6 ms·

I'm willing to believe this administration is acting in good faith, but two things seem to contradict that, although maybe I'm wrong: 1. Why didn't they includ

by gtech1 2y ago

I'm willing to believe this administration is acting in good faith, but two things seem to contradict that, although maybe I'm wrong: 1. Why didn't they include services exported by the US in their 'tariff chart' ? The EU for example, imports a lot more US (tech amongst others) services than they export to the US. It seems disingenous 2. Why couldn't this tariff strategy be implemented in a more calculated, predictable, slow way to give everyone time to adjust, at home and abroad. What's to gain from doing it this way over the one I mentioned ?

binarymax 2y ago
With what I’ve seen I don’t believe the administration is acting in good faith. Everything about their behavior suggests otherwise.
Trumpion 2y ago
[dead]
wonderwonder 2y ago
I voted for Trump, I think they have very large aspirational ideas. I think they have a very shallow bench to implement the low level details. They are also just terrible at communication, needlessly aggressive and bombastic
- gtech1 2y ago
  alright, can you try and answer #1 for me ? Why weren't services included in that chart ?
  - wonderwonder 2y ago
    I have a guess but not a solid one. The way they determined the rates on these tariffs makes no sense at all. I wish they would have just explained it instead of pushing back and insisting it was based on real existing tariff rates. They really dropped the ball on this implementation. If I was to hazard that guess, they don't care about services, services are already a dominant US product, no one can beat us. Manufacturing is where we are weak so they went after that. They want manufacturing to come back to the US in case of a war with China over Taiwan. They also don't want counter tariffs on services as again that's our major export. What's really interesting and I could be wrong here is I dont think anyone else has actually hit the US with tariffs on those same services. Its a very calm trade war so far. But its early
    - gtech1 2y ago
      See, even the way you explained it is miles above what they said. Claiming the trade balance is unjust but leaving out a major component reeks of dishonesty. How can anyone trust them ?
      - wonderwonder 2y ago
        I don't trust them at all, I just needed them to beat the alternative. I expect to like 60% of his policies. He has been delivering in spades for me on those. The rest is a dice game.
        wredcoll 2y ago
        I admire your ability to ignore harm to people for your own profit. What are some policies that I too could profit from?
        overfeed 2y ago
        Maybe investing in currently-sanctioned Russian companies? Odds of Russian sanctions being removed are better than even, IMO.
        wonderwonder 2y ago
        "your ability to ignore harm to people for your own profit" Hey friend, not really sure why you are being passive aggressive with me? I'm not ignoring harm to people, my wife's 401k is red. I very much dislike the panic that people are experiencing right now watching their retirement plunge. "I don't trust them at all, I just needed them to beat the alternative" Did you think this meant regarding his economic policies as in make money from them? I did not vote for him on the economy at all. If I see a way to hedge against what's coming, of course I will do that. Would be foolish not to. By alternative I meant the other option for president. If you are angry at me for that, then so be it but you don't know me, we can be civil. You are free to just not comment.
        2y ago
- TooSmugToFail 2y ago
  Yeah, turns out running the largest economy on the planet is even more complicated than setting the clock on a VCR. Who would have thought. At least they tried.
  - wonderwonder 2y ago
    oh I think they very much know what they are doing from a directional sense. All of this is intentional. I just think they are VERY bad at the details.
andrethegiant 2y ago
What makes you think a twice impeached president who incited an insurrection would act in good faith?
deepsquirrelnet 2y ago
> Why couldn't this tariff strategy be implemented in a more calculated, predictable, slow way to give everyone time to adjust, at home and abroad. What's to gain from doing it this way over the one I mentioned ? To me, the more concerning detail is that they don’t have any messaging about what their strategy is, except what appears to be guessing from various members of the administration — often which is mutually exclusive with other messaging. The real risk of all that is people are going to sit on the cash they have, unwilling to make purchases when they can’t see the risk in their future. My wife and I want to install new flooring, but that’s off the table for us right now, until we have a better idea where this is going. ^ those decisions are disastrous for the economy en masse
- gtech1 2y ago
  yep. I liquidated my TFSA ( tax free savings account in Canada ) 2 weeks ago. 90k. Invested in risk-free 90 days GICs instead. No way I would have watched it lose 10-20% of its value in 2 weeks
davesque 2y ago
3. Why was Russia uniquely exempt from tariffs?
- drowsspa 2y ago
  Yeah... I would have thought that fear of Russia was way more ingrained into the American psyche. It's amazing how much they're basically bowing down to Putin
  - le-mark 2y ago
    It’s beyond amazing; it’s the tell that gives the whole grift away. Conservative media bought and paid for by foreign influence money. They have sane-washed, explained away, normalized so much egregious behavior that would have ended any 10 other politicians.
add-sub-mul-div 2y ago
> I'm willing to believe this administration is acting in good faith, There's a difference between nonpartisanship and ignorance.
rawgabbit 2y ago
They are not acting in good faith. We have a “burn it all” mentality at the highest level of government.
TooSmugToFail 2y ago
Perhaps we should entertain the simplest explanation: the administration is utterly out of its depth. Incompetent leader and a coterie of overconfident personalities with no depth or expertise. The fallout is predictable.
xtiansimon 2y ago
Maybe he said it, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH, RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE!!!” Trump said on Truth Social (2025-04-04) https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5231994-trump-trade-war-markets-plunge/ https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5231994-trump-tr...
crooked-v 2y ago
They just copied these tarrifs from a ChatGPT answer (https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-tariffs-chatgpt-2055203 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-tariffs-chatgpt-205520...) because Trump has a demented focus on trade deficits above all else. The only 'good faith' allowance here is to assume complete incompetence.
ModernMech 2y ago
The answer to both your questions is that they are not acting in good faith. 1) They didn't include services exported by the US un their "tariff chart" because that chart is just some post-hoc rationalization to their arbitrary, capricious actions. 2) They could implement a more calculated, predictable, slow way of doing this, but these people are not the kind to do that. They are shoot first, don't even ask questions later, just claim victory and keep shooting types. > What's to gain from doing it this way over the one I mentioned ? You're asking the wrong question. The right question is: "What do they have to lose by acting the way they are"? They have nothing to lose. They aren't accountable to anyone. They aren't eligible to be reelected so they're not worried about another term. They have control over all branches of government. They have control of the DOJ and the FBI so they won't be investigated or prosecuted. There's no downside or disincentive to act the way they are, and so that's why they're dong it.

