More than 50 countries have reached out to the President to begin tariff negotiations

[CriticalStinker]

Thats not how Trump defines a trade imbalance, it's not dollar for dollar, it's about restrictions and regulations we don't impose on Canada, and Trump's correct.  Mentioned earlier in the thread, pain in the ass warehousing in Canada as an American business 

So Trump is just enriching himself and the corporations, he is going to go through all of his stuff for 8 years, and now he is going to just scam for money. As if he isn't the most investigated and litigated businessperson EVER

Am I following correctly...

Said it earlier, in my business, if we can get just a 10-15% lower on landed cost, it could easily finance a growth spurt. In Apparel, my niche sector, we lost 27% of our companies and over 400 retailers OOB in the 9-state territory during COVID. It's ripe for a rebuild, We had 83% of the market space leased, now it's less than 60%. Almost 20% fewer Americans work in clothing and apparel than they did in 2019. 

Many small business-dependent sectors had the same 5-year trajectory, especially seasonal consumer goods. 2023 T&A was 8.7% of China's GDP and employed 16 million Chinese. 

It seems chaotic because it's never been done before, as for the arbitrary, I think you are caught up in the tariffs like they are permanent, they are just a means to spur negotiations at a quicker pace. 

We will know soon enough, both sides are meeting this weekend...

He also noted VAT as a barrier for US goods. But VAT is levied on all goods sold, not just foreign or US.

Some of the other regulations are food safety. And that’s something we absolutely do against other countries too. We have strict vehicle safety and emissions standards. Even German diesels don’t meet our criteria.

Also, it should be noted the most current trade agreements with Canada were penned by Trump. So he’s waging a trade war against a deal he struck. He’s used stronger rhetoric against them than some of our adversaries, and they’re the number one buyer of US goods. A country with around a tenth of our population, and they buy the most while receiving some of the most aimed aggression.

It’s just not thoughtful or planned.

[putnam6]

He also noted VAT as a barrier for US goods. But VAT is levied on all goods sold, not just foreign or US.

Some of the other regulations are food safety. And that’s something we absolutely do against other countries too. We have strict vehicle safety and emissions standards. Even German diesels don’t meet our criteria.

Also, it should be noted the most current trade agreements with Canada were penned by Trump. So he’s waging a trade war against a deal he struck. He’s used stronger rhetoric against them than some of our adversaries, and they’re the number one buyer of US goods. A country with around a tenth of our population, and they buy the most while receiving some of the most aimed aggression.

It’s just not thoughtful or planned.

All of that's fair, I have no doubt Im choosing to look at this optimistically. All of what you are suggesting may be true now, but it doesn't mean this won't turn out swimmingly for our economy in the end.

LOL texted a co-worker late last night about China and the US meeting this weekend, her reply, "Thank God," she said, for every 3 incoming calls, 1 is about tariffs all day long. She said that between talking to customers and associates, and friends in the business, it's just the uncertainty of it all, it takes a large part of the day. 

Im aware there were previous trade and trade agreements during Trump's first term, simply put, he didn't have Congress, his moves were more tentative and cautious, and he had other priorities. Can you imagine him attempting this in his first term? The media and the heads of the left would have exploded.

[CriticalStinker]

All of that's fair, I have no doubt Im choosing to look at this optimistically. All of what you are suggesting may be true now, but it doesn't mean this won't turn out swimmingly for our economy in the end.

LOL texted a co-worker late last night about China and the US meeting this weekend, her reply, "Thank God," she said, for every 3 incoming calls, 1 is about tariffs all day long. She said that between talking to customers and associates, and friends in the business, it's just the uncertainty of it all, it takes a large part of the day. 

Im aware there were previous trade and trade agreements during Trump's first term, simply put, he didn't have Congress, his moves were more tentative and cautious, and he had other priorities. Can you imagine him attempting this in his first term? The media and the heads of the left would have exploded.

The China tariffs make a lot more sense to me. I may question the execution and planning (or lack there of)… But China has been an issue for a long time and absolutely has to be addressed.

COVID kind of ripped that bandaid off, and companies saw the exposure they had by having all their eggs in one basket. You can see how dramatically our trade shifted after that. But the reality is it relied on shifting to other trade partners like India, Mexico, Canada and others.

the beauty of Canada and Mexico is we don’t have to worry about cargo ships which can experience their own problems with shipping routes. And it’s cheaper to ship all together.

But we have to be thoughtful about how we do all of these things.

its one thing to play carrot and sticks with other countries, and skip right past incentives… But we’re doing that with our own country. We put real costs on all consumers in our country, and the idea is that we trust corporations to make decisions to benefit the nation. Corporations aren’t altruistic, nor should they be really.

But this cost is going to be passed to us for the transition, and it wasn’t even one persons call to make. It was done by hijacking legislation intended for different use cases.

[putnam6]

The China tariffs make a lot more sense to me. I may question the execution and planning (or lack there of)… But China has been an issue for a long time and absolutely has to be addressed.

COVID kind of ripped that bandaid off, and companies saw the exposure they had by having all their eggs in one basket. You can see how dramatically our trade shifted after that. But the reality is it relied on shifting to other trade partners like India, Mexico, Canada and others.

the beauty of Canada and Mexico is we don’t have to worry about cargo ships which can experience their own problems with shipping routes. And it’s cheaper to ship all together.

But we have to be thoughtful about how we do all of these things.

its one thing to play carrot and sticks with other countries, and skip right past incentives… But we’re doing that with our own country. We put real costs on all consumers in our country, and the idea is that we trust corporations to make decisions to benefit the nation. Corporations aren’t altruistic, nor should they be really.

