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Trump Announces Sweeping Tariffs on All Imports - The New York Times

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  jbb  •  3 weeks ago  •  73 comments

By:   President Trump (nytimes)

Trump Announces Sweeping Tariffs on All Imports - The New York Times
A 10 percent tariff will apply to all countries, but key trading partners like China, Japan and Europe will face rates two and three times as high.

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T


A 10 percent tariff will apply to all countries, but key trading partners like China, Japan and Europe will face rates two and three times as high.

Updated April 2, 2025, 5:17 p.m. ET

Ana Swanson, Alan Rappeport and Tony Romm

Here's the latest.


President Trump unveiled his most expansive tariffs to date in a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, saying he would impose a 10 percent tariff on all trading partners as well as double-digit "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of other countries that administration officials said had treated the United States unfairly.

The tariffs will apply to more than 100 trading partners, including the European Union, China, Britain and India.

Under Mr. Trump's plan, the United States will impose a staggering new 34 percent tariff on Chinese goods, on top of the 20 percent levy he already imposed on Beijing.

Some of Mr. Trump's steepest rates apply to U.S. allies, including a 20 percent tariff on imports from the European Union and a 24 percent tariff on goods from Japan. India will face a 26 percent tariff on its exports to the United States. These figures include the 10 percent baseline tariff.

White House officials said that pernicious trading practices by other countries had led to large and persistent trade deficits for the United States, and that other products, like lumber, copper, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals could face additional tariffs.

In a briefing with reporters, senior administration officials added they had little appetite for haggling over lower tariff rates, even with U.S. allies that have offered to reduce their own levies on American exports in recent days. They also issued an early warning to countries that have threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs against the United States.

Mr. Trump at one point described his approach as "kind," explaining that the government would only be charging other countries half of the rate that they had calculated should be applied based on those countries' trade practices. He framed his policies as a response to a national emergency, saying that tariffs were needed to boost domestic production.

"We're going to start being smart, and we're going to start being very wealthy again," Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump had promised for months to imposethe tariffs, which the president says will correct years of "unfair" trade in which other countries have been "ripping off" America.

Here's what else to know:

  • Markets react: Wall Street shuddered as Mr. Trump announced the tariffs, with early market reaction pointing to a further slide in the stock market and a weakening dollar. Futures on the S&P 500, which allow investors to trade outside normal trading hours, slumped nearly 2 percent, erasing the day's gain of 0.7 percent.

  • European response: European officials are poised to respond to Mr. Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs with countermeasures. Although the bloc so far has concentrated on imposing higher tariffs on a wide variety of goods — whiskey, motorcycles and women's clothing are among the products that could be affected — officials are also open to placing trade barriers on services, using a new trade weapon that was developed only in 2021 to target Big Tech and Wall Street.

  • Tariff options: The administration has been weighing several different tariff strategies in recent weeks, including a 20 percent flat tariff on all imports, which Trump advisers have said could help raise more than $6 trillion in revenue for the U.S. government. Advisers have also discussed the idea of assigning different tariff levels to countries depending on the trade barriers those countries impose against American products, or exempting them from tariffs entirely through trade deals.

  • Imported automobiles hit: New tariffs on automobiles made outside the United States go into effect on Thursday, adding to previous tariffs on steel, aluminum and other imports worth billions of dollars that Mr. Trump has imposed since returning to office in January.

Ana Swanson

International trade reporter

The National Retail Federation said in a statement that the tariffs would cause more anxiety and uncertainty for American businesses and consumers. Tariffs are not paid for by foreign countries or suppliers, but by U.S. importers, the group said, adding that "the immediate implementation of these tariffs is a massive undertaking." Typically governments give a lot more notice for changes to tariffs to give business time to prepare.

April 2, 2025, 5:17 p.m. ET

Tony Romm

Economic policy reporter

The National Association of Manufacturers said it is still parsing the details and implications of the president's tariffs. But the group's president, Jay Timmons, said in a statement: "The high costs of new tariffs threaten investment, jobs, supply chains and, in turn, America's ability to outcompete other nations and lead as the preeminent manufacturing superpower."

April 2, 2025, 5:15 p.m. ET

Joe Rennison

Financial markets reporter

Wall Street shuddered as President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on countries across the globe on Wednesday, with the early market reaction pointing to a further slide in the stock market and a weakening dollar. Futures on the S&P 500, which allow investors to trade the index outside normal trading hours, slumped nearly 2 percent, erasing an earlier gain of 0.7 percent while exchanges were open.

April 2, 2025, 5:12 p.m. ET

Rich Barbieri

Several hours before the stock market will open in Tokyo, futures on Japan's Nikkei 225 index tumbled more than 2 percent, signaling what could be a rough Thursday for investors. The 25 percent tariffs on cars that Trump announced last week, and which are about to take effect, could be a devastating blow to the export-intensive Japanese economy.

April 2, 2025, 5:10 p.m. ET

Rebecca F. Elliott

The U.S. energy industry could suffer if countries retaliate against the tariffs President Trump announced today. The United States produces more petroleum and natural gas than any country in the world, and it exports much of that fuel in the form of oil, gasoline, diesel and liquefied natural gas. China, Japan and members of the European Union are among the top buyers of U.S. natural gas and petroleum products, according to the Energy Information Administration.

April 2, 2025, 5:08 p.m. ET

Ben Casselman

Economics reporter

It's worth noting that the figures on Trump's chart for the tariffs imposed on the United States by other countries include "currency manipulation and trade barriers." It isn't clear exactly how the administration is coming up with those figures, but it's possible they include things like the value-added taxes that are common in many European countries. Economists argue those taxes should not be considered trade barriers.

April 2, 2025, 5:06 p.m. ET

Alan Rappeport

Economic policy reporter

Top Democrats continued to pan Trump's tariffs. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said that they would raise prices and fuel uncertainty: "Trump's short-sighted tariff plan won't rebuild American manufacturing or help working families get ahead. It's a tax on almost everything families buy, so Trump can give his billionaire friends a tax cut."

