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Any bets on how this will be justified by Trump voters? I'm thinking at first it'll be 'playing hardball negotiating tactic' and when it looks like the tariffs
by Sabinus 2y ago
Any bets on how this will be justified by Trump voters?
I'm thinking at first it'll be 'playing hardball negotiating tactic' and when it looks like the tariffs are here to stay 'paying more is patriotic'.
- jurenbert 2y ago[dead]
- SSchick 2y agoPlenty of videos around, default rethoric is to 'give them time, they said it would hurt at first' which sounds awfully close what people in abusive relationships would say now that I think about it.
- smrtinsert 2y ago"Tariffs will save the free market!" or some other typical contradictory blather.
- cmrdporcupine 2y agoThere's already talk about the tariffs being curtailed tomorrow. Which got the stock market all hopeful at end of day. Which I'm sure if this happens, will be accompanied by some bullshit claims of some concessions he supposedly obtained. And a lot of people in-the-know who made easy coin on the stock market today. And his followers will eat it up. Last month there was all sorts of blather on social media about how "Trudeau caved" because "Trump strong" etc. despite Canada simply re-iterating the same position it had had since December.
- plagiarist 2y agoClassic Elon Musk securities fraud to publicly declare things, whether true or false, which move the market.
- throwaway48476 2y ago[flagged]
- slavik81 2y agoIt's hard to overstate how pissed off Canadians are about Trump's threats to annex Canada through economic bullying. People I know who have never boycotted anything are now boycotting US goods and services. There will be long-term consequences even if it's walked back tomorrow.
- cmrdporcupine 2y agoYeah I am generally not a nationalist by conviction or intellect but this stuff has me tearing up to the national anthem and putting stuff back on the shelf at the grocery store.
- throwaway48476 2y agoIts a brand equity bonfire.
- klipt 2y ago100 years of friendship thrown away by a demented Russian asset president.
- move-on-by 2y agoNo, it will be Biden’s fault for ruining the economy and causing inflation. Trump didn’t have a choice, just trying to save the economy really. Doing what’s best for the people.
- dalyons 2y agoImagine actually believing this. Contrary to every economist and qualified takes.
- move-on-by 2y agoI’m answering a question: > Any bets on how this will be justified by Trump voters? This is not what I believe
- watwut 2y agoTrump promised to lower inflation and eggs prices. Are those lowering?
- move-on-by 2y agoI’m answering a question: > Any bets on how this will be justified by Trump voters? This is not what I believe
- throwaway657656 2y ago"These are external taxes paid by the exporting countries. Beautiful tariffs will allow the US to eliminate the IRS and replace it with an ERS". Basically no point in even having a conversation about it. The same way you don't discuss evolution with someone who thinks the universe is 6000 years old.
- throwaway48476 2y agoWho pays the tariff depends on the relative elasticity of supply and demand.
- mitthrowaway2 2y agoIs your reasoning that the supplier has the option of eating the tariff by cutting prices, such that the price paid by the purchaser remains the same? If they had that much margin headroom available to cut prices by 20% and remain profitable, wouldn't that basically prove that they weren't dumping product in the first place?
- throwaway48476 2y agoWhat I stated is the textbook definition. For suppliers with fixed costs there are strong incentives to lower prices to stimulate demand sufficient to maintain utilization where possible. The commodity NAND market is an example of this. The fabs are extremely sensitive to utilization which leads to wild profit and loss swings.
- crazygringo 2y agoIt is extremely rare for manufacturers to absorb the tariffs. Profit margins in most industries simply aren't high enough to cover it. A business can't absorb 20-25% tariffs if its profit margin is only 5%. And manufacturing is particularly known for its low profit margins. So no. I mean, in theory you are technically correct. But the way elasticity works in practice is that the buyer is who pays the tariffs in virtually all circumstances.
- jmyeet 2y agoOh, we've already seen it. I believe Fox News has already come out and said it's "patriotic" to pay higher egg prices. We live in a post-fact world. There are no principles in play. The key organizing principle of this society is cruelty. Truth is simply what powerful people say it is. And there's no opposition to any of it. Our supposed political opposition is way more interested in crushing progressive sentiment and voices within their party. They are completely complicit in what's now going on.
