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Are We Feeling Liberated Yet? - Trump thread #141

1000 replies

Spandauer · 03/04/2025 19:23

King Donald has bigly new tariffs, First Lady Elmo turns out to be ballot box poison and 'Pick Me Girl' Vance is a meanie to the EU.

(But at least the penguins on the Heard and McDonald Islands are wearing suits)

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5297058-trumpmusk-the-doge-and-pony-show-continues-trump-thread-140

Trump+Musk; the DOGE and Pony show continues -Trump thread #140 | Mumsnet

Trump, as out of control as a faulty Tesla, takes an ICE pick to the Constitution. Thanks to *@AcrossthePond55* and *@Jaichangecentfoisdenom *for the...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5297058-trumpmusk-the-doge-and-pony-show-continues-trump-thread-140

OP posts:
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127
Molly70 · 03/04/2025 22:18

cakeorwine · 03/04/2025 22:12

Won't that just make the cost of goods made in the US for people in the US more expensive - as it costs more to make things in the US than in some other countries?

It provides incentive for companies to make things in America so there will be no import tariff. Either way things will be more expensive but there will be more economic growth and higher wages in US as a result (supposedly)

unsync · 03/04/2025 22:19

I'm going with Russia and China as the ones that will benefit.

His logic doesn't stack up. Surely the way to encourage US companies to rehome manufacturing would be to provide incentives and tax breaks?

cakeorwine · 03/04/2025 22:19

pointythings · 03/04/2025 22:17

Won't happen. Not unless US manufacturing stars paying China wages - and the MAGAts won't accept that.

This.

If the US consumer wants goods that are not manufactured in the US, then they will pay more costs because of tariffs.

If companies move manufacturing to the US, then US consumers will pay more for those goods because it costs more to manufacture in the USA than in many other countries.

Either way, the US consumer pays more

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

TomPinch · 03/04/2025 22:28

Wallaw · 03/04/2025 21:32

The thing is that tariffs make sense if they're on imports of things you can produce domestically in large quantities. They make no sense on imports of things that you can't. They particularly make no sense on things you need to import in order to produce things domestically.

Edited

Well, if you want to raise revenue, and you know the imports will happen anyway, then they make sense. For example, a hundred or so years ago NZ had them precisely because they were things that couldn't be made here and the government needed revenue. Eventually income tax took over that role and tariffs faded away.

Put it this way: Trump has just imposed a huge tax on the American public and a huge proportion of them are probably cheering it. First-class bullshitting.

Odras · 03/04/2025 22:29

I guess I’m wondering about Trumps game plan here. I’m assuming he has some sort of plan. Do very wealthy people benefit from increased inflation which I assume these tariffs will cause?

Odras · 03/04/2025 22:31

TomPinch · 03/04/2025 22:28

Well, if you want to raise revenue, and you know the imports will happen anyway, then they make sense. For example, a hundred or so years ago NZ had them precisely because they were things that couldn't be made here and the government needed revenue. Eventually income tax took over that role and tariffs faded away.

Put it this way: Trump has just imposed a huge tax on the American public and a huge proportion of them are probably cheering it. First-class bullshitting.

Interesting so it is just a way to tax people without people blaming the government basically.

That makes some sense now.

I still think that an awful lot of Americans don’t realise that the cost will mostly be passed onto them.

Serpentstooth · 03/04/2025 22:53

King? I think you must mean Emperor. Look at his bigly new clothes. Tremendous.

BustingBaoBun · 03/04/2025 23:09

Thanks for new thread @Spandauer

Spandauer · 03/04/2025 23:14

Odras · 03/04/2025 22:31

Interesting so it is just a way to tax people without people blaming the government basically.

That makes some sense now.

I still think that an awful lot of Americans don’t realise that the cost will mostly be passed onto them.

If they only look at Fox News then they probably don't even know that tariffs are "a thing".

This is the current front page of Fox News' website.

The only section on tariffs focuses on Rep. Jared Golden saying he'll "vow to help work on key part of tariff plan."
https://bsky.app/profile/justinbaragona.bsky.social/post/3llwuhyhea22u

Are We Feeling Liberated Yet? - Trump thread #141
Are We Feeling Liberated Yet? - Trump thread #141
OP posts:
PickAChew · 03/04/2025 23:16

scissy · 03/04/2025 21:56

Well indeed. There's huge tariffs on Lesotho and Madagasca due to the way these tariffs were calculated. I didn't realise you could produce diamonds (Lesotho) or vanilla (Madagasca) in the US? I guess Americans will just have to get used to these being even more expensive or just unavailable.

Americans will just have to get used to milking those skunks.

PickAChew · 03/04/2025 23:25

Damn. Not skunks, it's beavers. Darned Canadians and their tariffs.

RafaistheKingofClay · 03/04/2025 23:32

cakeorwine · 03/04/2025 22:19

This.

