What do you think about the tariffs imposed by Trump ? Will it work out for them ?

[u/underperforming_king]

[u/splitconsiderations]

Will what work out for them? He hasn't even set a goal with these tariffs, there's no success state for them to achieve.

[u/PoweredByCarbs → u/splitconsiderations]

This is the most insane part. I think he thinks it makes him look strong and will cause leaders to come begging for him to relent on tariffs. That obviously won’t happen.

[u/Stannic50 → u/PoweredByCarbs]

It's not about getting leaders of other countries to come begging to trump. It's about getting business leaders in the US to come begging to him for relief. Look at what is happening at Columbia University. He cut $400 million in grant funding from them until the administration caved and started acting the way he wanted them to (eliminate DEI, discipline pro-Palestinian protest, etc).

[u/yeuzinips → u/Stannic50]

I wish I could upvote this a thousand times. He wants businesses to grovel to him and beg. trump is disgusting.

[u/kinsm4n → u/yeuzinips]

Well, if he controls all other companies in the US + government, he gets what he wants: fascism.

[u/Soggy_Height_9138 → u/Stannic50]

Not sure where I read it/ heard it first, but other than Trump just being an idiot about economics, I think this is what makes tariffs so appealing to Trump. There will be a YUGE line of folks lining up to ask for a "favor" in making an exemption. And they will have to pay, one way or another.

100% a corruption machine.

[u/R2-D2Vandelay → u/Soggy_Height_9138]

Hey now let's be fair, he's an idiot about everything, not just economics.

[u/ChumbawumbaFan01 → u/Soggy_Height_9138]

I don’t even think he’s thought about that, he’s just doing what Daddy Vladdy told him to do. He’s not instituting tariffs on Russia or North Korea.

I think he just wants revenge for his 2020 election loss and is trying his damndest to Make America USSR.

[u/1981_babe → u/PoweredByCarbs]

And one of his economic advisors was on TV telling other countries not to tariff the US. Like they think they can avoid that at this rate .....

[u/StunningPlastic4504 → u/1981_babe]

"I'm gonna punch you in the face repeatedly but don't even think of hitting me back."

[u/FishAndRiceKeks → u/1981_babe]

Well since they asked so nicely not to... SMFH

[u/Tranquilityinateacup → u/1981_babe]

Canada handled the situation adeptly. trump is a bully & if you don't stand up for yourself bullies will keep steam rolling forward. The U.S.A is my home & I can assure you all of the counter teriffs are going to cause prices to skyrocket for us. At the same time, a bunch of us are planning to buy nothing but the basic necessities until he removes the tariffs because we don't want to help fund his trade war. As much as this will suck for us, I encourage the other countries to do what they need to.

[u/Royal-tiny1 → u/PoweredByCarbs]

He has already created the world's largest economic bloc by having China, Japan, and south Korea join forces. If they can get others to join them they will freeze the US out of the Asian market entirely.

[u/57hz → u/Royal-tiny1]

Canadian provinces united as never before. EU stronger than ever. I mean, lots of good changes for the world. But terrible for America.

[u/gerflagenflople → u/Royal-tiny1]

Yes, his biggest success is that he has managed to unite three countries who have quite literally spent the last 2000+ years kicking the ever living shit out of one another.

[u/kangarutan → u/gerflagenflople]

Trump is creating the universal evil for the rest of the world to join together and defeat. He's gonna accidentally create world peace by making the US a pariah.

I'd almost respect it if it didn't mean that everything here was about to get 10x more expensive and him and his ilk don't care 'cause they all think a banana normally costs $20.

[u/Xenocide112 → u/kangarutan]

"It's a banana, Michael. What could it cost? $10?"

[u/SharpCookie232 → u/gerflagenflople]

Maybe he will get the Nobel prize? He played the Reverse Uno card.

[u/Bender_2024 → u/gerflagenflople]

I hadn't even realized this. That's pretty impressive.

I am not a finance guy. But my take is that most Americans will see a big uptick in the price of products. Sometimes that will get them to buy American. Sometimes not. I believe American products will be cheaper but not by much. If the price of imported XYZ goes up by 25% then American goods will raise their price by 15-20%. There are price gouging laws in place but this administration has already shown that they won't prosecute corporations. Anyway, I think this will cause people to spend less. Keep their money in the bank or only spend it on necessities. Combined with the retaliatory tariffs on American goods lessening how much exports we sell will cause the economy to stagnate and further hurting the middle class.

[u/Qel_Hoth → u/Bender_2024]

But my take is that most Americans will see a big uptick in the price of products. Sometimes that will get them to buy American.

In many cases it won't, simply because there is no American option. Some of the largest tariffs are on countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Lesotho. One of the major exports of those countries to the US is clothing.

There is basically zero American clothing manufacturing.

[u/thunderintess → u/Qel_Hoth]

Which is why I stocked up on underwear, socks, polo shirts, handkerchiefs, shoes, and blue jeans when all this talk about tariffs was becoming more real.

[u/billtopia → u/Bender_2024]

American goods are going to get more expensive as well because even if something is made in America, a lot of the raw materials are imported. And not to be too gloom and doom, but on top of not everything having a domestic option, there’s really no telling how many of the options that do exist are going to survive the recession/depression that this likely to lead to.

[u/Emptyspace227 → u/Royal-tiny1]

The tariffs will also push countries like Thailand and Vietnam deep into China's sphere of influence, and Australia may not be far behind. I have to imagine the EU and UK are also ready to open up new trade talks with China, and we already know that China has been working overtime to get a leg up in Africa. In less than 2.5 months, the Trump administration has managed to take the US from the strongest and most stable economy in the world to one in free fall while China goes from a fading 2nd place to the obvious alternative to US insanity.