But this cost is going to be passed to us for the transition, and it wasn’t even one persons call to make. It was done by hijacking legislation intended for different use cases.

Which means how hard we get hit depends on how long this transition takes place

We are getting hit, but it isn't that bad. We have had a lot worse.

The media and 40% of the population (INM)are going to piss and moan no matter what Trump does, a good percentage of Trump's base 25-30% (INM) is going to praise Trump no matter what. Mixed with the normal doom and gloomers, the rarity of this happening makes it difficult to find someone knowledgeable about the topic and unbiased.

There's an interesting mix on X.com search (tariffs China latest), and the YouTube feed is full of sensationalistic China collapsing videos, mostly worst-case scenarios. 

Let us not forget this side story ...
 

[Image: https://abs-0.twimg.com/emoji/v2/svg/1f6a8.svg] Treasury Secretary testified before a Congressional commitee today that 1/3 of the 1.5 billion Treasury payments were Untraceable in 2024 He explains that 500 million transactions, where the US Treasury issued payments were missing a Treasury Account Symbol (TAS). THAT ENDS… now every single payment requires a TAS number.

[CriticalStinker]

Which means how hard we get hit depends on how long this transition takes place

We are getting hit, but it isn't that bad. We have had a lot worse.

The media and 40% of the population (INM)are going to piss and moan no matter what Trump does, a good percentage of Trump's base 25-30% (INM) is going to praise Trump no matter what. Mixed with the normal doom and gloomers, the rarity of this happening makes it difficult to find someone knowledgeable about the topic and unbiased.

There's an interesting mix on X.com search (tariffs China latest), and the YouTube feed is full of sensationalistic China collapsing videos, mostly worst-case scenarios. 

Let us not forget this side story ...
 

Tax increases are rarely popular.

Especially when they’re not voted in the proper way.

[Oldcarpy2]

Which means how hard we get hit depends on how long this transition takes place

We are getting hit, but it isn't that bad. We have had a lot worse.

The media and 40% of the population (INM)are going to piss and moan no matter what Trump does, a good percentage of Trump's base 25-30% (INM) is going to praise Trump no matter what. Mixed with the normal doom and gloomers, the rarity of this happening makes it difficult to find someone knowledgeable about the topic and unbiased.

There's an interesting mix on X.com search (tariffs China latest), and the YouTube feed is full of sensationalistic China collapsing videos, mostly worst-case scenarios. 

Let us not forget this side story ...
 
The link doesn't work for me?

[putnam6]

Tax increases are rarely popular.

Especially when they’re not voted in the proper way.

Now we are just speaking in generalities 

Tax increases are rarely popular. Agree 

Especially when they’re not voted in the proper way.  Disagree

I think this is being blown out of proportion by the media and the left... significantly...

If tariffs stay this way for 12 months.... low end it's 100 bucks a month, high end 320 bucks.... 
 

The 2025 tariffs (Trump’s second term, including 10–20% universal tariffs, 25% on Canada/Mexico, up to 145% on China, and sector-specific tariffs like 25% on steel/aluminum/autos) are projected to cost America:

• Consumer Costs: ~$494 billion annually ($3,800 per household, Yale estimate) or ~$156 billion ($1,200 per household, PIIE low-end).
  

[CriticalStinker]

Now we are just speaking in generalities 

Tax increases are rarely popular. Agree 

Especially when they’re not voted in the proper way.  Disagree

I think this is being blown out of proportion by the media and the left... significantly...

If tariffs stay this way for 12 months.... low end it's 100 bucks a month, high end 320 bucks.... 
 

I don’t think increasing taxes and prices after promising the opposite is over blown. Especially when it wasn’t voted through congress which is what is supposed to happen.

[putnam6]

I don’t think increasing taxes and prices after promising the opposite is over blown. Especially when it wasn’t voted through congress which is what is supposed to happen.

How much taxes and prices increase is purely speculative at this point....

Worst case scenarios....

When we both know the reality will likely be between my optimism and your pessimism

While some are predicting recessions and huge permanent tariff-induced tax increases, here could be breakthrough talks in Switzerland,

like this 



Whoever this is, remove them from your taxes and price increase concerns...

[CriticalStinker]

How much taxes and prices increase is purely speculative at this point....

Worst case scenarios....

When we both know the reality will likely be between my optimism and your pessimism

There could be breakthrough talks in Switzerland, while some are predicting recessions and huge permanent tariff-induced tax increases

Let me put it this way. I haven’t removed any of my stock assets.

For one, who the hell knows what he’s going to do? On ATS before it crashed, the popular consensus was Canada and Mexico just had to combat fentanyl and this would be over. No pundit knows, and cabinet officials have flip flopped daily.

Even if we see inflation due to all of this, stock prices usually go up a little bit because of the lower buying power of USD.

You’re right, this won’t be life ending or earth shattering. If it gets bad enough than congress flips and they take back their power of tariffs and the “mandate” is done. None of the presidents before us have made life unbearable even though they were horrible. I suppose you have to ask yourself what makes this run different. If he’s still increased debt, and made things more expensive, is he really as genius as people imply?

His whole campaign was on bringing down prices and putting more money in the pockets of the average American. We’re increasing prices and taxes. We can try and downplay it and assume there’s some boom at home all we want. My guess is the “deals” prevent further tariff increases, and we keep the 10% widely across the board. Then there will be tax cuts that basically wash out any gains against debt from collecting tariffs. American producers raise their prices because they can, and everything is just more expensive, including housing because of material costs.

the narrative will shift to Trump isn’t worse than the others, and a lot of it was their fault to begin with.