit increase with Tariff tax receipts now approximately equivalent to the deficit increase.
With the Tariff tax receipts nearly offsetting the tax cuts to the mostly wealthy's deficit, Trump's threat of tariff taxes on American purchased Mexican imports will result in a lower federal budget deficit in which it appears Trump will try to take credit for a balanced budget or seriously reduced deficit.
The Trump Wall st Administration is taxing the 99% of us to benefit the Wealthy and their reduced burden of caring for the needs of the nation and the services and benefits they get.
I remind everyone as Krugman pointed out today, the tariffs taxes of the 1920's preceded the Great Depression of the 1930's. Of course it took the Democrats led by Franklin Roosevelt to repair the economy with the Works projects.
97
@WITNESS OF OUR TIMES, you are probably right on this but how many people can see the indirect tax hitting them. Trump will have a "plausible" excuse all teed up to confuse his base. I mean they still believe his biggest tax break for them...
1
I hope VW, GM, Ford and other manufacturer's who have these tariffs imposed on their US sold vehicles change their sticker prices, adding a line item for Tariff. People need to see that tariffs are paid by consumers. Unfortunately if these companies raise their prices the price advantage will shift to autos made completely overseas, lowering US employment.
15
@Dan G Some people are blind to the immense expense illegal immigration is to to the U.S. It is amazing to watch people argue against common sense in order to disagree with Trump. Pay no attention to the cartels turning illegal immigration into big business while they simultaneously sexually assault the women and girls. Pay no attention to the billions of dollars in cash that flow illegally from the U.S. back to Mexico. Pay no attention to the tons and tons of drugs crossing the border illegally while resources are being spent on humanitarian needs. Pay no attention to the resources illegal immigrants have access to once settled in our own neighborhoods. This country is an excellent place to live because we have organized a low entropy system. Now that we are subverting our laws it will continue to become more and more chaotic. In 20 years from now people will not want to live here, let alone migrate here.
2
The US trade deficit with Mexico increased by 27% between 2016 and 2018. If the deficit continues at at its current rate for 2019, that will rise to 38%. Between 2016 and 2018, US imports from Mexico increased by 18%. The trade deficit in March 2019 was the highest ever. Trump has caused the problem.
64
@BlueMoose Way to go cherry picking on the facts. Here are the facts for multiple years. First is the net dollar difference (all deficits):
2006 - 64,531
2007 - 74,795
2008 - 64,721
2009 - 47,762
2010 - 66,321
2011 - 64,584
2012 - 61,718
2013 - 54,601
2014 - 54,722
2015 - 59,973
2016 - 63,872
2017 - 70,952
2018 - 81,517
Yes, the raw dollar amount is increasing. But as a percentage of the dollars of what we export here is how the deficit looks:
2006 - 48.25%
2007 - 55.03%
2008 - 42.80%
2009 - 37.06%
2010 - 40.52%
2011 - 32.57%
2012 - 28.59%
2013 - 24.16%
2014 - 22.71%
2015 - 25.36%
2016 - 27.68%
2017 - 29.16%
2018 - 30.76%
2019 (through Q1) 35.46%
So at this point it looks like at the first three years for Trump will all be lower percentage wise than the first three years for Obama. I agree that it is on an upswing but for anyone to act like the policies of the President are solely the fault of what happens to trade numbers in our very complex world demonstrates they have understanding of macroeconomics.
And by the way, from 2016 to 2018 US exports to Mexico increased by 15% so a net difference of 3%. Not exactly earth shattering.
8
For the millionth time, trade deficits don’t mean you’re losing.
10
@BlueMoose
A trade deficit is not even a problem though. We buy more Mexican goods than Mexico buys US goods. So what? The US has massive service, tech, and finance industries that don't sell goods like manufacturing does. Venezuela has a massive trade surplus. Is that a good thing? It really doesn't matter and the words "trade deficit" just sound bad even though it is absolutely not a bad thing to have for a developed economy.
9
I don't like Trumps Bully tactics. Something has to be done about the migrations and the Dems don't seem to have a plan yet. Get on the ball Dems!! Trump is winning on this score.
28
@Philip W Do you understand how tariffs on imported goods work?