April 2, 2025, 5:05 p.m. ET

Matina Stevis-Gridneff

Canada bureau chief

The majority of the nations listed for "reciprocal" tariffs on the eight-page document distributed to reporters by the administration are poor, developing economies. They include some of the world's poorest nations -- South Sudan, Burundi and the Central African Republic -- as well as countries in the throes of war, notably Sudan.

April 2, 2025, 5:04 p.m. ET

Ana Swanson

International trade reporter

We've just gotten clarification from the White House that the tariff numbers in the charts Trump held up include both reciprocal levies and the 10 percent baseline. So Europe will face a 10 percent reciprocal tariff and a 10 percent baseline. China will face a 24 percent reciprocal tariff, on top of the 10 percent baseline. This is all happening in real time so the numbers were not clear at the outset.

April 2, 2025, 5:02 p.m. ET

Andrew Duehren

Tax policy reporter

Trump once again touted his idea of allowing Americans to deduct interest payments on auto loans from their tax bills, but only if the car was made in America. His administration has presented this plan as a way to make up for the higher automobile prices created by his tariffs, though it is unclear how many Americans will actually be able to take advantage of the tax break. Many low income Americans do not owe much in income taxes to begin with.

Ana Swanson

International trade reporter

Many people had been expecting the president to announce high tariffs today, but the numbers that he just revealed are stunning. In addition to a 10 percent tariff on all countries except Canada and Mexico, dozens of other countries will face extra tariffs. That will likely force some manufacturing back into the United States, but also raise costs for American consumers and manufacturers and incite trade wars on many fronts.

April 2, 2025, 4:58 p.m. ET

Jeanna Smialek

Brussels bureau chief

"There's a reason this came at 4 p.m. Eastern time, with markets closed," said Jorn Fleck, senior director with the Europe Center at the Atlantic Council.

April 2, 2025, 4:58 p.m. ET

Jeanna Smialek

Brussels bureau chief

He said the tariff on the European Union, his area of expertise, is a "very high number" that will be painful for consumers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.

April 2, 2025, 4:58 p.m. ET

Alex Travelli

South Asia business and economics reporter

India, like many of America's biggest trading partners, will be shocked by the tariff that Trump has announced. On the calculation that India's average tariff against American goods is 52 percent, he offered a "discounted" reciprocal tariff of 26 percent. But that figure seems to come out of the blue, to trade economists who have been watching.

April 2, 2025, 4:58 p.m. ET

Alex Travelli

South Asia business and economics reporter

India's tariffs vary widely between products, from the 70 percent on motorcycles that Trump mentioned, and even higher for some categories, down to zero on other goods. The World Trade Organization estimates that India's trade-weighted average tariff — taking into account the value of each category traded — was about 12 percent. That's higher than the trade-weighted American average, which was between 2 percent and 3 percent. But those figures suggested that Trump's retaliation might amount to an 8 percent additional levy on Indian goods.

April 2, 2025, 4:53 p.m. ET

Ben Casselman

Economics reporter

Trump said grocery and other prices are starting to come down, and that his policies are bringing down inflation. In fact, inflation has picked up in the first weeks of his term, and economists almost universally expect tariffs to further drive up prices.

Colby Smith

U.S. economy reporter

Trump is emphasizing that manufacturing jobs that have been created since his second term began, as well as that some consumer prices have eased. The issue is that neither of those trends are likely to continue with these tariffs, economists say. A new report released this week showed that manufacturing activity contracted in March and businesses in that sector are now expecting much slower growth and higher prices.

April 2, 2025

Patricia Cohen, Adam Satariano and Eshe Nelson reported from London and Jeanna Smialek from Brussels.

Countries targeted by Trump's tariffs may strike back at U.S. services.


President Trump says he is outraged by the fact that the United States imports more goods than it sends to the rest of the world. What he rarely mentions, though, is that when it comes to services, the tables are turned.

Service sectors — which include the finance, travel, engineering and medical industries and more — make up the bulk of the American economy. Exports of these services brought more than $1 trillion into the United States last year.

But that dominance also gives other countries some clout in negotiations — including the ability to impose some pain on the U.S. economy as they look to retaliate against Mr. Trump's tariffs on goods.

The European Union, for instance, could use tools designed to restrict services coming into the bloc as a cudgel.

"The real leverage that the Europeans have is ultimately on the services side," said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group, a political research firm. "It will escalate before it de-escalates."

The United States is the largest exporter of services in the world, and a large share of those services, from financial services to cloud computing, are delivered digitally. The country ran a trade surplus in services of nearly $300 billion last year.

Every time a European tourist stays at a U.S. hotel, for example, the money spent is counted in the services export basket. And every time someone in Canada or Japan or Mexico pays to listen to music or watch movies and television shows made in the United States, they are adding to America's surplus in the services trade.

Many of the countries that the United States is targeting for tariffs run a services deficit with the United States, including Canada, China, Japan, Mexico and much of Europe, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

"The E.U. is now equipped with policy tools to extend the range of retaliation against U.S. tariffs to target imports of U.S. services," Filippo Taddei, a managing director of global investment research at Goldman Sachs, wrote in a research note about possible European responses.

Arguably the most extreme option is known as the Anti-Coercion Instrument. First proposed in 2021, the tool is largely untested, but it allows the European Union to hit a trading partner with a "wide range of possible countermeasures."

Such measures could include tariffs, restrictions on trade in services and limits on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights. That could affect American tech giants like Google. Several European diplomats said that use of the tool is a distinct possibility, should the trade war escalate.

While possible restrictions aimed at services would be a new trade war response, Brussels has a history of penalizing the U.S. tech industry for other reasons. For more than a decade, the European Union has gone after Silicon Valley's biggest companies for anticompetitive business practices, weak data privacy protections and lax content moderation policies.

Europe's aggressive oversight has led to notable product changes because the European Union, home to about 450 million people, is a major market. Google has changed the way it displays search results, Apple has tweaked its App Store, and Meta has made adjustments to Instagram and Facebook because of E.U. rules.