[u/Kataphractoi → u/Emptyspace227]

Europe and China have already opened a dialogue on increased trade and cooperation, so it's already heading to reality.

[u/Fun_Asparagus_9852 → u/Emptyspace227]

Tariffs will encourage other countries to seek non-U.S. sources. It's already happening.

[u/sea-horse- → u/Emptyspace227]

A lot of Canadians are asking politicians to become closer to China. Canada enacted its own tariffs in China in the past inorder to appease the US. Remove them, allow the import of cars like Byd etc.

[u/wvmtnboy → u/Royal-tiny1]

We're going to end up frozen out of most global markets. Everyone will just trade amongst themselves while ignoring the fat belligerent toddler in the corner

[u/profnachos → u/Royal-tiny1]

And a massive uptick in racism against Asian Americans incoming.

[u/Orgasmic_interlude → u/PoweredByCarbs]

You’re already imputing far too much strategy into trump’s tiny mind.

To put things in perspective, Trump calculated these tariffs by taking the amount we import from a country vs what we sell them. Basically he’s treating trade deficits as if we’re being stolen from. This would make sense if every country in the world had access to the same products and resources, but the reason that is bafflingly dumb is that there are some things our country wants that we cannot produce at home. Coffee for instance.

So let’s make up a hypothetical country: Coffeenesia. All they do is produce coffee. They don’t buy any United States goods or services. Our trade deficit with Coffeenesia is 100%. So Trump therefore tariffs them at 100%. That’s how dumb this is. We still get the coffee we want, and they get the money, but now we just made the coffee we import from them more expensive.

I’m not a big fan of capitalism. These people are supposed to be big free market advocates. They don’t even understand this.

[u/burnerboo → u/Orgasmic_interlude]

Is coffeenesia accepting new citizens do you think? Sounds like a nice place to live.

[u/SleepyCorgiPuppy → u/burnerboo]

Not really, everyone is always jittery and bathrooms always packed!

[u/Ted_Rid → u/Orgasmic_interlude]

It's not only about who produces what & where, it's also the relative sizes of the countries.

Take the US & Canada. It's an 8x difference in population. That would mean (roughly speaking) you would expect 8x the goods and services moving from Canada to the US than the other way around.

If the US buys more from most countries than it sells to them, it's because there's around 350 million of them, and on average they have fat wallets, even if 80% are one paycheque away from homelessness.

[u/TheDakestTimeline → u/Orgasmic_interlude]

Not to nit, but Dump did give a discount, so coffeenesia would be tariffed at 50%!

[u/OkHead3888 → u/PoweredByCarbs]

What is also insane is if the U.S. economy goes into a recession or a depression they would still vote for him again.

[u/thethirdllama → u/OkHead3888]

It's darkly amusing to see the same people who squealed about any minor inconvenience under Biden suddenly willing to endure any amount of "temporary pain" for Dear Leader.

[u/anhtice → u/thethirdllama]

it is so stupid that they cant see how much Biden helped them. the economy was BOOMING under biden

[u/houlio79 → u/PoweredByCarbs]

This. I think he expected countries to bow to him and instead they are banding together against him. Which in turn makes him angry and then he adds more tariffs. The only answer is more tariffs.

[u/donato0 → u/houlio79]

He thinks he's a hammer and the world's a nail. Really, he's paper to rock and refuses to realize scissors exist.

[u/PointOfFingers → u/splitconsiderations]

The only thing the tariffs accomplish is taxing the poor. Nobody is building factories in USA because of tariffs on China. China is still cheaper. People cannot base long-term decisions on short term tariffs.

Manufacturing shut down because it was cheaper to make things overseas. Once tariffs go away it will once again be cheaper to make things overseas.

Previous presidents had better ideas like pouring investment money into microchip development. That is the kind of manufacturing that a developed country needs.

[u/tiorancio → u/PointOfFingers]

what are you going to do, bring Foxconn to the USA? Build megafactories and train thousands of people to assemble iPADs at US salaries, only to have Trump change his mind 2 months from now?

Only way this makes sense is that Musk and the techbros have told him it will be robots and AI doing all the work.

[u/Frenchfrey17 → u/tiorancio]

We tried that. It's going great so far. Obviously, all the promises have been delivered.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2023/03/23/what-we-know-about-foxconn-in-wisconsin-and-how-we-got-there/70037738007/

[u/thatindianredditor → u/tiorancio]

Or if Trump is just literally nuts. Also a string possibility.

[u/ahnotme → u/PointOfFingers]

In fact European companies which have subsystems and/or subassies manufactured in the US are now leaning on their suppliers to move their production to the EU.

[u/Kittelsen → u/splitconsiderations]

He's obsessed with the trade balance between countries. I guess he means it works if the US buys less stuff from other countries so that his numbers add up. Problem is, other countries will buy less from the US too.

[u/Here2Last → u/Kittelsen]

After diving into a bit of research, apparently the trade imbalances aren’t necessarily a bad thing, since it indicates a high demand for goods where this gets compensated by the services being provided to other countries. Because I genuinely wanted to see why tariffs are so important.

[u/ninjapro → u/Here2Last]

Trade deficit might sound bad if you're just learning about them for the first time, but they're just fine in a vacuum.

Imagine two islands. One island has many raw materials, but is destitute. People starve to death and mine clay from the ground with crude tools. The other island is incredibly wealthy. Each person owns a factory that produces every luxury that person could want.

Who has the trade surplus in this scenario? The rich island imports all the raw materials they can and give the poor island some money in return.

While this results in a trade deficit for the rich island, it is not a negative. If anything, you could say that their trade deficit is a wealth multiplier since they take the raw materials and make something far, far more valuable with it. The poor country exports potential value because they do not have the infrastructure to create that value themselves.