by gtech1 2y ago

binarymax 2y ago

With what I’ve seen I don’t believe the administration is acting in good faith. Everything about their behavior suggests otherwise.

Trumpion 2y ago

[dead]

wonderwonder 2y ago

I voted for Trump, I think they have very large aspirational ideas. I think they have a very shallow bench to implement the low level details. They are also just terrible at communication, needlessly aggressive and bombastic

gtech1 2y ago
alright, can you try and answer #1 for me ? Why weren't services included in that chart ?
- wonderwonder 2y ago
  I have a guess but not a solid one. The way they determined the rates on these tariffs makes no sense at all. I wish they would have just explained it instead of pushing back and insisting it was based on real existing tariff rates. They really dropped the ball on this implementation. If I was to hazard that guess, they don't care about services, services are already a dominant US product, no one can beat us. Manufacturing is where we are weak so they went after that. They want manufacturing to come back to the US in case of a war with China over Taiwan. They also don't want counter tariffs on services as again that's our major export. What's really interesting and I could be wrong here is I dont think anyone else has actually hit the US with tariffs on those same services. Its a very calm trade war so far. But its early
  - gtech1 2y ago
    See, even the way you explained it is miles above what they said. Claiming the trade balance is unjust but leaving out a major component reeks of dishonesty. How can anyone trust them ?
    - wonderwonder 2y ago
      I don't trust them at all, I just needed them to beat the alternative. I expect to like 60% of his policies. He has been delivering in spades for me on those. The rest is a dice game.
      - wredcoll 2y ago
        I admire your ability to ignore harm to people for your own profit. What are some policies that I too could profit from?
        overfeed 2y ago
        Maybe investing in currently-sanctioned Russian companies? Odds of Russian sanctions being removed are better than even, IMO.
        wonderwonder 2y ago
        "your ability to ignore harm to people for your own profit" Hey friend, not really sure why you are being passive aggressive with me? I'm not ignoring harm to people, my wife's 401k is red. I very much dislike the panic that people are experiencing right now watching their retirement plunge. "I don't trust them at all, I just needed them to beat the alternative" Did you think this meant regarding his economic policies as in make money from them? I did not vote for him on the economy at all. If I see a way to hedge against what's coming, of course I will do that. Would be foolish not to. By alternative I meant the other option for president. If you are angry at me for that, then so be it but you don't know me, we can be civil. You are free to just not comment.
        2y ago
TooSmugToFail 2y ago
Yeah, turns out running the largest economy on the planet is even more complicated than setting the clock on a VCR. Who would have thought. At least they tried.
- wonderwonder 2y ago
  oh I think they very much know what they are doing from a directional sense. All of this is intentional. I just think they are VERY bad at the details.