Taking aim at the tech industry would intensify a feud with the Trump administration over European tech regulation. Even before the tariff standoff, senior officials including Vice President JD Vance have criticized the European Union for what they view as excessive regulation of American tech companies.

As soon as this week, the European Union was expected to announce new fines against Apple and Meta for violating the Digital Markets Act, a law passed in 2022 intended to make it easier for smaller companies to compete against tech giants. Meta and X are under investigation under another new law, called the Digital Services Act, that requires companies to do more to police their platforms for illicit content.

Britain, on the other hand, may use its rules over service imports as a carrot instead of a stick.

For weeks, British officials have tried to reassure the public that it was in a strong position to negotiate with the Trump administration to avoid tariffs, repeatedly pointing to the relatively balanced goods trade between the two countries. (Britain has a surplus when it comes to services.)

Still, one sore point for Trump administration officials has been Britain's digital services tax, which they say unfairly harms American tech giants. The tax was introduced in 2020 as a 2 percent levy on revenues of search engines, social media services and online marketplaces. It is expected to raise the equivalent of more than $1 billion for the British treasury this fiscal year.

British officials said changes in this are part of negotiations with the Trump administration. Last month, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor of the Exchequer, said, "We've got to get the balance right."

Britain has sought to position itself in a "Goldilocks zone" between the United States and European Union, according to researchers at Chatham House, a research institute, maintaining good relationships with both and keeping some regulation.

If scrapping the digital services tax brings about "a sweetheart deal for the U.K. that avoids the worst of U.S. tariffs, it might prove a masterstroke," wrote the researchers, Alex Krasodomski and Olivia O'Sullivan. "But that is highly uncertain — the president's application of tariffs has been in constant flux."

It was more likely that Britain would eventually have to pick a closer allegiance to either the United States or the European Union, they added.


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JBB
Professor Principal
1  seeder  JBB    3 weeks ago

original

 
 
 
Buzz of the Orient
Professor Expert
1.1  Buzz of the Orient  replied to  JBB @1    3 weeks ago

R-C.cdf9b78c0de06d9061122aa6969125ed?rik=3PVeL18fUqo33Q&riu=http%3a%2f%2fi2.cdn.cnn.com%2fcnnnext%2fdam%2fassets%2f150825162539-donald-trump-versus-the-world-2-super-tease.jpg&ehk=WbM2xml5VaYyZbJxtRnSY%2bbZs%2fEjcDdOzoNHegOLfiA%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
1.2  Vic Eldred  replied to  JBB @1    3 weeks ago

Yes, that is the most important thing: those charts that show what each country has been charging us.

I'd say Trump has been kind.

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
2  Bob Nelson    3 weeks ago

... and the real question is...how will these countries react?

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
2.1  Tacos!  replied to  Bob Nelson @2    3 weeks ago

I expect that however other countries react, it will - in every instance - be more thoughtful and targeted than what Trump is doing.

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
2.2  Vic Eldred  replied to  Bob Nelson @2    3 weeks ago

The real question is why we tolerated it for so long?

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
3  Bob Nelson    3 weeks ago

384 Trump Goes Crazy on Trade
“Liberation Day” is even worse than expected
Paul Krugman

Just a quick update after Trump’s Rose Garden speech.

I guess it’s just possible that when we get details about the Trump tariffs they will be lower than what he just announced, but based on what he said, he’s gone full-on crazy. It’s not just that he appears to be imposing much higher tariffs than almost anyone expected. He’s also making false claims about our trading partners — not sure in this case whether they’re lies, because he may be truly ignorant — that will both enrage them and make it very hard to back down.

Basically, he’s claiming that the rest of the world is placing very high tariffs on U.S. products, and that he’s imposing “reciprocal” tariffs that are only half what they impose on us. Here’s the chart he showed:

1280

The left column show the tariffs others are supposedly charging on US products — and it’s completely crazy. Focus on the European Union. The EU, like the United States, has generally low tariffs; the average tariff it charges on US goods is less than 3 percent.

So where does this 39 percent number come from? I have no idea. Many people speculated that Trump would count value-added taxes as tariffs, even though they aren’t — European producers selling to the EU market pay the same VAT as US producers, so it doesn’t discriminate and therefore isn’t protectionist. But even if you get that wrong, EU VAT rates are in the vicinity of 20 percent, so you still can’t get anywhere close to 39 percent.

You have to wonder whether Elon Musk’s Dunning-Kruger kids are now producing tariff numbers.

But you know that having once claimed that Europe charges tariffs more than 10 times as high as reality, Trump will never drop that claim. I don’t know how many people noticed, but he’s still claiming that we’re subsidizing Canada by $200 billion a year. Aside from the basic mistake of claiming that a Canadian trade surplus means that we’re somehow subsidizing Canada, he’s inflating the actual trade surplus by a factor of three. Many, many people have pointed out the error, but Trump is sticking with it, the same way Musk is sticking with the millions of dead Social Security beneficiaries thing.

If you had any hopes that Trump would step back from the brink, this announcement, between the very high tariff rates and the complete falsehoods about what other countries do, should kill them.

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
3.1  Bob Nelson  replied to  Bob Nelson @3    3 weeks ago
So where does this 39 percent number come from? I have no idea. Many people speculated that Trump would count value-added taxes as tariffs, even though they aren’t — European producers selling to the EU market pay the same VAT as US producers, so it doesn’t discriminate and therefore isn’t protectionist. But even if you get that wrong, EU VAT rates are in the vicinity of 20 percent, so you still can’t get anywhere close to 39 percent. You have to wonder whether Elon Musk’s Dunning-Kruger kids are now producing tariff numbers.

Ummm........... Paul? Donald Trump has been known to lie. Kinda often, in fact...

I know, I know... it's just unthinkable that a President of the United States would ever base important policy on lies... but...

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
3.1.1  Tacos!  replied to  Bob Nelson @3.1    3 weeks ago

Well it does say “including currency manipulation and trade barriers,” so maybe the math is hiding in there somewhere?