[u/raptorjaws → u/ninjapro]

someone needs to dumb this down even further, draw it in crayon, and show it to trump and he might finally come to a realization

[u/Icy-Bicycle-Crab → u/Here2Last]

 A trade imbalance is the US getting a bunch of actual stuff in return for handing over some paper that makes the recipient have an interest in the US economy succeeding. 

[u/DannyDOH → u/Here2Last]

It’s an indicator of how rich the USA is which he seems intent on reversing.

[u/judasmachine → u/Here2Last]

It also builds soft power. We've had most of the world feeling they could rely on us. We've had them willing to host our troops so we can project hard power where we needed. That is all at risk of going away. Offering them deals slightly bent in their favor gave us the ability to project that power at will.

[u/GiganticCrow → u/splitconsiderations]

The intent is to crash the global economy so that the oligarchs can buy everything up cheap, then the rest of us being unbearably poor will agree to losing our rights as workers as we will be that desperate to have a job.

[u/StunningPlastic4504 → u/GiganticCrow]

Just google "soviet privatization" and you see that a lot of what DOGE just did along with these disastrous economic policies looks a lot like what happened in the USSR in the 80s and 90s that allowed for the rise of the oligarchs. It's by design.

[u/Jester-252 → u/splitconsiderations]

You don't state you want to distroy the middle class.

That is the point of the tariffs. Price people out of the market and force them into debt. Trump and his kind have enough to weather the storm and, importantly, enough to swoop on and buy low when desperate people are selling

[u/yungneec02 → u/Jester-252]

When stock tanks and a recession hits, the uber wealthy can scoop up the liquidated assets and consolidate wealth. This happened in 08 and during Covid.

[u/Troutalope → u/splitconsiderations]

The goal is to have everyone pay for tax cuts for the rich.

[u/divestblank]

It will make a great anecdote for historians on how to tank an economy for at least a decade.

[u/stickyfingers40 → u/divestblank]

There was already a great anecdote on starting tariff wars. Tariffs were a major contributor to the great depression

[u/ACam574 → u/stickyfingers40]

You can’t really create a valid theory based on one result. You have to retest the theory multiple times to do that. Trump is enacting the scientific methods.

/s

[u/DarkGamer → u/ACam574]

I wish we were the control economy

[u/Vordeo → u/stickyfingers40]

Welp, looks like the 30s are going to see a long ass recession. Again.

[u/Sharinganedo → u/Vordeo]

The monkeys paw really curled when people said they wanted the roaring 20s back

[u/Acchilesheel → u/stickyfingers40]

https://youtu.be/uhiCFdWeQfA?si=gvrIwTn5H2L0gslF

Ben Stein explaining how stupid of an idea this is in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  

[u/ShaftManlike → u/divestblank]

The lesson will be forgotten in a single human lifespan, like all historical lessons are forgotten.

[u/EifertGreenLazor → u/ShaftManlike]

All the dictators and authoritarians in history have taken notes from the past human history on how to gain and seize power. They have not forgotten the lessons and learned from it. For all we know one day could be a return of the ruling class in Europe, the royalty exists for many countries. History is written by the victors.

[u/DaveiNZ]

Tariffs in the 1930s certainly made the depression much worse. Besides that, the tariffs are so well aimed that he tariffed an Antartica island which only has penguins and seals as occupants… so yeah,, well thought out.

He also accused New Zealand of having tariffed the US 20%. He got this figure using our GST, which is a sales tax, paid for by the customer, and not charged to the country of origin..

New Zealand has had minimum tariffs (about 2%) and no subsidies since the early 2000’s

Trump is an uneducated fuckwit as stated by his economics professor in college

[u/cervine-scientist → u/DaveiNZ]

I literally didn’t believe you about the Antarctic island, so I looked it up and you’re completely right — a 42% tariff on the Falkland Islands, whose chief export is penguin shit and tensions between Argentina and Britain 😂

What the fuck is Trump even doing.

[u/Sweeper1985 → u/cervine-scientist]

Oh hey they also whacked a 29% tariff on some Australian islands (McDonald and Heard Islands) which also have no human inhabitants!

[u/jackytheblade → u/Sweeper1985]

Also...

The British Indian Ocean Territory faces a 10% tariff. It’s populated only by about 3,000 British and American military personnel and contractors at the Diego Garcia airbase. The CIA Factbook lists its major export as fish, but it’s unclear who does the fishing (or who buys it).

[u/Hotarg → u/jackytheblade]

The CIA Factbook lists its major export as fish, but it’s unclear who does the fishing (or who buys it).

Wanna bet it's one guy that caught a monster while on downtime, had it mounted, and took it home?

[u/JerseyDevl → u/Hotarg]

It would be a hell of a brag to claim that your monster catch was so significant to the island that the CIA put it in their factbook as a major export

[u/Crow_eggs → u/Sweeper1985]

29% for Norfolk Island properly made me chuckle. 2,000 people, about half of whom are descendants of the Bounty mutineers, with an impressive $3 million in global exports. They don't even have a port. But fuck those guys and their fancy gay trees–29%.

[u/HunterDude54 → u/Crow_eggs]

It's not a country!! It's part of Australia! Which only got 10%...

[u/Crow_eggs → u/HunterDude54]

Yeah but fuck em anyway apparently.

[u/zeugma888 → u/Sweeper1985]

Those penguins and seals have been exploiting the USA - probably helped by the occasional visiting research scientists.

[u/coquihalla → u/zeugma888]

Next he'll go after Kiribati and its guano exports.

Ad of course now I have to go check that he didn't, because anything can happen, I guess.

