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Trade Chaos Causes Businesses to Rethink Their Relationship with the U.S.
https://archive.is/km60Y https://archive.is/km60Y
- mooreds 1y agohttps://archive.is/km60Y https://archive.is/km60Y
- mexicocitinluez 1y agoWho would have thought that basing foreign trade policy on the whims of a man who has absolutely no clue how the world works would end up having a negative impact?? This is such an obviously self-inflicted wound it's maddening.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- rubin55 1y ago100% with you, but I don't think the presidential whims were the instigator for all this madness. That could be a Howard Lutnick: The Man Behind Trump’s Tariffs Strategy: https://archive.is/llGGR https://archive.is/llGGR Update: fixed link
- alwayseasy 1y agoTrue on Lutnick but he is playing into Trump's deeply held belief (despite every data point saying the opposite) that Americans want manufacturing jobs.
- fatbird 1y agoPeter Navarro is also a driving force behind the tariffs.
- hypeatei 1y agoLutnick's sons are betting against tariffs at his former firm, so yes it's a corruption play. Tariff everything, then have your family buy up tariff rebates in the chaos because you know they'll get reversed by the courts. https://www.wired.com/story/senators-probe-cantor-fitzgerald-tariffs/ https://www.wired.com/story/senators-probe-cantor-fitzgerald...
- mexicocitinluez 1y agoThat's a good point. The ones that hit the news (that seem to be motivated by Trump's personal grievances) are probably a small drop in the bucket.
- judahmeek 1y agoTrump likes tariffs because they easily enable government corruption. That's it. Just look up all the officials that he has pardoned or given clemency for corruption.
- brightball 1y agoIt’s certainly not ideal, but as one of if not the largest consumer in the world it does make sense as a negotiating point on trade deals.
- Eddy_Viscosity2 1y agoSaying this makes sense in theory while wholey ignoring how it was carried in practice is a disingenuous attempt to defend the indefensible.
- rayiner 1y agoTrue. But it’s also disingenuous to ignore the massive institutional momentum in favor of unrestricted trade? Throwing debris on the track may have been the only way to stop the train that was rolling on its own towards zero tariffs.
- pjc50 1y agoZero tariffs are good! That's why the US put "no internal tariffs between states" in the constitution!
- lazide 1y agoThey’re good as long as everyone is co-operating and has a common idea of ‘good’. Notably, China, India, etc. still tax the every loving crap out of most imports in their jurisdiction (yes, tariffs!).
- renewiltord 1y agoI suppose by mimicking them we hope to bring the US to the standard of living that the Chinese and Indians have.
- lazide 1y agoWell, someone very well might - it’s not the common man though. Notably, those in power in both countries live pretty cushy lives.
- JKCalhoun 1y agoThe self-inflicted part is what really has left me reeling. For Christmas wish lists, my daughters always have ways of surprising me with items from Africa retailers, Netherlands… I had to tell them this year to stick with U.S. only because of tariffs. I guess that's awesome for the U.S.? (The political cartoon of Santa having to pay tariffs kind of draws itself at this point.)
- rayiner 1y agoSo the tariffs had the intended effect? That’s great!
- supermatt 1y agoIs it great because the US will start manufacturing African and Dutch gifts? Or is it the reduced choice and inflated prices that you prefer?
- theultdev 1y agoPeople can pay a 10-20% premium for African and Dutch gifts if they want to. Or shop American and help keep manufacturing and jobs alive here. I think it's a fair compromise. As Americans we are used to having an overwhelming amount of choice, partly due to our previous open trade policies. Something you don't really see in other countries. Go to Japan and you can count the American products sold on your hand.
- willvarfar 1y agotaking an example from the article, the USA currently produces 0.2% of coffee it consumes domestically (Hawaii and Puerto Rico). Could coffee be grown in reasonable quantities inside the USA? I find some mention of very expensive high-end 'boutique' coffee grown in California but it is not generally a crop that grows well in the continental USA. (until global warming reduces the chances of frost in Florida perhaps?) Another example from the article was a tea grower. Again, niche growing is limited to just some regions of the USA, with less than 0.1% of consumption domestically produced. And of course with these products they have distinctive tastes that reflect where they were grown, so tea from California is distinctive tasting and not a direct substitute for tea from Japan from the article. The growers in the article had been heavily disrupted by tariffs.
- waltbosz 1y agoThe other day over dinner I was speaking with a friend who works at a major international bank in the wire transfer department. They mentioned that before the tariffs deadline, American businesses were rushing to make giant international orders. And since then, work had been slow for my friend.
- hypeatei 1y agoITT: isolationists and idiots pretending this a 4D chess move for trade deals or reducing consumption. Show me the trade deals and promises made to reduce consumption. There are none, just pinky promises and Trump begrudgingly admitting your kids might get less toys this Christmas. A mad king imposing tariffs (taxes) on a whim is not okay. Republicans control all three branches of government, they'd craft coherent policy if they wanted to bring back manufacturing to the US. Unserious and frankly stupid crowd of people who still support this government.
- Tadpole9181 1y ago> is not okay Let's all be clear, too. This is illegal. Trump does not have the power to do this. It exclusively belongs to Congress. Just like the executive can't just randomly alter budgets and what programs get to run. Or declare ~~war~~ "special operations" against Venezuela. Or get away with any crime they simply want to call "official acts". The Constitution is basically a joke at this point.