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
3.1.2  Bob Nelson  replied to  Tacos! @3.1.1    3 weeks ago

Probably. Most of the economists I read agree that China "cheats" a little. But it's "a little"... and the US can (and does) do the same thing. "Government loans for building private manufacturing plants" is done by both countries. The US is far richer, so it could - if it had a tenth of the political will that China has - put much more into such actions.

But... that would mean taxing some billionaires to subsidize others. China has the will to do that. The US does not. Our billionaires only take government money.

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
3.1.3  Tacos!  replied to  Bob Nelson @3.1.2    3 weeks ago

So, it has come out now that these aren’t tariffs. They’re export and import balances that we have with other countries. We tend to import a lot more than we export, and some people just automatically assume that’s a bad thing. 

Take Bangladesh or Cambodia on that list. We import more from Bangladesh and Cambodia than they import from us. This isn’t because of tariffs or unfair trade barriers. It’s because the people of Bangladesh and Cambodia are poor and the people of America are not.

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
3.1.4  Bob Nelson  replied to  Tacos! @3.1.3    3 weeks ago

Exactly. And not really that hard to understand. 

So the question becomes, "Why?" Ignorance is part of it, but not enough by far. 

Ego-tripping is the other part. Flexing.

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
3.2  Vic Eldred  replied to  Bob Nelson @3    3 weeks ago

Tell the world's dumbest economist that what we were allowing was unsustainable.

 
 
 
JBB
Professor Principal
3.2.1  seeder  JBB  replied to  Vic Eldred @3.2    3 weeks ago

The real world's dumbest economists are any who believe other countries will pay the tariffs Trump imposed on imported goods which will inevitably be paid by American consumers in the USA!

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
3.2.2  Vic Eldred  replied to  JBB @3.2.1    3 weeks ago
which will inevitably be paid by American consumers in the USA!

False. There are no tariffs on American goods.

Make it here!

 
 
 
Hallux
Professor Principal
3.2.3  Hallux  replied to  Vic Eldred @3.2.2    3 weeks ago
There are no tariffs on American goods.

That's nice, how about the materials needed to make those goods?

It appears the deaf, dumb and blind have also lost their sense of smell.

 
 
 
JBB
Professor Principal
3.2.4  seeder  JBB  replied to  Vic Eldred @3.2.2    3 weeks ago

Whereas the Atlanta Fed was expecting a 3.8% economic growth rate this year they now predict a 3.8% economic contraction...

A Recession is what we get with MAGA Flat Earth Economics!

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
3.2.5  Bob Nelson  replied to  JBB @3.2.4    3 weeks ago

Billionaires.don't give a flying fuck.

 
 
 
Jack_TX
Professor Quiet
3.2.6  Jack_TX  replied to  Vic Eldred @3.2.2    3 weeks ago
False. 

Oh FFS.  It's absolutely true.  That's the whole point of tariffs.... to make foreign goods more expensive.

There are no tariffs on American goods.Make it here!

That assumes we either a) actually make it here, or b) we make enough of it here, or c) that we can start making enough of it here quickly enough to matter, or d) that anybody would bother to start making it here when economic policy is set more capriciously than a teenage girl chooses boyfriends. 

 
 
 
Vic Eldred
Professor Principal
3.2.7  Vic Eldred  replied to  Jack_TX @3.2.6    3 weeks ago
That's the whole point of tariffs.... to make foreign goods more expensive.

And American goods competitive.

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
3.2.8  Tacos!  replied to  Vic Eldred @3.2.7    3 weeks ago

American goods are already thoroughly competitive. There’s a reason we have the largest economy in the world.

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
3.2.9  Tacos!  replied to  Vic Eldred @3.2    3 weeks ago

What were we allowing? What was so unsustainable?

 
 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
3.2.11  Tacos!  replied to  Vic Eldred @3.2.10    3 weeks ago

Why or how does this graph reveal an unsustainable problem? Is it useful that it only goes back two years? By the way, it seems like it suddenly increased when Trump took office. Is there a conclusion we should draw from that?

 
 
 
Thomas
PhD Guide
3.2.12  Thomas  replied to  Vic Eldred @3.2.2    3 weeks ago

Even if it is made here, we will still have to pay more. NPR had a story about Barrettes. Here is what ChatGPT said when prompted "china vs. us production of barrettes story on NPR"

Yes, NPR recently featured a story about the challenges of manufacturing barrettes in China versus the United States. The piece, aired on April 4, 2025, on All Things Considered , highlights the experience of Rozalynn Goodwin and her daughter Gabby, creators of GaBBY Bows—double-faced, non-slip barrettes designed to stay in children's hair. ​ NPR

After years of selling their product online, the Goodwins secured a significant deal to launch GaBBY Bows in 876 Claire's stores nationwide. However, this opportunity coincided with increased tariffs on Chinese imports, where their products are manufactured. The tariffs rose to 54%, substantially impacting their profit margins. Rozalynn expressed the dilemma of potentially losing money for a dream retailer, noting that manufacturing in the U.S. would cost three to four times more, making it unfeasible for their price point.

This story underscores the complex decisions small business owners face regarding manufacturing locations, especially amid fluctuating trade policies.​

They tried to find an American manufacturer but in all cases were told that the price would rise 3 to 4 times as much. I think they said that they were selling at around $4 online, made in China. They would have to sell them for $12 if they were made in America which is beyond their price-point. So we have something made in China, that is being bought by Americans, and a portion of the proceeds is going to Americans, but those Americans cannot sell their product in America with either the tariff in place or made in America because both would make the price point too high. 

That is the effect of tariffs.  

 
 
 
GregTx
Professor Guide
3.2.13  GregTx  replied to  Thomas @3.2.12    3 weeks ago
That is the effect of tariffs.

No, hopefully the effects of tariffs are that they would be able to find an American manufacturer. 

 
 
 
Thomas
PhD Guide
3.2.14  Thomas  replied to  GregTx @3.2.13    3 weeks ago

Read.

R GOODWIN: We have, for the last eight years, been trying to manufacture GaBBY Bows in the United States. Every manufacturer in the United States we've spoken to has told us, you need to continue making this in China. It's going to cost you three to four times more to make it here in the United States.