It means the American importers pay the tariff and typically pass the costs along to their American customers. So prices in the U.S. for products imported from Mexico will increase 5-25% in American stores. A large portion of food in U.S. supermarkets comes from Mexico, along with other manufactured goods.
So the only way to "hurt" Mexico with tariffs is to hurt American pockets and businesses until goods are sourced from elsewhere, which may not be possible. Its high risk approach that hurts Americans, and may not deliver the intended results.
131
@Philip W
"Trump is winning on this score." What evidence is there that he is *winning* and what exactly is it that he wins?
If he wants something done about immigration and thinks Congress is not doing enough/anything, where is constructive leadership coming out of the White House. Yeah, none.
If he wants cooperation from Mexico or Central American counties to HELP stem the tide, where is the constructive cooperation coming from the White House? Yeah, none.
If he wants economic chaos here and distrust among our allies and trading partners regarding America being a reliable partner that is prone to self-defeating bullying tactics (the envy of any spoiled adolescent), he certainly is winning.
15
Senate Republicans should realize that retaliatory tariffs from Mexico are going to decimate their states first.
Everyone knows we need to discourage irregular migration, but Trump has no real plan. When he canceled DACA, Democrats tried to negotiate some reforms in exchange for legalizing DACA recipients. In his characteristic style, Trump made an outrageous take it or leave it demand, blowing up those negotiations. Trump prefers unilateral actions like tariffs and cancelling foreign aid, braggadocios acts that make it seem like he’s doing something. But they don’t work.
What does work is passing thoughtful legislative remedies to stop phony asylum claims and hire many more immigration judges. If such modest changes had been made two years ago under a Republican Congress, thousands of failed asylum claimants would be deported to Central America every week. That heavy reverse flow is ultimately what discourages migration. So too would be severe penalties on employers for hiring illegal workers. But why hasn’t Trump and the Chamber of Commerce types made some form of eVerify mandatory. And ask them why don’t we have a system to track visa overstayers.
9
It's like someone told 45 that this economy is indestructible, so he picked up a steel hammer trying to see if that's true.
235
@Umar,
Actually, the hammer is more like brittle glass. And it's shattering to pieces every place he slams it.
2
@Umar
If our economy goes under he’ll just blame Obama. He’s got his people believing he’s the second coming
11
@Wally Wolf
Putin must be over the moon on Trump's progress.
6
Fear mongering, lies and exaggerations, this is the rhetoric of a dishonest swindler:
“Look, millions of people are flowing through Mexico,” Mr. Trump said. “That’s unacceptable.”
If you believe this you deserve to be swindled by him, but he and his staff have their alternative facts, and those are what his followers want to hear.
203
@David Underwood By the end of this year, one million people will have illegally entered this country claiming phony asylum. And those are just the ones we caught or who presented themselves to Border Patrol.
There are 22-30 million illegals here in the US. This IS unacceptable.
8
@David Underwood
not to mention, could you imagine what would happen if someone tried these tactics on us?
Imagine if Mexicans were crossing through the US to get to Canada, and Canada told us that they were going to put tariffs on American goods until we stopped them. We'd tell them they were crazy and that we're not responsible for their immigration problem just because they're walking through our land. It's like if your neighbor's kids kept cutting through your yard to ruin your other neighbor's daffodils, and they decided to blame you because you didn't stop them. It's madness.
9
@David Underwood The are 25 million illegal aliens living in America today and they did not all overstay their VISAS. We have a major problem with illegal aliens who are usually not eligible for asylum crossing our southern border. Trump did not start the problem nor did he cause it to get worse. It is getting worse because every effort trump makes to stop illegal aliens from crossing into our country over the southern border is stopped by a Democrat appointed federal judge.
7
The only time the GOP objects to one of Trump's policies is when it threatens the thing that matters to them most--$$$. Maybe they can replace the stars on our flag with dollar signs, since it's clear that's where their true allegiance lies.
323
Even when it threatens our economy, they won't dare to stand up to him.
12
@AH
You're talking about the ceremonial Republican-Wall street battle flag.
Here out west we like our flag just the way it is, except that we would add one more star for Puerto Rico if they wanted it.
7
@AH
Let get Jasper Johns on that flag design!
4