andrethegiant 2y ago

What makes you think a twice impeached president who incited an insurrection would act in good faith?

deepsquirrelnet 2y ago

> Why couldn't this tariff strategy be implemented in a more calculated, predictable, slow way to give everyone time to adjust, at home and abroad. What's to gain from doing it this way over the one I mentioned ? To me, the more concerning detail is that they don’t have any messaging about what their strategy is, except what appears to be guessing from various members of the administration — often which is mutually exclusive with other messaging. The real risk of all that is people are going to sit on the cash they have, unwilling to make purchases when they can’t see the risk in their future. My wife and I want to install new flooring, but that’s off the table for us right now, until we have a better idea where this is going. ^ those decisions are disastrous for the economy en masse

gtech1 2y ago
yep. I liquidated my TFSA ( tax free savings account in Canada ) 2 weeks ago. 90k. Invested in risk-free 90 days GICs instead. No way I would have watched it lose 10-20% of its value in 2 weeks

davesque 2y ago

3. Why was Russia uniquely exempt from tariffs?

drowsspa 2y ago
Yeah... I would have thought that fear of Russia was way more ingrained into the American psyche. It's amazing how much they're basically bowing down to Putin
- le-mark 2y ago
  It’s beyond amazing; it’s the tell that gives the whole grift away. Conservative media bought and paid for by foreign influence money. They have sane-washed, explained away, normalized so much egregious behavior that would have ended any 10 other politicians.

add-sub-mul-div 2y ago

> I'm willing to believe this administration is acting in good faith, There's a difference between nonpartisanship and ignorance.

rawgabbit 2y ago

They are not acting in good faith. We have a “burn it all” mentality at the highest level of government.

TooSmugToFail 2y ago

Perhaps we should entertain the simplest explanation: the administration is utterly out of its depth. Incompetent leader and a coterie of overconfident personalities with no depth or expertise. The fallout is predictable.

xtiansimon 2y ago

Maybe he said it, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH, RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE!!!” Trump said on Truth Social (2025-04-04) https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5231994-trump-trade-war-markets-plunge/ https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5231994-trump-tr...

crooked-v 2y ago

They just copied these tarrifs from a ChatGPT answer (https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-tariffs-chatgpt-2055203 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-tariffs-chatgpt-205520...) because Trump has a demented focus on trade deficits above all else. The only 'good faith' allowance here is to assume complete incompetence.

ModernMech 2y ago

The answer to both your questions is that they are not acting in good faith. 1) They didn't include services exported by the US un their "tariff chart" because that chart is just some post-hoc rationalization to their arbitrary, capricious actions. 2) They could implement a more calculated, predictable, slow way of doing this, but these people are not the kind to do that. They are shoot first, don't even ask questions later, just claim victory and keep shooting types. > What's to gain from doing it this way over the one I mentioned ? You're asking the wrong question. The right question is: "What do they have to lose by acting the way they are"? They have nothing to lose. They aren't accountable to anyone. They aren't eligible to be reelected so they're not worried about another term. They have control over all branches of government. They have control of the DOJ and the FBI so they won't be investigated or prosecuted. There's no downside or disincentive to act the way they are, and so that's why they're dong it.