SELYUKH: GaBBY Bows cost $4 for a pack of 10. Goodwin says her shoppers will not spend $12 or $14 on barrettes. So for now, she's trying to raise funds, hunkering down and preparing to lose money on her huge dream retail deal.

It will cost 3 to 4 times as much, putting them beyond their price point.

Better yet, Listen to the story:

 
 
 
GregTx
Professor Guide
3.2.15  GregTx  replied to  Thomas @3.2.14    3 weeks ago

Mmmm, or perhaps they're selling overpriced junk....

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
3.2.16  TᵢG  replied to  Vic Eldred @3.2.7    3 weeks ago
And American goods competitive.

Tariffs, when targeted, have been properly used to provide a buffer which allows a strategic industry to grow more competitive.   Steel is a fine example.  

Across-the-board, across-the-planet outrageous tariffs are not only a misuse of tariffs but cause all sorts of bad consequences which I have described to you in detail in articles and in posts.   You are not listening and are clearly not even trying to educate yourself in this area.


So let's try something different.   Here is what ChatGPT has to offer in response to the question "Does it make economic sense for the USA to impose across-the-board double digit tariffs on most of its trading partners?":

Imposing across-the-board double-digit tariffs on most of its trading partners would not make economic sense for the United States, and here’s why — both in theory and in real-world practice:

🔍 1. Higher Consumer Prices

Tariffs are essentially taxes on imports, and businesses typically pass those costs on to consumers.

  • Example: A 20% tariff on electronics would make smartphones, laptops, and TVs more expensive.
  • Result: U.S. households face higher prices, reducing their real purchasing power — a hidden tax on consumers.

🏭 2. Retaliation from Trade Partners

Other countries are unlikely to sit quietly — they often respond with their own tariffs.

  • This can lead to a trade war.
  • Key U.S. exports (e.g., agricultural goods, aircraft, vehicles, machinery) could be targeted in retaliation, hurting American farmers and manufacturers.

📉 3. Disruption of Global Supply Chains

Modern production is global. A single American-made product may rely on components from dozens of countries.

  • Tariffs can increase input costs for U.S. manufacturers, making their goods less competitive domestically and abroad.
  • Companies may cut jobs or relocate production overseas to remain competitive.

📈 4. Inflationary Pressure

Imposing widespread tariffs during an inflation-sensitive period (like in the post-COVID recovery) can exacerbate inflation.

  • Higher import costs → higher prices overall.
  • It could force the Fed to raise interest rates, slowing economic growth even more.

🤝 5. Violation of Trade Agreements

The U.S. is a member of the WTO and other bilateral or multilateral trade agreements (like USMCA).

  • Blanket tariffs without justification (e.g., national security) would likely violate international law.
  • This could lead to legal disputes and loss of credibility on the world stage.

📊 6. Economic Consensus

Most economists across the ideological spectrum agree that broad protectionism harms more than it helps.

  • Targeted tariffs (e.g., to counter unfair trade practices) can be justified.
  • But blanket tariffs often lead to net economic losses, especially for large consumer-driven economies like the U.S.

✅ When Might Tariffs Make Sense?

  • To protect strategic industries (like defense or semiconductors).
  • To punish unfair trade practices (like dumping or IP theft).
  • As a negotiation tool — but ideally short-term and targeted.

💬 Bottom Line

Broad-based double-digit tariffs on most trading partners would likely hurt the U.S. economy more than help it. They could lead to higher prices, job losses, global retaliation, and reduced international trust — outweighing any short-term gains in domestic production.

In summary:

Impact Area Effect of Broad Tariffs
Consumer Prices Higher prices for goods; reduced consumer purchasing power
Trade Retaliation Other countries impose retaliatory tariffs, hurting U.S. exports
Supply Chains Higher production costs for U.S. manufacturers; supply disruptions
Inflation Increased inflationary pressure; potential interest rate hikes
Trade Agreements Violations of WTO/USMCA rules; legal disputes
Economic Consensus Broad consensus: economic harm outweighs benefits
 
 
 
JBB
Professor Principal
3.2.17  seeder  JBB  replied to  GregTx @3.2.15    3 weeks ago

Americans loved (Past Tense) their cheap imported goods...

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
3.2.18  Tacos!  replied to  GregTx @3.2.13    3 weeks ago
hopefully the effects of tariffs are that they would be able to find an American manufacturer

Hopefully? They'll just find it? That's not how this works. You don't just find a factory making plastic widgets at scale so they can be had cheaply. There may not be a factory doing that work anywhere in this country, in which case you'd have to build a brand new factory.

But who is going to do that? This little mother-daughter retailer? They're just going to pull several million dollars out of their butts and build a factory?

Trump put a tariff on foreign cars. Do you think any American car is 100% built in this country? There is no such thing. Furthermore, a lot of "foreign" cars - like Toyota - are built in this country. But no car is built 100% in just one country. All the manufacturers get raw materials or parts from other places. And since even car parts and raw materials have a tariff on them now, even "American made" cars will go up in price. And for what?

Business is a lot more complicated than you, or Trump, or the rest of MAGA seem to understand. It's international whether you like it or not, and it has been for a very long time.

 
 
 
GregTx
Professor Guide
3.2.19  GregTx  replied to  Tacos! @3.2.18    3 weeks ago
Hopefully? They'll just find it? That's not how this works. You don't just find a factory making plastic widgets at scale so they can be had cheaply. There may not be a factory doing that work anywhere in this country, in which case you'd have to build a brand new factory.

Okay. So these people that are able to employ cheap foreign labor are now not able to do so?...

Awwww.....

Do you consider barrette manufacturing to be essential to America?

 
 
 
Thomas
PhD Guide
3.2.20  Thomas  replied to  GregTx @3.2.19    3 weeks ago
Do you consider barrette manufacturing to be essential to America?

Do you consider entrepreneurship to be vital to America? This is just one example of products that entrepreneurs have been having produced abroad that they have commitments to provide for a set price, that because of the blanket tariffs, now have to pay more for and as a result are going to lose money. multiply that times 1000s and  many more Americans will be hurt by this policy. 

