Donald Trump just imposed a 25 percent tariff on virtually all goods produced by America’s two largest trading partners — Canada and Mexico. He simultaneously established a 20 percent across-the-board tariff on Chinese goods.
As a result, America’s average tariff level is now higher than at any time since the 1940s.
Meanwhile, China and Canada immediately retaliated against Trump’s duties, with the former imposing a 15 percent tariff on American agricultural products and the latter putting a 25 percent tariff on $30 billion of US goods. Mexico has vowed to mount retaliatory tariffs of its own.
This trade war could have far-reaching consequences. Trump’s tariffs have already triggered a stock market sell-off and cooling of manufacturing activity. And economists have estimated that the trade policy will cost the typical US household more than $1,200 a year, as the prices of myriad goods rise.
All this raises the question: Why has the US president chosen to upend trade relations on the North American continent? The stakes of this question are high, since it could determine how long Trump’s massive tariffs remain in effect. Unfortunately, the president himself does not seem to know the answer.
In recent weeks, Trump has provided five different — and contradictory — justifications for his tariffs on Mexico and Canada…
…more in the article.
Tariffs allow Trump to pay for his tax cuts to the ultra wealthy by stealing from the working class, without them knowing. He also gets to position himself as a strongman and negotiator. There you go.
The guy who said he’d build a wall & Mexico would pay for it doesn’t know why he started a trade war?
That’s a shock.
Trump said he would annex canada. Either he really knows or he really doesn’t. I believe the latter. I also believe he’s just doing what elon tells him to do.
Trump saying absolutely ridiculous things is just another day. Justin Trudeau, on the other hand, saying the United States will never annex Canada? Now that’s some fuckin’ rhetoric.
Same with China. They outright said “we are ready for war in every shape possible.”
The state of things is absolutely fucked lmfao
I for one do not blame China in the least for using this language. The US is so volatile, who can say what they’re going to do from one day to the next? It’s a fair warning to the US admin to chill the fuck out.
Does he know where he is, what time of day, or even which day of the week? ok maybe we should see if he can repeat this: “Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV” he seemed to pride himself in his ability to allegedly be able to do so… …allegedly…
Cuz he is a puppet, a Russian asset and generally not an intelligent person nor a good businessman.
Yep, he has no political will of his own, he’s a fucking geriatric reality TV host, he has no energy left, he’s being paraded around to push the talking points of people like Stephen Miller and Putin. He gives zero shits and it shows. He barely bothers trying to articulate his reasoning for anything, and he still has a rabid following of zealots who have turned off all thought and will just invent his justifications for him.
Market manipulation. If you can tank the stock market at a time YOU know well in advance, then you stand to profit “tremendously”.
He or people in his stead might have purchased put options ahead of the anouncement of tariffs. -> profits When he then says “it was just a prank brooo!” he can make money by buying the now devalued assets and sell them as soon as they recover. rinse repeat.
I smell market manipulation maybe I am mistaken this smell and it is really the smell of mental instability…
This only works so well. Especially when he’s proven that he flip flops as often as he does, no one will reinvest, because who knows when the next time he does something stupid to tank the market again. The smarter ones will actually catch onto the grift, and see it for what it is, and just pull out altogether so when the recession/depression hits full on, they at least have something instead of nothing.
These people that are dismantling your country and robbing the coffers, they are waging a class war. They don’t care about borders. They’re tired that the other classes have any power or wealth at all, they want their last half of a percent
Idk if anyone will still have anything left after there is an all out market crash, who knows really? it could be going global… our world is more interconnected than it seems. especially economically…
He is a Russian asset and has been since at least 2014
He has to be. I can’t think of any other reason why he’d be trying to hard to antagonize and disrespect long-time allies, while praising Russia. He then made that ridiculous statement that Ukraine started the war, when Russia was the one who invaded them, and also said that Zelensky should be ‘nicer’ to Putin. But Putin, who ordered the attack that caused who knows how many deaths, shouldn’t be ‘nicer’?
There was also the first term, where Trump fired the FBI director over an investigation into Russia, and then told Russia that he fired ‘that nut job’. What kind of message does that send to their own people? Not just that he fired the director, but that he bragged about it to the people he was investigating.
I honestly think most of the GOP knows, but they’re too embarrassed to admit it. Or maybe it’s just pride, they think it’s beneath them to be held accountable to anyone.
…or they’re on the take as well.
Yeah. Dude knows exactly why he’s weakening America as much and on every front as possible, it’s just he can’t exactly say the truth and isn’t smart enough to effectively lie about it.
It was really weird when he was telling Zelensky during that meeting that he and Putin had been through hell with the collusion investigation. Like why would putin care?
Also, why should Zelensky care.
He keeps claiming they are “abusing us”, but… Like, why did he make that deal then last time he was in office?
Of course he knows. The goal is to crash the economy so the people who still have money when everyone lost theirs, i.e. the oligarchs, can buy up all these assets/companies that went bankrupt. And in the future when the markets recover, they have even more power. Losing a couple billion now is nothing in comparison to the long term gain
Of course he doesn’t. He should be in elder care not in the White House.
Synonym for the past 4 years tbh. But hey, I (as a non-American) would be okay with old but not insane president. Guess we got both this time around.
That was how I made peace with Biden in the first place.
“You aren’t voting for the man, you’re voting for the cabinet and judges he appoints”.
Atleast Biden’s cabinet was more-or-less competent. I didn’t always agree with them, but atleast there was a logic outside of “this will only benefit the obscenely rich/Russia”
Exactly this, Biden wasn’t better health wise but surrounded himself with competent people.
Right now we have a fox news host leading defense, an anti-Vax moron handling a measles outbreak, a wrestling tycoon killing our education system, and more.
Putin said: “go forth and break shit” and here we are.
yup. it’s successfully costing america its allies.
It’s not inappropriate though. I’ve been saying for years Canada should not be so closely allied with such a fickle country.
Also Putin, " say I’m not a bad person"
Uhm something something illegal rapist immigrants high on fentanyl. I’ve got tee-time in 10.
Apparently It’s supposed to get rid of the browns and the gays and the women and everyone else until it’s just a bunch of old white men sitting around, counting money, and masturbating to AI porn? Kind of like a hateful gross version of Scrooge McDuck.
Don’t be daft. There’ll still be women and browns! They’ll keep the republican pickme women who want nothing in life other than to be bred, and the browns that mow their lawns.
It seems to be working, I signed my ticket out of here. I’m a brown and queer woman. Just need to survive until immigration goes through.
Godspeed friend, hope this place will be worthy of you again someday
If you don’t mind, how are you pulling it off? Just trying to get ideas too.
Work transfer through my day job. I will note I’m taking a 50% pay cut for this, but the mental security and new friends will be worth it
Scrooge McDuck was also pretty awful. They had to invent a nemesis for him, Flintheart Glumgold, just to make him not seem so bad by comparison.
Donald is in indentured servitude after all. Gnarly man.
Nah, he’s a inbred golden retriever, that Russia and musk owns
I was talking about Donald Duck. This made me laugh though. Thanks for brightening my day.