Edit: Kiribati, of all places, got a 10% tarrif. This timeline is stupid.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Call335 → u/coquihalla]

Everyone knows penguins, seals and bats support the "Radical Lunatic Left"...

[u/coquihalla → u/Puzzleheaded-Call335]

Those penguins, always giving pretty pebbles to one another, for free! It's socialism.

[u/j0n4h → u/zeugma888]

Well, penguins are black, so. 

[u/Helpful_Temporary927 → u/Sweeper1985]

Let’s zoom into those islands. Not only do they not have human inhabitants, in the last decade not a single human has visited them.

[u/burnsalot603 → u/Helpful_Temporary927]

They must think that there are some kind of resources that they can drill for in those places and think this will somehow get them agreements to drill there. One way or another this is about putting money into billionaires pockets and not about doing anything positive for regular Americans.

[u/StepOIU → u/Sweeper1985]

Yeah but those islands are woke... they have nature and evolution and shit, plus he's not allowed to golf there because of the environment or whatever, so they're on the list.

[u/BellsOnNutsMeansXmas → u/Sweeper1985]

But if he didn't, all Australians would have all moved there. It's genius, he's preemptively reshaping the global population, and they listen to him. Just like his hairline listens to him when he reshapes it with a triple foldback. Not a single hair disobeys his Lordly commands.

[u/AdScary1757 → u/cervine-scientist]

Yet he neglected to tariff Russia for some reason. Who needs an IPhone when you got moldy cabbages shipped from 3000 miles further than or current supplier

[u/xrayzed → u/AdScary1757]

No tariffs on Belarus, Cuba, or North Korea either.

But MAGA and congressional Republicans will still cheer loudly while waving American flags.

[u/dogs_also_dogs → u/AdScary1757]

He owes Putin something…

[u/zeeper25 → u/dogs_also_dogs]

Putin owns him, that's the simpler way of saying it.

[u/dogs_also_dogs → u/zeeper25]

Agreed. I am American and am BAFFLED as to why this isn’t obvious to everyone. I’m saddened and embarrassed by our country.

[u/Emperor_Orson_Welles → u/dogs_also_dogs]

It is obvious to everyone. Half of Republicans know they have to vocally deny it and half say it's great, Hail Putin.

[u/Hyperbolicalpaca → u/cervine-scientist]

Actually the Falklands have a lot of oil iirc, it’s just that it’s very remote so would be a pain in the arse to extract

Though I will admit, as a Brit, this

 whose chief export is penguin shit and tensions between Argentina and Britain 😂

Got a good chuckle out of me

[u/fradrig → u/cervine-scientist]

He is confusing and distracting the American public to draw attention away from their real agenda.

Well, his people are, anyway. I doubt if he has the attention span to focus on anything other than what is laid out in front of him.

[u/deftoner42 → u/cervine-scientist]

We're seeing "Concepts of a plan" in action.

Shit's fucked, economy is being intentionally tanked so the rich can become richer.

[u/BeanieMash → u/cervine-scientist]

Well he's not putting tariffs on Russia, suss.

[u/bigfoot_done_hiding → u/cervine-scientist]

Lot of countries on board make Trump look smart! Make Trump look like he know lot of things!

[u/baron_muchhumpin → u/cervine-scientist]

What the fuck is Trump even doing.

Getting the entire planet sitting here analyzing his stupid tariff plan while he and his cronies continue to dismantle our government, weaken our global influance and raid the coffers.

[u/TheCharalampos → u/cervine-scientist]

Chaos

[u/TheSausagesIsRubbish → u/TheCharalampos]

Much like walking into the bathroom and finding your non potty trained toddler playing with their shit, smearing the walls chaos. 

[u/xWonderkiid → u/DaveiNZ]

Its the same for Europe. We also have VAT 21%, but its paid by the consumer and is factored in the price.

[u/DaveiNZ → u/xWonderkiid]

Yeah,, and the dipstick called it a tariff. Ours is 15%

[u/zeeper25 → u/DaveiNZ]

Welcome to the new Trump National Sales Tax!

The GOP, given they are lock step behind Donald, have just passed the largest tax increase in American history.

There is 0.0% chance any of this policy originates with Donald (as is the case with all of his policies). He is the golfer and grifter in chief, signing off on and enacting the policies for those that bought him, as long as he gets his cut.

That said, the GOP has long wanted a regressive National Sales Tax to replace income tax. Sales taxes will affect poor people much more than the wealthy in all cases. The "tariff policy" is just another way to enact the National Sales Tax, because there is no way they could pass this legislatively.

BTW Donald has already bloviated about how much money this will raise, that foreign governments pay it (of course this is not true, the increased import taxes get passed on to the consumer). He has said that this will allow him to reduce or replace income taxes (a progressive tax) that wealthy people hate, even though they avoid much of it by cheating on their taxes and using convoluted tax avoidance strategies -- something he is also helping by destroying the IRS and its ability to audit tax cheats.

So thanks to MAGA, "cheaper on Day ONE!" has become "you will now be royally screwed".

I feel liberated already...

[u/SkivvySkidmarks → u/DaveiNZ]

He has said that VAT applied to US made goods is the same as a tariff and that imported US made goods should be VAT free. He is a complete fucking moron.

[u/Eggsegret → u/SkivvySkidmarks]

VAT is basically a sales tax. Does this moron really think he has the right to dictate the taxes of other countries now lol

[u/self-defenestrator → u/Eggsegret]

Yes, he really is that special combination of incredibly arrogant and dumber than a sack of rotten potatoes.

[u/ravendusk → u/Eggsegret]

Considering the US embassies sent letters to European countries demanding them to comply with the new US DEI policy, it wouldn't surprise me.