Trump does not care at all about the people who have to buy more expensive products because he is a billionaire. Certainly does not seem like that the MAGA do, either.

 
 
 
GregTx
Professor Guide
3.2.21  GregTx  replied to  Thomas @3.2.20    3 weeks ago

Why have these entrepreneurs been producing their goods abroad?

 
 
 
Thomas
PhD Guide
3.2.22  Thomas  replied to  GregTx @3.2.21    3 weeks ago

Because they are capitalist and they could? Because they cannot make them and sell them here because no one is going to pay the prices to build in America. All kinds of electronics, car parts, etc. are produced abroad and sold here. That is how capitalism and the economy work. You have to sell something for more than you pay for it and the market determines how much one can sell it for.

Translation: If we make everything here, it is going to be one helluva lot more expensive, across the board, to live here. 

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
3.2.23  TᵢG  replied to  GregTx @3.2.21    3 weeks ago

Lower cost of production.

You have issued a string of comments/questions that have obvious answers.    Do you want people to believe that you do not know that cost of production is the driving factor in producing goods in other nations?   Do you want people to believe that you entirely missed Tacos! clear point and think that he was arguing that barrettes are essential to the USA?

Faux obtuseness is counter-productive.   Offer something of value.   Ask an intelligent question.   Make an argument.

 
 
 
GregTx
Professor Guide
3.2.24  GregTx  replied to  Thomas @3.2.22    3 weeks ago
Translation: If we make everything here, it is going to be one helluva lot more expensive, across the board, to live here. 

For who?

 
 
 
GregTx
Professor Guide
3.2.25  GregTx  replied to  TᵢG @3.2.23    3 weeks ago

[]

 
 
 
Snuffy
Professor Participates
3.2.26  Snuffy  replied to  TᵢG @3.2.23    3 weeks ago
Ask an intelligent question. 

Do you prefer free and open trade? Why does Europe have a 10% tariff on US made cars? Why are they protecting their own manufacturing of domestic cars? Would not free trade allow the consumer to decide which car to buy? 

Those tariffs may have made sense immediately after WW2 when the USA was the economic powerhouse of the world and we were helping Europe to rebuild. But those days are long gone. Why should trade not be free and open?

 
 
 
Thomas
PhD Guide
3.2.27  Thomas  replied to  GregTx @3.2.24    3 weeks ago

Every American. 

You should follow TiG's advice.

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
3.2.28  TᵢG  replied to  GregTx @3.2.24    3 weeks ago

Yet again a question that need not even be asked because the answer is obvious.

If we make everything here US consumers (that's who) will be paying more.  

Here is how it works:

  1. Importing a TV costs $X.
  2. An equivalent domestically manufactured TV costs $X+$Y (largely due to higher labor costs in acquiring materials, the supply chain, and manufacturing).
  3.    If a US consumer cannot buy an imported TV it will cost them an additional $Y dollars.
 
 
 
GregTx
Professor Guide
3.2.29  GregTx  replied to  GregTx @3.2.25    3 weeks ago

I apologize TIG.

 
 
 
GregTx
Professor Guide
3.2.30  GregTx  replied to  TᵢG @3.2.28    3 weeks ago

Yeah, that's how it's worked for some time now....

 
 
 
GregTx
Professor Guide
3.2.31  GregTx  replied to  Thomas @3.2.27    3 weeks ago

LOL

 
 
 
Thomas
PhD Guide
3.2.32  Thomas  replied to  Snuffy @3.2.26    3 weeks ago

Most US automakers have production facilities within the EU.

I asked ChatGPT: "How many countries do American car companies have production facilities in?"

It answered:

American car companies, notably General Motors (GM), Ford, and Stellantis (which includes the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram brands), have established production facilities in multiple countries worldwide. While an exact count is challenging due to the dynamic nature of the automotive industry, these companies have manufacturing operations in several key regions:

General Motors (GM):

  • United States: GM operates numerous plants across the country, producing a wide range of vehicles.

  • Canada: GM has production facilities, such as the Oshawa Assembly Plant in Ontario.

  • Mexico: GM maintains plants, including the Silao Assembly Plant.

  • South Korea: Through its subsidiary GM Korea, GM operates multiple manufacturing facilities.

  • China: GM has joint ventures with local manufacturers, operating several plants.

  • Brazil and Argentina: GM has established manufacturing operations in these countries.

Ford Motor Company:

  • United States: Ford has extensive manufacturing operations nationwide.

  • Canada: The Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario produces models like the Edge and Nautilus.

  • Mexico: Facilities such as the Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly Plant manufacture vehicles like the Ford Bronco Sport and Maverick.

  • Germany: Plants in Cologne and Saarlouis produce models like the Ford Fiesta and Focus.

  • Spain: The Valencia Body and Assembly Plant manufactures vehicles including the Kuga and Mondeo.

  • China: Ford operates joint ventures, such as Changan Ford, with multiple assembly plants.

  • Thailand: The AutoAlliance Thailand plant, a joint venture with Mazda, produces various models.

  • Brazil and Argentina: Ford has had manufacturing operations in these countries.

Stellantis (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram):

  • United States: Stellantis operates several plants across the country.

  • Canada: The Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario is known for producing minivans like the Chrysler Pacifica.

  • Mexico: The Toluca Assembly Plant manufactures models such as the Jeep Compass.

  • Other Regions: Stellantis has a global presence with manufacturing facilities in various countries, including Italy, France, and Brazil.

These examples illustrate that American car companies have a significant global manufacturing footprint, with production facilities in countries across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America. The exact number of countries is subject to change due to industry dynamics, partnerships, and strategic decisions.

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
3.2.33  TᵢG  replied to  Snuffy @3.2.26    3 weeks ago
Do you prefer free and open trade?

Given you asked a question that is simplistic in nature, the answer is yes.   In a perfect world I would prefer free and open trade.

Why does Europe have a 10% tariff on US made cars?

