foregoneconclusion

Negotiators from Japan said that the Trump administration couldn't provide a consistent answer when asked what Japan needed to do to lower tariffs. This is what tells you the Trump administration is just engaging in economic vandalism against the U.S. itself and the world. 

https://petapixel.com/2025/04/21/japan-cant-get-an-answer-on-what-the-us-wants-from-a-trade-deal-report/

AppleZulu said: I feel like a lot of people don’t understand how tariffs work. They are a government tax on goods being imported into this country. The US importers pay the tax. Then, either they eat that cost, or add it to the price of the goods as they are sold to US consumers. 

All the big box retailers in the U.S. like WalMart, Target, Best Buy etc. have already told the White House they won't import goods with high tariffs and that the shelves in their stores will likely just be empty within the next month. 

shrave10 said: Meanwhile US manufactured cars gain market share, gain advantages of scaling up volumes, drop in costs > positive feedback loop.  

That isn't what is happening. Trump wants to put 25% tariffs on auto parts and the result will be disastrous for U.S. auto makers. 

"Most auto suppliers are not capitalized for an abrupt tariff-induced disruption. Many are already in distress and will face production stoppages, layoffs and bankruptcy," the letter added, noting "it only takes the failure of one supplier to lead to a shutdown of an automaker’s production line."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/auto-industry-tells-trump-tariffs-221108768.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHRWOggzxw43tDKDrgTiV9DgDLelb-mgOTETqE-RXcyP_oKPgGUhrZ7ZzFItWUWaGddCUUPgA5rfPS6utB9_9OmNmeRX52uPHBGs7b-dcxnYyJdnYJqv6tK5eQwYQwEPzeqVOXCc-9WJTRK1fysik69Ugyk82sZY13CXkH7A6U_r

And remember, back in the Great Recession it was the Republican party that wanted to allow the U.S. auto industry to go bankrupt and be liquidated.

tiredskills said:

zeus423 said:

Warren is a career politician. I’m sure she’s very familiar with corruption. 

No she isn't, she's a career academic who only got into politics in her 60s.  

Compare that to Trump's political awakening after visiting Moscow in 1987. All of a sudden he starts taking out full page ads in newspapers that criticize NATO and promote tariffs as the solution to America's economic issues. He also tried to get the H.W. Bush administration to give him a government position. 

FYI to people who don't think "corruption" is an appropriate term: the head of Treasury is having private meetings with select private sector financial big wigs and telling them in advance that the tariffs in China are going to be reduced significantly in the near future. Then you have Trump scheduling "private dinners" in Washington with the top buyers of his Trump meme coin while he's serving as president.