- TheOtherHobbes 2y agoFox - remarkably - were explaining that it would in fact make most things much, much more expensive. I think support is ambivalent, at best. A few people are going to short hard and make out like bandits. But all-party social unrest on a huge scale is going to kick off long before they can fulfil their dream of buying up the entire country for pennies. Cooler heads understand this.
- tayo42 2y agoR/conservative on reddit has some real time spin on everything My irl interactions make it seem like they're not even aware of what's been happening
- MrMcCall 2y ago[flagged]
- throwaway48476 2y agoIts very very stupid. Tariffs can work but not like this. A good tariff policy would be targeted at a strategic industry, have a long phase in period, and have a guarantee that it won't be removed quickly. Businesses don't like risk, especially if you want them to commit to building a new factory in the US with a decade long payback period.
- dehrmann 2y agoI did start wondering what Trump (or any leader with loyal supporters) would have to do, or what outcomes supporters would have to see, to lose support.
- speed_spread 2y agoThe leader can do no wrong. All its decisions are justified and without nuance. The idea of questioning the logic doesn't even exist. It's a cult.
- johnnyanmac 2y agowell, going to r/conservative, top answer in a tarriff thread: >To influence companies to produce their goods domestically instead of internationally. What is so hard to understand about this? So they are stuck in Just World Land. another top comment linked this: https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-pr... So they more or less buy into "The extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl" P.S. more than happy to take suggestions of a better forum representing conservative opinion
- bluGill 2y agoWhat ever happened to the free market consevatives? The ones who were proud to work with Clinton to pass NAFTA in the first place.
- klipt 2y agoHeck Trump himself negotiated USMCA his last term and is now apparently reneging on his own agreement? "A Trump never keeps his word" "A Trump never pays his debts" I don't know if it's dementia or if Putin has compromising info on him, but he seems intent on speed running the tearing apart of the west.
- balls187 2y agoThey got tired of nonsensical progressive social policies and threw in their hat with a politician that wins, a lot. Pre-Trump the 2nd, it seemed to me that conservative view-points were being “shouted down.” Anecdotally I recall even on HN conservative views weren’t looked too kindly. Remember that Google engineer who had an odd-take about less qualified Googlers, and getting ostracized for it?
- johnnyanmac 2y agoI never particularly thought of "free trade" as a conservative policy. I thought it was fairly bipartisan that large corporations want to get the cheapest prices for stuff (which often is not within the US).
- codazoda 2y agoI haven’t paid attention to the politics here much, but isn’t driving up the price the point? If you charge Canada a 25% tariff then products sold in the U.S. and shipped from Canada should cost U.S. consumers about 25% more. That, in turn, makes U.S. products look more attractive. A U.S. business pays taxes at the federal and state levels. A U.S. business also hires U.S. employees, who pay taxes as well and spend into the economy. I’m sure I’m way over simplifying this, to the point of stupidity, but tariffs raise prices on foreign goods to encourage the sale and/or development of local goods, don’t they?
- warkdarrior 2y agoThat is the theory. But there is no incentive for US manufacturers to compete on price. If the product from China costs $100 (including the tariff), the same product from US will be $99.99. Selling it any cheaper would be stupid.
- throwaway48476 2y agoThis isn't 'wrong' but only accounts for a two party market.
- KajMagnus 2y agoThat's interesting, so, prices might not drop to pre-tariff levels, until not just one, but many, manufacturers appear in the US, and start competing on price (well, obviously, I guess some would say)
- throwaway48476 2y agoThe economic answer is 'it depends'.
- WillPostForFood 2y agoThat would only be conceivable if there was a single domestic manufacturer. You don't need a foreign product to keep prices honest in a competitive domestic market.
- inverted_flag 2y agoNot sure about the higher prices, but the coming recession is being talked about in MAGA circles as a correction and a fault of the Fed.
- wnc3141 2y agoWhen your'e deified, "god works in mysterious ways" sort of thing...
- wnc3141 2y agoFascism is not and never was about ideological coherence.
- deepfriedchokes 2y agoI read an article, can’t find it now, that the Christian right believes Trump is basically a biblical messiah like Cyrus the Great from Isaiah 45. Basically a nonbeliever who God controls to help his people. People believe what they want to believe.