Trump Trade War Truths
How about a few Trump trade war truths? China makes things better and much cheaper in most instances and that is why the US and the world imports more stuff from them. Yes, they have some economic advantages based on their centrally planned form of government. However, such is life in the real world of trading nations. No one is forcing Americans to buy Chinese goods, rather they do it because it offers a better deal. Trump is attempting to remove that economic incentive via protectionism and a tariff imposed upon American consumers. This will cause a lot of financial pain in the short to medium term and by that he means at least 5 to 10 years. This is because there are not American manufacturers ready to pick up the slack.
Trump’s Tariffs & The Trade War
It will take time for that investment to be made and the market may be hesitant to back these Trump tariffs beyond his political life cycle. What if Trump 2.0 crashes out and is replaced by a Democratic president who restores the old world economic order? Uncertainty rules the financial markets right now and that is why we have seen it lose some $11 trillion since Trump’s inauguration. Most economists cannot see these tariffs succeeding in the way that the Trump regime claims that they will. Different nations have various economic advantages in regard to producing particular goods and services. Tariffs are an attempt to remove those economic advantages and this hurts the consumer who loses the benefits of those advantages via the price. Tariffs hurt poorer people more than wealthier folk.
Home Truths About Trump’s Trade War
The truth is that Trump’s trade war will damage economies globally and thus their citizens too. Already, markets have wiped off trillions dollars from retirement funds worldwide. The hubris of Donald Trump is pretty awful and one wonders what comeuppance is in store for him. This is because the end for those who fly too close to the sun is never pretty. It takes immense gall to mess with the lives of billions of people and the stakes are massive. America will lose its hegemony on the back of this Trump trade war. Bursting that stars and stripes balloon forever. I bet that plenty of Americans were wishing that sleepy Joe Biden was back in the White House.
“US President Donald Trump says he is waiting to hear from China before a tariff of 104 per cent takes effect, but other administration officials have said they will not prioritise negotiations with Beijing.”
Dumb Trump BS
Politicians, especially demagogues like Donald Trump, who excel at arousing the ire of the mob via culture wars, invariably fail when it comes to actually governing. Stoking the politics of grievance is a different skill from getting things done when in power. The mad rush to make things happen means plenty of mistakes. Trump 2.0 has been in a big hurry. Every one of those mistakes costs political points and before you know it you have run out of credit with the voters. Dismantling the government by stripping away the public service will hurt a lot of vulnerable Americans. It seems like the Trump faithful have no conception of community and that it takes all sorts to make up a nation. Nations are not essentially or exclusively businesses, which is why we have governments and their agencies. The remit of businesses are much more shallow. The push for privatisation misses this, amid the neoliberal fervour. Drumming up support for his trade war by turning trading partners into perceived enemies is dumb Trump BS. If Americans buy this god help the planet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFniFR0O7Bc
Trump Regime Lies & Misinformation
Trump trade war truths are pretty thin on the ground at the White House. Made up numbers applied willy nilly to names of nations dug out of an atlas. This is the problem with having liars running your country. Lying and misinformation might be par for the course when it comes to politicking but economics likes actual facts. When you have every right wing crackpot filling the posts in your cabinet and administration it must be a feast of fictions at each meeting. It reminds me of the worst excesses of Stalinist Russia in the Kremlin. Home truths are the rarest resource in these circumstances. Comrade Trump tells us that the sky is red and that he scored a double eagle on 3 holes over the weekend. Tall tales and the trade war continues unabated.
Civil War?
OK so how does this play out? The price of everything goes up wildly. Isn’t that called inflation? American consumers pay out trillions of dollars in tariff taxes to the Trump regime, as the importers raise their prices to recover their increased costs. Eventually, if there are locally produced alternatives in the market they may choose to buy these instead. Some will just stop purchasing that item if that is an option. The cost of living rises substantially forcing more people into poverty. However, DOGE cut government services no longer exist to help those folk. A lot of community anger flares up and citizens march in the street in protest. Trump orders in the National Guard and states bring in their police. Armed conflict erupts around the country. Civil war may be brewing, as opposition to the Trump regime excesses overflow into the streets. This scenario is not mere fantasy, as the elements are in place and coming to fruition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6TLoj6lQC4
The Bully’s Trade War
Donald Trump is a bully and he hopes that he can bully the world into submission. Americans who voted for Trump must be in that camp too. It will be interesting to see what eventuates and whether the bullying American will get taken down a peg or two. The rest of the world is heartily sick of the Trump phenomenon. The Trump premise is that despite being the wealthiest nation on earth America deserves more and that he will take that from every single nation he can. I wish for his speedy comeuppance.
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump.
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