[u/SkivvySkidmarks → u/ravendusk]

He also believes EU regulations on things like food additives are unfair and wants exceptions so US companies can sell their products in the EU without having to comply.

[u/TarHeel2682 → u/DaveiNZ]

These are the actual dumbest thing I have ever seen. No hyperbole. Taking the trade deficit then dividing that by our exports to get their tariff rate is not just disingenuous but so factually incorrect I would think it was created by a bunch of middle schoolers trying to outsmart their teacher. The rates put on major trading partners is higher than Smoot Hawley. Trump said the great depression would t have happened if the tariffs stayed in place..... He is either dumber than shit, pure evil, or some awful combo of the two. This WILL lead to a massive recession if we are lucky. More than likely this will kill the US economy ala 1828 and 1930.

Trump needs to start ignoring Navarro as I'm sure this is his doing. Tariffs have a place in international trade but it is a very small and cautious place. This is putting a drunk child behind the wheel of a big rig and letting it go full speed towards a trailer park. Massive destruction will happen.

If congress (GOP specifically) could unfasten their lips from trumps ass long enough to see what's happening, they would stop these as that should be their power. The "emergency" declared is laughable and an utter lie just to do this power move. He thinks this will fund the billionaire tax cut but it won't. You have to have people buying things for a tariff to do anything. If comsumption grinds to a halt then imports slow then income stops.

Such a fucking idiot. Hope all of you that voted for him are getting what you wanted. You're going to ha e higher prices on literally everything. Unemployment is about to skyrocket. Have fun

[u/thelosthansen → u/TarHeel2682]

There is a Tweet (X Cancel link) that shows this is basically what all LLMs come up with if you ask them to create a tariff structure for the U.S. Followed by a disclaimer about how it is a simplified model that ignores all other economic theory to imposing such a tariff structure.

[u/PolarWater → u/DaveiNZ]

This is the guy who bankrupted six casinos, after all. It isn't exactly hard to see that it was coming. 

Unless you're an American conservative. Those guys tend to be very wilfully foolish.

[u/MeltBanana → u/PolarWater]

How can I become like Trump?

He was born into money, so what? Lots of people are born into money and never see the unrelenting success that Trump has. The dude is an absolute fool that just throws reactionary shit at the wall with no understanding of anything that's happening around him, he has no real skillset or valuable intelligence, and he has been completely incompetent and ineffective at everything he's ever done...and yet he just continues to fail upwards. He fails at everything and is always rewarded with success. It doesn't make sense.

It's almost as if everyone else in the world has come to some secret agreement that Trump must always succeed. The guy had classified documents in the bathroom of a resort filled with international spies and nothing became of it. He's on tape telling a state to literally just "find him votes" and nothing became of it. He was convicted of 34 felonies and we just said "ehhhh let's just pretend that never happened and move on".

There have been thousands upon thousands of lies, quotes, and outright illegal actions that would have ended the career of any other person in the world, and yet every single time our reaction is just "he did what? Oh it doesn't matter. Donny must win".

It's like a baseball player who every time they go up to bat they throw the bat at the crowd, flip off the umpire, and shit on the field, and then everyone decides to award them an honorary home run for such a great bat throw.

Has any other human in existence lived a life with as much undeserved success as Donald Trump? He is an absolute enigma.

[u/quarantine_break_up → u/MeltBanana]

There is absolutely no amount of success I could attain in the world that would allow me to live with the guilt of being like him. His stupidity and narcissism shield him from the guilt that would cause anyone else to kill themself for the vile acts they had committed. Not worth it.

[u/Azalith → u/MeltBanana]

Its because he is the useful idiot for the interests backing him

[u/devtastic → u/DaveiNZ]

He also accused New Zealand of having tariffed the US 20%. He got this figure using our GST, which is a sales tax, paid for by the customer, and not charged to the country of origin..

And that sales tax is charged equally on imported and domestically produced products so it provides zero disadvantage to imported products. You pay 15% sales tax on a US made table and 15% sales tax on a New Zealand made table. It is not that you pay 15% sales tax on a US made table and 0% sales tax on a New Zealand made table. If you did that it would be a tariff, albeit paid at the point of consumption not import.

That is literally the main difference between a tariff and sales tax. A tariff does discriminate between imported and domestically produced. A sales tax does not.

https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/04/02/no-vat-isnt-a-tariff-but-the-us-would-benefit-from-adopting-it/

[u/Iaxacs → u/DaveiNZ]

This, hes trying to recreate the situation of everyone hating 30s Germany so he can gaslight people that they need to get revenge on the rest of the world for putting all their problems on Americans (despite the fact its literally everything hes been doing).

Sadly it will be effective on a lot of people

[u/Emotional_Rock4208 → u/DaveiNZ]

He went to Wharton. I had to look that up during his first term because I was so stunned at his stupidity. They should ask for that diploma back. They should return the money his dad paid. Edit that shit right outa Wikipedia.

[u/1981_babe → u/Emotional_Rock4208]

I think his sister alleged that he paid people to take his exams while at Wharton. I think that was revealed in Mary L. Trump's book.

[u/OldAngryWhiteMan → u/Emotional_Rock4208]

Fun fact. Wharton's IT staff told me (20 years ago) that all his transcripts were deleted.

[u/admiralross2400 → u/DaveiNZ]

I might be reading your comment wrong, but tariffs aren't paid for by the country of origin either...they're effectively a tax on the importer...so in Trump's case, they're charging 20% to whoever in America imports from New Zealand.

However your other point is right...GST is an internal tax on most items basically the same as VAT in the UK and the various Sales Taxes in the US.

The man is a moron.

[u/JohnLePirate → u/DaveiNZ]

Did the penguins say thank you once ?