To encourage Europeans to buy European cars.

Why are they protecting their own manufacturing of domestic cars?

Because it is better for them if consumers buy locally.

Would not free trade allow the consumer to decide which car to buy? 

Yes, it would!  


Now that we are done with the simplistic question and answer, let's deal with reality.

There are several reasons that a nation would impose tariffs even if the global trade world had no existing tariffs:

  • Protect mature industries from foreign competition.   Steel is a fine example of this.   It is important to the nation to retain the ability to produce steel domestically.
  • Protect industries of strategic importance.  For the USA, our defense contractors are a fine example of this.   Tariffs might be used to protect these strategic industries to keep them viable for the nation.
  • Protect young industries such as AI technology to give them time to mature.   Typically these are industries that will (when mature) be a valued part of the GDP of the nation.
  • Mitigate consumption of damaging or irresponsible products (e.g. products that are environmentally harmful, not meet USA standards, etc. may be tariffed to dissuade consumers).

Now, what is Trump trying to do?   He has it in his brain the utterly flawed notion that a trade deficit with a nation means they are ripping us off.   That is just incredibly stupid but nobody seems able to get through to him.   If a nation can provide products that we want faster, cheaper, better then consumers benefit from buying the imported products.   As long as the product does not compromise national security, strategic independence, etc. buying the imported goods is great.   There is no need for a nation to match our buying in order for the trade to be fair.   That is Trump's stupidity at play, it is not reality.

The USA does want to export more than it imports in total.   That does indeed make great global economic sense.   And the way to achieve that is to produce faster, cheaper, better and encourage foreign purchases.   And to deal with unfair practices (e.g. unfair tariffs) privately and diplomatically with a long-term strategic vision in mind.

It is not going to happen because some asshole who is entirely unfit for the presidency thinks he is an emperor who can bully the rest of the planet to submit to his whims.

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
3.2.34  Tacos!  replied to  GregTx @3.2.19    3 weeks ago
Do you consider barrette manufacturing to be essential to America?

People are running a business. Even a little business like that one contributes to the economy. What do you care what it is? Conservatives used to claim value entrepreneurs and free enterprise. How would you like them to make money now that the president has single-handedly made it near impossible for them to continue in that business? Are we all just supposed to be serfs in the great Trump feudal system?

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
3.2.35  Tacos!  replied to  Snuffy @3.2.26    3 weeks ago
Why does Europe have a 10% tariff on US made cars?

Maybe we could ask them, hmm? Instead of just slamming them with an absurdly high tariff and brutally crashing the economy, maybe someone in our administration could sit down with them and negotiate a trade agreement with fewer tariffs. And then if that fails, maybe we could take some targeted action that might encourage them to make a better deal. And maybe we could do it in a way that doesn’t take a torch to Americans’ investments.

 
 
 
JBB
Professor Principal
3.2.36  seeder  JBB  replied to  TᵢG @3.2.33    3 weeks ago

There have been archetypes in history, movies and literature...

original

 
 
 
Gsquared
Professor Principal
3.2.37  Gsquared  replied to  GregTx @3.2.19    3 weeks ago
Do you consider barrette manufacturing to be essential to America?

It's essential to the individuals or family who are running that business and their employees.  Small businesses are absolutely essential to America.

The U.S. Small Business Administration defines a small business as a firm with revenue ranging from $1 million to over $40 million and an employee workforce of under 500. 5   Based on the SBA’s definition, the 33.2 million small businesses in the United States make up 99.9% of all firms across the country . 27 (Emphasis added)

These businesses form the backbone of the United States economy as not only a vital source of innovation and employment opportunities but also a huge driver of the nation’s financial growth.  (Emphasis added)

We’ve researched the latest data and statistics in the U.S. and around the world to bring you the big picture of small businesses and the factors that shape their struggles and successes.

Key small business statistics

Here’s a roundup of the key small business statistics in 2024:

  • Small businesses make up 99.9% of all U.S. firms,   with around 33.3 million of these businesses in total across the country. 28   They’re also responsible for almost two-thirds of newly created jobs in the U.S. between 1995 and 2021. 27
  • Small businesses also comprise 99.7% of firms with paid employees   and 97.3% of exporters while contributing 43.5% of the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP). 29
  • Small- and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of our world economy,   with over 400 million existing worldwide. 31
  • According to Fora Financial, there are nearly 36,000 small businesses   that are making $1 million to $2.5 million per year. 9
  • Self-employed small business owners in the U.S. earn an average of $51,816   per year.   However, for unincorporated businesses, this decreases to an average of $26,084 per year. 5  
  • Small businesses that have one employee typically bring home around $44,000 per year,   according to Fora Financial. 9
  • Texas is home to one-tenth of all small businesses in the U.S.,   the most in the country. It is followed by California (9%), Florida (9%) and Georgia (6%). 11
  • Around 18% of small businesses will fail within a year of opening,   while half fail after five years and approximately 65% after operating for up to 10 years. 5
  • Women own around 26% of all small businesses in the U.S.,   while just under half are owned by Generation X, and only 14% of small business owners are Black, Hispanic or Asian. 11
  • Almost four-fifths of small business owners were self-financed when launching,   while 16% were funded by bank loans. Loans from family and friends made up the remaining 2% to 6%. 5
  • Nearly half of all online micro-businesses in the United States made their supplemental income   their main income as of August 2023. 10

How many small businesses are in the U.S.?

According to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are 33.3 million small businesses across the country, making up 99.9% of total U.S. firms. 28   These figures also show that there are 61.6 million people who work at a small business, making up 45.9% of all U.S. employees as of 2023. 28   Of the 33.3 million small businesses, over 4.5 million were in the professional, scientific and technical services industries. 28  

Around 1.2 million small businesses opened between March 2021 and March 2022, while nearly 834,000 closed. Small businesses contributed to 70% of the total new jobs created during this same period. 28

Figures from the SBA also suggest that around half of all businesses start at home, and 60% of businesses with no staff or employees are based at home. That means around 19 million businesses in the country are home-based. 5

 
 
 
TᵢG
Professor Principal
3.2.38  TᵢG  replied to  Tacos! @3.2.35    3 weeks ago

Yeah, imagine engaging them privately and avoided all the carnage.   But that would require genuine negotiation skills.   Trump does not negotiate, he bullies.