If the US consumer wants goods that are not manufactured in the US, then they will pay more costs because of tariffs.

If companies move manufacturing to the US, then US consumers will pay more for those goods because it costs more to manufacture in the USA than in many other countries.

Either way, the US consumer pays more

Not forgetting the fact that if an American made product costs $5 and the same foreign import + tariff costs at least $9 there’s nothing stopping sellers selling it at $8 and just undercutting the foreign made product and keeping the profit.

TomPinch · 03/04/2025 23:56

Odras · 03/04/2025 22:29

I guess I’m wondering about Trumps game plan here. I’m assuming he has some sort of plan. Do very wealthy people benefit from increased inflation which I assume these tariffs will cause?

I'm not an economist (though I sometimes have to listen to them) and the logic is that inflation increases the value of assets (e.g. houses) with regards to other things (e.g. wages), so the well-off benefit from it.

Tariffs wouldn't ordinarily help the very rich as they tend to get rich from free trade and helps ordinary people more. E.g, you make cars - you get your steel from abroad because it's cheaper - and the local steelworks becomes uneconomic and closes.

Apparently an article in today's Times suggests the logic in the Trump tariffs is to rebalance US trade, hence the countries with the biggest surpluses have been gone after. I haven't read the article. But it doesn't make economic sense: running a deficit with a country might make the best sense, depending on what they're selling.

The other possibility is that Trump and his friends placed bets on the market, knowing what was coming but, tbh, I think they just like playing God. They'll always have a roof over their heads, unlike the little people.

Zooeyzebra · 04/04/2025 00:19

I believe we should all start calling them import taxes/duties. Americans don’t seem to understand the term tariffs so using language they understand may help

i think that within a year Chinese style slave labour will be achievable in the USA, jobs will be scarce and people will be prepared to work for much lower wages. Gutting SS, gutting government jobs and destroying the stock market will make many more Americans be willing to work like slaves the way they do in china

AcrossthePond55 · 04/04/2025 00:45

Molly70 · 03/04/2025 22:11

The benefit is to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US

Odd then that Stellantis (auto manufacturer) just laid off 900 workers in 5 plants and Whirlpool laid off 650 directly due to the tariffs.

AcrossthePond55 · 04/04/2025 00:49

Oh brother, that didn't take long, did it?

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-tariffs-trade-war-stock-market-04-03-2025/card/trump-on-whether-he-d-make-a-deal-on-tariffs-it-dependsoZod5dqUDqzjtDCuyymX

"President Trump signaled he is open to making deals to lower tariffs, but he didn’t outline a process through which countries might win relief. Asked if he’s willing to make a deal with countries, Trump told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One, “Well it depends.” He added, “As long as they are giving us something that is good.”
He said China could agree to a TikTok deal in exchange for lowering tariffs. Asked if there were ongoing talks with China about TikTok and tariff relief, Trump said, “No. I’m just using that as an example.” He continued, “The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”"

TomPinch · 04/04/2025 00:52

Worth pointing out that Trump has publicly accused the judge of bias. Surely that's contempt of court in the US. Nothing has been done.

prettybird · 04/04/2025 07:28

Apparently (dh tells me) the Mango Mussolini blew off attending Dover for the repatriation of the bodies of the 4 US servicemen who died in Lithuania to go golfing instead ShockAngry

prettybird · 04/04/2025 07:32

Bloody new app: my (shock) and (angry) emojis didn’t post at the end of my post (confused) (Deliberately posting with brackets so you can get a sense of what I was trying to achieve (hmm))

Wallaw · 04/04/2025 07:33

It's so funny how probably the most important piece of legislation aimed at making the US approach self sufficiency (in at least one critical area) was Biden's bipartisan CHIPS Act, which Trump, when last heard, was going to get rid of, and the media seems to have forgotten all about that.

@TomPinch
Criticising a sitting judge is not something that should be done by someone in Trump's position, but it's not contempt of court. Disobeying summons or rulings is and they're pushing perilously close against that.

I honestly can't believe that the Republicans are sitting by and not 25th amendmenting or impeaching him. He's probably (hopefully) destroyed a lot of their chances in 2026.

Wallaw · 04/04/2025 07:56

prettybird · 04/04/2025 07:28

Apparently (dh tells me) the Mango Mussolini blew off attending Dover for the repatriation of the bodies of the 4 US servicemen who died in Lithuania to go golfing instead ShockAngry

He's definitely not presidenting like someone concerned about his administration needing to win over an electorate in a free and fair election any time soon. And, if the reports are true, it wasn't even to golf, it was to attend an LV Golf dinner, as though the Saudi/Trump family connections aren't already corrupt enough.

BustingBaoBun · 04/04/2025 07:56

He really is a disgusting piece of shit isn't he? It is all about money with him.
What is he...narcissist, sociopath, psychopath ...all of them maybe

Are We Feeling Liberated Yet? - Trump thread #141
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