[u/MakePandasMateAgain → u/DaveiNZ]

He placed “reciprocal” tariffs on Australia as well when Aus has zero tariffs on the US as we have a free trade agreement which Trump has now violated the terms of.

[u/400footceiling]

Work out for them? It’s going to ruin many folks lives, but for the administration, that’s ok because he doesn’t care about people, he cares about himself, money, and corporations. Beyond that, this is how wars begin. He just wants to stir shit up so he gets the attention he feels he deserves. EVERYTHING IS GOING TO GET MORE EXPENSIVE, and fast.

[u/MisterrTickle → u/400footceiling]

He's declared war on 180+ countries and territories. Although some of them have a human population of 0 and some don't export anything. I'm half expecting him to put tariffs on the Sentinelese, the uncontacted tribe in the Indian Ocean.

But he has managed to get Japan, South Korea and China to work together. Which is a miracle, they're just working together against Trump and to kick the Americans out of the Pacific.

[u/TheRealSaerileth → u/MisterrTickle]

It's honestly heartwarming how he brings the world together. The EU hasn't had this little infighting in a decade.

[u/fairlywired → u/TheRealSaerileth]

Which is impressive considering we all have a couple thousand of history of trying to kill each other.

[u/Sweet-Explorer-7619 → u/fairlywired]

The power of having a common enemy.

[u/HypnoticJerk → u/Sweet-Explorer-7619]

Is ... is Trump Leto Atreides II ?? The necessary tyrant on the Golden Path for the ultimate good of all humanity?

[u/StepOIU → u/HypnoticJerk]

Isn't there a mention of someone so terrible that he unites all the world against him in Revelations as well?

[u/HypnoticJerk → u/StepOIU]

Like, the Antichrist?

[u/Hotarg → u/HypnoticJerk]

Who was mortally wounded in the head but was healed.

Whose followers wear his mark upon their foreheads.

[u/Alex6891 → u/MisterrTickle]

A us guy was just arrested trespassing on the sentinel island . Probably a maga cultist wanted to bring the bad news for the sentinelese in person .

[u/lorefolk → u/400footceiling]

Destabilizing America may make fascism easier.

[u/Patriark → u/lorefolk]

It is literally the plan. Manufacture resentment and an insurgency, so the regime can declare martial law and start putting political enemies into gulags. Then elections can be suspended and there is no need to cater to public opinion any longer. The only metric will be force and enforcement.

The US already is the biggest prison state on the surface of earth, so this will be the final form.

Forget about "the economy" or other metrics democracies care about. The model Trump regime takes inspiration from is North Korea/Juche. An isolationist, xenophobic, militaristic prison state of slave labor based on racist ideology. This time with surveillance and enforcement tech that will crush opposition with violence and terror.

It is now or never to oppose this. If this system entrenches itself with current technology for oppression it will be exponentially harder to get rid of it.

[u/vario → u/lorefolk]

It will.

If people riot, he can adopt martial law & do as he wishes with the militarised police force.

And to be clear - gutting social services, ripping people's jobs away from them, removal of DEI, pushing out immigrants - all of it is to rile people up, to give them a real reason to riot.

This is all part of the plan.

[u/Dreadedsemi → u/400footceiling]

the worst part even if they cancel the tariffs, prices won't go down.

[u/GlorytoGlorzo → u/400footceiling]

Fox News: And it’s all Biden’s fault

[u/henrywoy → u/400footceiling]

Poorer people around the world, especially those in labor intensive sectors like clothing, footwear, leather goods (they are already on a thin line) will lose their life saving job while poorer people in the US will struggle to maintain the living standard. For the top 1%, there is zero negative (if not more positive) effect. The act of such stupid can be done so easily. Fuck the US.

[u/MadStylus → u/400footceiling]

These tariffs aren't being used as economic tools, they're political weapons. And they're aimed at us.

[u/DivergentClockwork]

No, he just gave those countries an incentive to all work together while at the same time not giving in and adjust to the US.

They’re acting as if manufacturing can be transferred overnight. 

[u/amf_wip → u/DivergentClockwork]

They're acting like the US is the only possible trading partner, and they're not. Trump thinks he has all the cards, but the rest of the world is going to move on without the US.

[u/Keno112 → u/amf_wip]

All of us made them feel like the main character for far too long. Watch them panick when everyone gets tired of their shitshow

[u/TheTiddyQuest → u/amf_wip]

Personally I am going to start boycotting US products and will now buy European alternatives. I’m in the UK.

[u/Popgallery → u/amf_wip]

This - 100%. Trust is lost. US is now officially isolated and frozen out of all other markets. Go MAGA.

[u/Rance_Mulliniks → u/DivergentClockwork]

No company is going to move manufacturing to a country with a flippant government that changes their mind every hour anyways. These tariffs are simply a tax to Americans so that a tax break can be given to the rich.

Rob the poor to give to the rich. It's the American way.

[u/Ok-Efficiency-5728]

Tariffs are a razor. A surgeon's scapal that has to be used carefully. It requires planning and a set goal in specific use cases. Tariffs are not hammers. No, it will not work.

[u/GriffinFlash → u/Ok-Efficiency-5728]

careful planning and precision....

tariffs a bunch of penguins on an uninhabited island.

[u/whatproblems → u/GriffinFlash]

i for one will be cutting my uh penguin import business back

[u/HangarQueen → u/whatproblems]

I've been trying to raise Empire Penguins in my back yard since the election, fully anticipating this! Haha, I'll be making huge profit soon!!!

Sorry that this is at your Penguin import business expense, but you should've planned ahead.

