"You know we talked a lot of Donald Trump's cabinet appointments when he came to power. He was intentionally picking incompetent people to prove a point. That point is the Republican party would never stand up to him and they'd grovel without any dignity first. This has now also manifested in his tariffs. It's not that he especially believes in tariffs because he doesn't believe in anything. He's doing this to show he can. He can impose any outrageous tariff on any ally and there's nothing they can do. He can cripple any U.S. business and there's nothing they can do. Unless they beg him, bow down to him and maybe then he will bestow his beneficence.
So at the end of the day what we're going to see is what we see with everything else. Those that pay fealty to him will have exceptions granted. In the same way big law firms that pledge hundred-million-dollar legal services will be excused as no longer a threat. The same thing we saw with certain media executives. So that is what Trump is about. A dictator who uses false beneficence after his outrages to force people to ingratiate themselves to him. And I hope people have learned a lesson. That you get nothing for trying to appease or to make a deal with Donald Trump. Except you lose your dignity. - Mark Elias, on Deadline Whitehouse yesterday.
The majority of confessed Trump voters (incomprehensible by itself, openly admitting stupidity) one beholds on TV, might be finally having a 'come to Jesus' moment after yesterday's stock wipeout. Because that is just the tip of an economic 'iceberg' that now portends their 401k's crater, along with prices of everything from groceries to electronics to cars going through the roof.
For those only half paying attention, the DOW dumped 1679 points as the S&P 500 fell 4.8% and the Nasdaq 6% in reaction to Trump’s Wednesday tariff announcement of the largest tariff increase in a century. The biggest market casualties were retailers and manufacturers such as Apple (-9.3%), Nike (-14.4%) and Gap (-20.3%). Oil prices, the U.S. dollar and the 10-year Treasury yield also fell, likely signaling slower growth expectations.
"Markets around the world spent Thursday absorbing the historic
magnitude of Mr. Trump’s tax on commerce. Evercore ISI estimates that
Wednesday’s news will raise the U.S. effective tariff rate to 24%, and 27% if
he goes ahead with the sectoral tariffs he promises on drugs, copper and more.
That’s higher than after the Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930.
Worse is the bizarre, slapdash way the White House calculated the tariff rates on individual countries. Everyone will pay 10%. Then the White House appears to have calculated each country’s additional tariff rate by dividing its trade deficit with the U.S. by its exports to the U.S. This rate was then cut in half for most countries, which Mr. Trump calls a “discount.” The discordant result is that U.S. adversaries like Iran (10%) and Venezuela (15%) will pay lower rates than friends in Europe (20%), Japan (24%) and Taiwan (32%)....
Trump's tariffs are the biggest policy shock to the world trading system since Richard Nixon blew up Bretton Woods in 1971. As with that decision, Mr. Trump is acting with little understanding about the damage his tariffs will cause. The “disturbance” might not be as little as he imagines."
Adding:
"Trump claims his tariffs will unleash a flood of new investment in the U.S. Then why is the dollar falling in value (see nearby), recording its worst single-day loss in two years? Our guess is that investors are losing confidence in U.S. economic decisions....
The Trump tariffs ironically will punish companies that have
moved manufacturing out of China to other countries in Southeast Asia, which
his first Administration encouraged them to do. About half of Nike’s shoes are
now made in Vietnam versus 18% in China."
But what we are seeing is the mind of a senile, semi-demented psychotic at work, not a highly functioning, capable leader. This is a guy who has gone off the rails, but who much of the media treats as just a regular president who's become ten times more aggressive in his use of executive power. Really? This fucker with his demented and lawless 140 executive orders has already crippled most of the agencies in the country, brought political and legal opposition (including the slow-moving judiciary) to its knees and now stands to blow up our own and the world's economy - one that had been referred to as "Goldilocks" under Biden. The WSJ even repeating it in today's lead (p.A1) piece:
"Perhaps the most striking aspect of Trump's dramatic move to reposition the American economy is the timing. The economy he inherited was the envy of the world with growth of 2.8% and unemployment of 4.1%, better than almost every other major developed economy."
The latest cover for The Economist says it all :
Along with its lead story:
There is also another Constitutional travesty the WSJ editorial mentions, in respect of trying to justify his cockeyed tariffs by declaring a "national emergency" under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Noting "no previous President has used that law to impose tariffs." You're goddamned right because no other President was fucking insane and on a one way power trip. Think I am being hysterical or histrionic? Think again. As the WSJ lead article ('Stocks Suffer Steepest Slide Since 2020', p. A1) observed:
"Trump took the selloff in stride. “I think it’s going very well,” Trump said in response to a question about his tariffs Thursday afternoon. “The markets are going to boom.”
This is the giveaway clue to a madman, out of touch with reality, his own megalomania and the total damage he's inflicting. It is the sure sign of the need to invoke the 25th amendment to remove him before he leaves the nation - and the world- in ashes. (We still don't know if anyone is keeping an eye on the 'football' with the nuclear codes. Or is even willing to check the orange dictator if he decides to try it out on "bad countries".)
One thing we do know is when no adults are in proximity and minding the adult infant on a power trip, bad things can happen. Even more likely when the Reep party has converted itself into a personality cult on the level of Jim Jones' in Guyana - and we know what happened with that one:
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The details on Trump’s tariffs:
All U.S. imports will be subject to a 10% tariff, effective April 5.
Trump will impose even higher rates on some nations that the White House considers bad actors on trade. For example, Japan faces a 24% duty and the European Union faces a 20% levy, effective April 9.
