BREAKING ? Donald Trump stuns the world by announcing Reciprocal Tariffs on EVERY country that has it for us
— MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) February 13, 2025
America will no longer be bullied
WE ARE BACK ??
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?? Family-owned steel businesses are voicing their support for President Trump's tariffs:
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 14, 2025
"What we hope that the tariffs will bring is some sort of stability to U.S. pricing. It allows more money to be made… on the intermediate level like us."
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Sorry for the lack of commentary, but this is like drinking from a water hose of news. No one is able to keep up with all of these developments.
“President Trump on Thursday set in motion a plan for new tariffs on other countries globally, an ambitious move that could shatter the rules of global trading and is likely to set off furious negotiations.
The president directed his advisers to come up with new tariff levels that take into account a range of trade barriers and other economic approaches adopted by America’s trading partners. That includes not only the tariffs that other countries charge the United States, but also the taxes they charge on foreign products, the subsidies they give their industries, their exchange rates, and other behaviors the president deems unfair. …”
Trump has been talking about this since the 1980s.
“President Trump is pursuing a far more aggressive trade policy than he embraced in his first term, allowing his unfettered instincts about how to put America at the forefront to guide him with little pretense of investigations or extended deliberations.
Since taking office, Mr. Trump has threatened punishing tariffs on goods from every global trading partner. That includes proposals to tax more than $1.3 trillion of imports from Canada, Mexico and China — many times the volume of trade his tariffs affected in his entire first term.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump proposed his most aggressive and consequential measure to date with a global rework of tariffs — a move that made it clear that the president would have no qualms about weaponizing tariffs and antagonizing trading partners to extract concessions. …”
In his first term, Trump essentially shared power with Senate Republicans. Mitch McConnell impotently voting against Hegseth, Gabbard and RFK Jr. illustrates how this has changed.
RECIPROCITY!
Contrary to christian theology, reciprocity is a cardinal virtue.
I’m not an economist, but do support tariffs against nations that have cheap/slave labour and cheaper manufacturing costs, meaning they have unfair advantages that make their products are cheaper to buy. This both threatens local jobs and encourages offshoring. Tariffs remove their advantage. And remember, these countries likely have tariffs against America’s exports.
With other countries that have similar labour and manufacturing costs to America, no tariffs should be applied as they hold no advantage of leverage over America.
I know that in Australia, we used to make everything. Now China supplies everything we rely on from Vehicles to socks.
Yes they’re cheaper to buy at point of purchase, but due to their shocking quality, you have to repeat purchase over and over again, costing you more over the long run.
Unions also need to be kept on a leash to prevent wage explosions, but that’s another story. Keep manufacturing local, then deal with all that.
The goal should be to not rely on nations you share no values with, for vital, everyday items.
Adam Smith is dead, long live Friedrich List. We are entering a whole new economic era.