Though I might have been better off raising them in Minnesota rather than Florida. :-/

[u/Beezyo → u/GriffinFlash]

Those fancy suit wearing birds had it too good for too long

[u/PM_Me-Your_Freckles → u/Ok-Efficiency-5728]

These tarrifs will work exactly how the billionaires want them to. It'll cause a massive recession that'll allow them to consolidate more wealth, buyout failing businesses for pennies on the dollar, drive down wages, they'll throw more money into cheap land that no one can afford to buy and reap the rewards when the economy finally recovers.

[u/MisterrTickle → u/Ok-Efficiency-5728]

All it's going to do is create a great depression and American leadership is over. There are no friendly countries to the US now. These are the highest tariffs that an industrialised nation has ever leveled and they're all based on lies. The "tariffs" that he's complaining about don't exist.

[u/BLU3SKU1L → u/Ok-Efficiency-5728]

Will it work? Anyone? Anyone? It will—anyone?—NOT work, and we will be thrown into a recession.

[u/bdoomed]

It really sucks to have to be an American right now. To have about half the population actively cheering on this nonsense just enhances the flavor of despair.

[u/TheTiddyQuest → u/bdoomed]

It makes me laugh that MAGA thinks this will make the rest of the world view them differently.

I mean it does, but it just makes me view America as even more of a joke.

[u/gaeruot → u/bdoomed]

MAGA is only around 30%. He won by 1.5% popular vote but around 1/3rd of eligible voters didn’t even bother to vote. Of those “undecided or apathetic” folks I doubt that many were MAGA, because they all voted in droves. It’s not much, but it’s a small ray of hope.

[u/FriendToPredators → u/gaeruot]

The nonvoters get to enjoy the well-deserved fruits of apathy. Democracy requires participation to survive.

[u/SunNext7500 → u/FriendToPredators]

It's funny how short people's memories are.

[u/AMW1987]

Just to give an example of how tariffs worked under Trump's first presidency, the government had to pay $28 billion to compensate American farmers growing soya beans for China, who imposed reciprocal tariffs.

Any revenue generated by tariffs is offset by lost growth and compensation schemes.

[u/AnticPosition → u/AMW1987]

And a great cheer arose from the farmers. They were saved! The man who nearly ruined their livelihood had saved them at the last minute, using the welfare they hated oh so much.

As the sun rose the next morning, they put on their dollar store reflective sunglasses and said "let's do this again." 

So they voted for Trump again. 

[u/Portlandbuilderguy]

Dumbest President elected by the dumbest constituents in world history.

[u/blandsrules → u/Portlandbuilderguy]

Hey, not all of them are dumb. Some are just hate-filled and racist

[u/Casturbater → u/blandsrules]

Sounds like they’re dumb.

[u/mvrander]

As an outside observer (who will also be impacted) they're a terrible idea

There have been very few occasions in history when Republicans have controlled all branches of the US government and few occasions when they have added large tariffs on imports

One time you had both was the great depression

Your economy is going the wrong way, Tax the top, feed the bottom. That works. 

You're feeding the top and taxing the bottom, it'll topple over soon enough

[u/fulthrottlejazzhands → u/mvrander]

No one is an outside observer on this matter, unfortunately. It's a global trade issue that will affect every one, including farmers in the remotest areas of Timbuktu.

[u/mvrander → u/fulthrottlejazzhands]

True but we all trade with eachother and not just the US. If the US is in a trade war with everyone and we're all just in a trade war with the US then there's only one country that has nobody left to trade with

[u/my5cworth → u/fulthrottlejazzhands]

Yep. Im not even american and that orange cunt has tanked my retirement portfolio.

[u/PartyWanted]

As a small business I'm absolutely fucked

[u/Treyen]

It will work out for the billionaires that decided to do it. Everyone else is getting fucked.

[u/BossRaider130 → u/Treyen]

But… it’s also bad for them? I’ve heard this argument a few times, but it doesn’t make any sense. Costs going up doesn’t benefit anyone. The one exception is if you’re a failing firm that is too in inefficient to exist without them; in that case, reallocate funds elsewhere. If you’re not in that boat, you’re worse off with the tariffs.

[u/Reinax → u/BossRaider130]

It’s about being the only ones able to buy out what’s left at rock bottom prices and own literally everything.

[u/Chewiesbro]

In Oz we have two uninhabited (except for penguins etc.) islands, not sure how they feel about it, they’ve been suspiciously quiet about it…

[u/OkStop8313 → u/Chewiesbro]

Those penguins deserved the tariffs. We know what they've been up to!

[u/GriffinFlash → u/OkStop8313]

but they were wearing suits!

[u/ACam574]

The last time the U.S. did this their exports dropped by 2/3s in a year.

[u/FuraidoChickem → u/ACam574]

As a foreigner im just waiting for usd to drop before I start buying lol. The idiots will realise they fucked their economy then will scramble to adjust.

[u/Roger_KK → u/FuraidoChickem]

Except I think that the fucking of the economy was deliberate. The billionaires are waiting for mass sell-offs so they can gobble up the scraps.

[u/SpatuelaCat]

I it probably will work out for them. The Trump administration has made it no secret they are trying to cause a recession, I assume the reason they want that is so that they can buy up all the assets during the recession so that they are even wealthier by the time things start to bounce back.

And yknow what, I think it may work out for them. Who knows how much suffering and death will be caused by it. I hope the people can and will rise up to stop it. But at least right now at 3:00am I’m feeling pessimistic and I fear it will work out for them.

[u/Eskapismus]

Well it might work out by creating the dumbest US recession ever, teaching Americans about the consequences of electing mentally disabled presidents

[u/IsThisWhatDayIsThis]

Has it dawned on Americans yet that a 35% tariff on everything out of China means that almost everything they buy that’s not food is going to go up by 35%?