China will be hit with a new 34% tariff, adding to previous duties, like the 20% tariff Trump imposed over fentanyl. That means the base tariff rate on Chinese imports will be 54%, before adding pre-existing levies.
The tariffs are pegged to amounts Trump says other countries impose on the U.S. Here’s the math behind the levies.
Some global leaders are vowing to retaliate, while others are hopeful there is still time to strike a deal with the U.S.
Canada and Mexico are excluded from
the reciprocal tariff regime. They are still subject to plans to
impose 25% tariffs on most imports to the U.S., though the administration has
given an exemption for autos and many other goods. Here’s a list of the products and countries exempt from the
tariffs.
As Vox.com noted:
"Were America’s democracy functioning properly, Trump wouldn’t
have the power to impose such broad tariffs unilaterally. Congress, not the
presidency, has the constitutional authority to raise taxes — and tariffs
are, of course, a tax on imports.
And historically, dictatorships — elected or otherwise — suffer from a fatal flaw: they have no ability to stop the people at the top from acting on their policy whims and, in the process, producing national disasters. This tendency is why democracy tends to produce superior policy outcomes over the long run; why America, and not Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, won the 20th century."
But in the short run over 100 million people were exterminated in those dictatorial nations before the "win". I want Trump's voters (especially the nominal ones who just pulled the lever because they believed Trump was a "businessman") to think about that and finally admit how derelict they were on Nov. 5th, allowing this pompous orange felonious pustule back into power. Oh, and now at last acknowledging their buyer's remorse.
See Also:
by Dean Baker | April 4, 2025 - 6:06am | permalink
Suppose your doctor suddenly insisted that you needed to follow a strict diet and exercise regimen. He said he realized you had a serious problem when he divided your height by your birthday, and it came out way too high. You would probably decide that you need a new doctor.
This is basically the story of Donald Trump’s new round of import taxes (tariffs) on our trading partners. Trump somehow decided that trade was bankrupting the country, even though we were creating jobs rapidly, the economy was growing at a strong pace, and inflation was slowing to normal rates when he took office.
Trump’s response is to give the country the most massive tax increase in its history, possibly exceeding $1 trillion on an annual basis, which comes to $7,000 per household. And this tax hike will primarily hit moderate and middle-income families. Trump’s taxes go easy on the rich, who spend a smaller share of their income on imported goods.
And:
Markets plunge and economists warn of recession as Trump tariffs sink in
And:
by Heather Digby Parton | April 5, 2025 - 5:41am | permalink
Everyone knew that President Trump was going to pull the trigger on his big tariff policy on Wednesday, but he actually dropped a nuclear bomb. He put a 10% tariff on nearly every country in the world and added even more on a number of them based upon a goofy formula that reflected false assumptions at best or Trump's personal whims at worst. It sent shock waves across the globe, with the markets taking a massive tumble and economic forecasters scrambling to revise upwards their predictions for a recession. Let's just say it was not well received.
Everyone knew something was coming, but no one expected his plan to be so random and incoherent. The fact that it included tariffs on uninhabited islands and territories that are essentially U.S. military bases just proved that it was sloppily put together, likely by AI, and hadn't been vetted by anyone who knew what they were talking about. It is a radical reordering of the global trading system by a president who is clueless about how any of this works.
And:
Trump voters got exactly what they wanted — so why are people complaining? | Opinion
Excerpt:
Look at it this way.
Trump supporters are going to trust him no matter how incoherent, no matter how dumb. Indeed, the dumber and more incoherent, the more they trust. His choices trigger reactions, which in turn force his people to choose between trusting everyone who says tariffs are a tax, which they are in fact or trusting Trump, who says they’re a tax cut.
And:
And:
Grocery Shoppers Will Feel the Tariffs First in Produce - The New York Times
And:
by Ailia Zehra | April 5, 2025 - 5:54am | permalink
Global economic analyst Rana Foroohar said Friday the markets have never seen anything like the Trump administration's recent policy actions, warning of a "classic inflationary spiral" and a "disaster scenario."
"Trade war is overshadowing everything," she said during an appearance on CNN Friday morning. "The markets have never seen anything like the policy actions that we have just seen."
"We have a tumbling dollar. We have a tumbling market. At the same time, we could see a sharp uptick in inflation," Foroohar said.
Foroohar, who is an associated editor at the Financial Times, noted that people are going out and buying cars because they think the price will increase dramatically in the next few days, weeks, and months. "That's a classic inflationary spiral. Now, that would mean that even with a weakening economy, the Fed might have to raise rates that would just put things into a complete tailspin," she said.
And:
Trump just imposed the largest tax hike since 1942 without congressional approval
And:
Tariff shock pummeling your 401(k)? Here’s what to do.
And:
And:
by Mitchell Zimmerman | April 5, 2025 - 5:30am | permalink
It’s the Donald Double Whammy.
Grocery price are not “coming down fast,” as U.S. President Donald Trump promised. And Trump’s tariffs are about to boost the price of everything we buy that’s imported—from cars to gasoline to clothing to shoes to computers, cellphones, toys and, yes, groceries, too. America imports one-fifth of our food from abroad, and tariffs will make fruits and vegetables more costly.
Two of the false promises Trump made during the election will be haunting us.
First, he pledged to fix inflation. The economy was issue number one for most voters, and Trump attributed his victory to Americans’ anger over food prices. He promised “inflation will vanish completely,” and vowed “prices will come down... and they’ll come down fast... with everything.”
And:
The curious countries put on (and left off) Trump’s tariff chart - The Washington Post