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
4  Tacos!    3 weeks ago

I am curious what the conversations were like that developed these numbers and the countries to which they’re being applied. As diverse as it all is, clearly, some thought went into it.

I want to be hopeful about this, but I have to admit I’m not optimistic. Tariffs are such a blunt instrument for a complex issue.

If you’re going to do it, I would guess there is some utility in nailing everyone because otherwise, it’s easy to go around a tariff. For example, if goods from China have a tariff, you can ship it to Bangladesh first, and then to America. And 10% is so nominal, it probably won’t impact prices much, but might make shipping hijinks not worth the trouble? I’m guessing. I don’t actually know much about it.

I would predict, also, that if you raise the price of all foreign cars by 25%, domestic manufacturers will feel empowered to rise their prices by 15%, 20%, or even just match the 25%. So, putting a tariff on foreign cars just makes all cars more expensive. Guess what that’s likely to do to sales? Not to mention maintenance.

The whole thing just feels like Trump has kind of a fetish for tariffs. Like he’s looking for any excuse to impose them, as opposed to settling on them as the best option.

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
4.1  Trout Giggles  replied to  Tacos! @4    3 weeks ago
domestic manufacturers will feel empowered to rise their prices by 15%, 20%, or even just match the 25%.

But why? It's not like they will compete with foreign car makers if the price is 25% higher. Is it just greed? They need to think about that. Nobody will be buying cars

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
4.1.1  Bob Nelson  replied to  Trout Giggles @4.1    3 weeks ago

American automobile manufacturers are not known for long-term brilliance... jrSmiley_78_smiley_image.gif

 
 
 
evilone
Professor Guide
4.1.2  evilone  replied to  Trout Giggles @4.1    3 weeks ago
But why?

Pricing is market driven. An earlier round of tariffs raised prices on things like washing machines. All washing machine prices rose including those made domestically.

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
4.1.3  Tacos!  replied to  Trout Giggles @4.1    3 weeks ago
Is it just greed?

Yep. And they don’t even need to match the tariff-driven price increase. If Toyotas go up in price by 25%, Fords can go up by 15%. They’ll make more profit per car and still cost less than a Toyota. At least some number of people who might have bought a Toyota will buy a Ford instead. It’s win-win, if you’re Ford. They just have to be careful how much they raise the price so as not to hurt sales too much.

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
4.1.4  Bob Nelson  replied to  Tacos! @4.1.3    3 weeks ago

Exactly.

The customer is screwed.

But who gives a flying fuck about the customer?

 
 
 
Hal A. Lujah
Professor Guide
4.2  Hal A. Lujah  replied to  Tacos! @4    3 weeks ago

Not to mention maintenance.

And just as importantly, auto insurance.  Cars being more expensive to fix means every single insurance customer gets to share the bill, regardless of their decision to not upgrade their vehicle.

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
4.2.1  Trout Giggles  replied to  Hal A. Lujah @4.2    3 weeks ago

Not only will nobody afford to buy a car but those of us that have one won't be able to afford to drive it

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
4.2.2  Bob Nelson  replied to  Trout Giggles @4.2.1    3 weeks ago

Welcome to the Kingdom.

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
5  Tacos!    3 weeks ago

I wouldn’t be surprised if we see lawsuits almost immediately that delay the implementation of some or all of these tariffs.

 
 
 
Gsquared
Professor Principal
5.1  Gsquared  replied to  Tacos! @5    3 weeks ago

Republican politicians representing their favored special interests have been begging for exemptions.

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
5.1.1  Tacos!  replied to  Gsquared @5.1    3 weeks ago

Just as they do with regular taxes. Sigh.

 
 
 
shona1
Professor Quiet
6  shona1    3 weeks ago

Arvo... someone needs to give the Government over there some geography lessons..

They have put a 10% tariff on two Australian territories that are completely uninhabited... McDonald and Heard island are down near Antarctica and are only inhabited by penguins..

I guess they could always get payment in regurgitated fish...🤣

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
6.1  Trout Giggles  replied to  shona1 @6    3 weeks ago

Those penguins have been cheating the US for decades!

 
 
 
Bob Nelson
Professor Guide
7  Bob Nelson    3 weeks ago

800

I wonder what happened yesterday.... jrSmiley_80_smiley_image.gif

 
 
 
JBB
Professor Principal
7.1  seeder  JBB  replied to  Bob Nelson @7    3 weeks ago

original I see tariffs, even on uninhabited islands, but none on Russia? What?

 
 
 
Hal A. Lujah
Professor Guide
7.1.1  Hal A. Lujah  replied to  JBB @7.1    3 weeks ago

Probably an effect of the pee tapes.

 
 
 
Just Jim NC TttH
Professor Principal
7.1.2  Just Jim NC TttH  replied to  JBB @7.1    3 weeks ago
but none on Russia? What?

Probably going to wait for the outcome of talks. Right now, Russia has so many sanctions on them that it may not make any difference. Let's wait to see the outcome of all of that 

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
7.1.3  Tacos!  replied to  JBB @7.1    3 weeks ago

This list is such BS. They aren’t tariffs that other countries have on us. It just the relative trade balance. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that other countries export more to us than we export to them. We have more money to spend on imports than they do. That’s a sign of our strength, not a weakness. Trump is trying to “fix” something that isn’t a problem.

 
 
 
Right Down the Center
PhD Guide
8  Right Down the Center    3 weeks ago

Breaking news.  Ireland just implemented a 150% tariff until the US takes Rosie O Donnell back. 

 
 
 
Gsquared
Professor Principal
9  Gsquared    3 weeks ago

Breaking news:  Trump's Number 1 product is nitrogen gas.  Stay upwind.

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
9.1  devangelical  replied to  Gsquared @9    3 weeks ago

I would've guessed methane ...

 
 

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