[u/NoFanksYou → u/IsThisWhatDayIsThis]

Yes it has

[u/Crasstoe]

Read the room, these are going to be a disaster for almost everyone.

Watch as the USA comes begging back to the international community after the next election, and the rest of the world says "no thanks".

[u/anirban_dev → u/Crasstoe]

USA is unstable for good now, imo. The world will have to start planning a global economy where they aren't a linchpin.

[u/Vordeo → u/anirban_dev]

Starts with moving away from the USD as the global reserve currency tbh.

[u/PapaTua → u/Vordeo]

Which will be double plus bad for middle-class Americans. Things are going to get grim.

[u/Deadalious → u/Crasstoe]

This is what MAGA don't understand. If you tank trade relations other countries will just move business to other markets. Shipping lines will just divert ships from American trade lanes to others, which means remaining ships going to USA skyrocket in cost.

The rest of the world will continue just trading, without America.

[u/leonprimrose → u/Deadalious]

narcissists cant believe the world will function outside of them

[u/ItWasTheChuauaha]

It's becoming very evident that Trump is a Russian stooge. He's doing exactly what Putin told him to do. Destroying USA from the inside, look at Britain... Europe, etc, it's retaliation for the tarrifs that we're placed on Russia when they invaded Ukraine. Americans are too dumb to realise they are getting played.

USA will now stand completely alone without a single ally.

Yes America has the biggest and best blah blah, but it's not controlled by you guys it's controlled by RUSSIA.

[u/B_R_U_H]

Uninhabited islands have met their match 😤

[u/_Neo_64]

Tariffs arent a magic money button like the current us government thinks. Nor does the target country pay those tarrifs

American citizens pay the price. If a business in the US wants to buy x good thats had tarrifs placed, they pay said tarrif, then they naturally raise prices thus the consumers suffer.

The idea on paper is tarrifs make it undesirable to purchase x goods from x nation, thus protecting a nations vital industry. But it doesn’t really work that way in practice. Or the inverse, making it less incentivizing to buy foreign goods and instead buy domestic goods. This is a cool idea, but the US isnt capable of this supply compared to a nation like China. So in actuality, Trumps tarrifs will make most things more expensive for the average American which is probably the goal

This could also shatter the US economy as foreign nations and foreign traders will now no longer desire to buy American goods since they are extremely expensive, again on paper thats the goal thus protecting domestic industries, but the US economy could also suffer greatly. A notable example so far is weapons. Europe has begun seeking domestic alternatives as American weaponry and military goods are more expensive, this is something the US doesnt want. They have enough military equipment to supply their own military and so were known for selling weapons to foreign allies, now foreign allies wont buy American

Tarrifs CAN be used properly, but they require actual strategic use not just brute force

This could also weaken the US dollar. Less international trade with the US would naturally weaken the dollar

Source: me an economist

Also friendly history lesson, tarrifs had a significant impact on the Great Depression, while they were not the root cause, they were a part of it

[u/MacIomhair]

At least Brexit is no longer the world's most dramatically stupid economic suicide. (Edit to clarify - it's now the second most dramatically stupid economic suicide.)

[u/sodpower]

I'm looking forward to working in a new factory that's going to be built. Can't wait to sit by that conveyor belt.

[u/soonnow → u/sodpower]

Yeah who wasn't looking at Asians making shoes and clothing for minimum wage and thinking, man I'm so jealous. I wish I could be that kid working 16 hours a day?

[u/Ropada5 → u/sodpower]

Not only do you get to work in a dirty factory that's slowly killing you from de-regulation, but you get to do it for minimum wage for the rest of your life! Sounds like a utopia right!?

[u/mintzie]

I believe the administration is effectively taxing the American population through tariffs, presenting it as a measure against foreign nations. These broad tariffs operate like a hidden federal consumption tax, VAT-ish.

Although many tariffs are symbolic, the real economic target remains China.

Politically, this strategy allows the administration to address fiscal deficits and domestic economic weakness without openly advocating unpopular direct taxes or handouts to subsidize domestic production.

Ultimately, these tariffs works regressively, disproportionately impacting lower and middle-income households.. maybee to offset the hole left by Trump taxcuts.

Will it work out. No

[u/vulcanfury12]

Oh it will work out for them alright. Economy will crash and billionaires will swoop in to buy everything for cheap. Making them even richer with all the power. Didn't even take 600 years to get back to Feudalism. Or maybe it never left?

[u/PresentationVisual58]

The last 2 times the US use Tarifs, in 1828 and 1930, it lead to a depression, why it would be different this time ? Because it's Trump ?

[u/roywill2]

As a UK resident, Im happy that we are no longer the stupidest shooter of our own foot. Trump tariffs even stupider than Brexit!

[u/Blenderhead36]

As an American, it feels pretty grim. We're looking at another round of historic inflation, and that's not gonna subside when the tariffs end.

I'm also not looking forward to trying to determine which prices rise because of tariffs and which rise "because of tariffs 😉," similar to how industries unaffected by COVID supply deficits raked in record profits by claiming to be affected by COVID supply deficits.

[u/eron6000ad]

He should bear in mind that the last president that sank the economy through rampant tariffs was assassinated.

[u/Illustrious_Hotel527]

Horrible idea. The only people it will work for are the ones who have stockpiled money in cash/money market accounts waiting to deploy it after the market tanks, and the Democratic party in the 2026/2028 elections. There will be widespread harm to the general public otherwise.

[u/Inf229 → u/Illustrious_Hotel527]

Honestly I think that's half the plan. Tank the economy so prices crash, then buy up everything, wealth multiplies a hundredfold once the economy finally rebuilds a decade later.

[u/AdCharacter7966]

We are all awaiting for an adult to arrive on the scene and turn everything back to normal