Fire, Aim, Ready…
I think the thing I come away with is the stunning lack of understanding. Let’s start with a quick history lesson or none of this will make sense. From the Revolution through the years leading up to World War One, the US Government made its revenue through tariffs. The items we imported were charged a little tax and that was enough to support the Government. The first Income Tax didn’t take effect until 1913.
As far as I can tell, Trump read about tariffs and decided that would be a great idea. Moreover, he figured, wrongly, that tariffs on imports means the people making items overseas for sale in the US would pay the tax. The idea that this is really a VAT or Sales Tax has never entered his mind. He and his followers are sincere in not understanding that these costs will be passed on to the consumer.
Here’s the logic: if imported widgets cost more, then American widgets will be cheaper (by comparison). That means more jobs and more widget factories in the US. We must admit the idea sounds good on paper. However, exactly how many widget factories do you think have been built between last Tuesday and today? Are the shelves full of American made widgets at discount prices? Fire, Aim, Ready…
Now, I can sorta’ understand the above. Poor execution but it least there is some logic. But stupid knows no bounds and many, many of these tariffs are just stupid. Example: how much Columbian coffee do you suppose is grown in the US? If you drink coffee there is no substitute; Americans will pay more for their morning coffee. How much coffee of any kind do you think is grown in the US? A very small amount is grown in Hawaii and there’s simply no way these small, niche gourmet farms are suddenly going to ship thousands of tons starting last Tuesday. How about Apple silicon? It cannot be made in the US. Trump has imposed tariffs, by name, on uninhabited islands. There are hundreds of other examples. Fire, Aim, Ready…
The Americans are very good at some things, pretty much anything to do with computers. SpaceX is far from alone in the rocket business. There are several innovative companies that could give Elon heartburn – if we would only give them a chance. But noooo… instead we will gut NASA, end the return to the moon, and kill competition so Elon can go to Mars on the taxpayer dimes. Fire, Aim, Ready…
I believe that if somebody doesn’t stop Trump, the entire world will go into recession, starting with the US. I want to say the idiot MAGAs have it coming but the problem is, they will take the rest of the Americans, along with Canada and Mexico along with them. The remainder of the planet will not be far behind. No amount of counter tariffs can fix stupid. So, I am forced to hope the MAGAs come to their senses soon.
How will Trump’s tariffs affect Russia?
To make a long story short, they will not affect Russia at all.
The thing is that, according to the US administration, Russia is already under heavy American sanctions, so the ‘Liberation Day’ is not relevant to Moscow.
What I am also thinking about is the hypocrisy. Yes, Donald Trump’s introduction of tariffs on the whole world may cause a global recession, at least in the short term. However, judging by the tariff comparison table, the US tariffs have been much lower than most other countries’ tariffs on America.
Isn’t this weird
China has been exporting cheap toys, and Germany has been exporting nice cars to America. But it didn’t work the other way. Europe had much higher tariffs on American car imports, as well as on other goods. The same was true of Japan and most other countries.
If this is true, logically, the ‘reciprocal’ tariffs are acceptable to be imposed.
So when America decided to introduce these tariffs, the whole world cried about that bad guy Trump. But hey, didn’t you enjoy much lower tariffs when selling your stuff in America? This is what I call hypocrisy.
Now, Trump said he would expect ‘phenomenal’ proposals from each country subject to the tariffs. So, it is all about negotiations and bargaining.
As I said, I don’t expect any influence on Russia. Yet, each country will try to strike a deal with Trump to work out some agreement based on new conditions but still acceptable.
Amen.
Trump’s tariffs consequences – Britain.
I am not sure at all that America’s movers and shakers actually understand who will be paying to compensate for all these tariffs, (clue: it’s the people), but actually I don’t care about what happens in America – they voted for the idiot and they will get what they deserve, I’m sure. Dean will no doubt eloquently describe his feelings about what his home country may now experience.
As for Britain, we exported nearly £60bn worth of goods to the U.S.A. last year, making it one of the most important markets for thousands of British businesses. Most will suffer.
As I write this late on Friday 4th April 2025, the British stock market index, the FTSE 100, has suffered the biggest one day fall since the beginning of Covid five years ago. The UK index closed 4.9% lower – the biggest drop since 27 March 2020. So, the initial consequence rivals the arrival of the greatest pandemic of recent times. And that’s despite the general 10 per cent tariffs Trump has slapped on British goods bveing the equal lowest.
Here in the U.K., it could cost thousands of jobs, and force the government to make even more painful cuts at the next budget. It could well cause higher prices, which will prompt workers to demand higher wages. This of course will further raise costs for businesses
There is a contrary opinion; firms which normally send their goods to the US, may instead send them to countries such as the UK which don’t have such steep tariffs, potentially leading to a flood of cheaper goods in the UK.
According to the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank, more than 25,000 jobs in the UK car manufacturing industry “could be at risk” with a 25% tariff coming into effect now, with one in eight UK-built cars exported to the US. The pharmaceutical industry is also heavily reliant on trade with the US,
The present British government seems incapable of standing up to America, pretending instead that they are in “negotiations” with the U.S.A. Bullshit. Trump doesn’t give a toss about any other country, and ultimately, Britain, that is the average British citizen, will be adversely affected.
To most political and financial observers, Trump’s tariffs make no sense at all. Experts are all but unanimous that the impact on global growth following these Trumponion exercises will be negative – and Britain will sadly be part of that. So, thanks America.