Trade War 2025 - You get tariffs and you get tariffs, tariffs for everyone!

[Omega Bruh Moment]

There's no leverage here

 

[Throng of Titans]

With this choice, Trump has effectively destroyed the right for decades.

Sorry, call me a pessimist, but starting a trade war with 2 close trade partners after running on a campaign of "we'll make things cheap", over very vague demands about primarily social problems, is probably the single worst decision a president has made in my lifetime. You know the one universal thing everyone gives a fuck about? Money, and this is exactly what's going to make people freak out.

Not to mention, long term, this is just going to send countries running to China, Russia, or other nations that don't flip out and threaten tariffs when they don't immediately get their way.

 

[Fig Kommandant]

Sorry, call me a pessimist, but starting a trade war with 2 close trade partners

It was the same in 2016, after Trump spent a whole election cycle talking about 'CHYNA' he slapped tarrifs on close-by nations. I think the high rates of the current tarrifs won't destroy the right-wing in the US, but it will damage the unipolarity of the US. That has been going on in the EU since Trump wanted to buy Greenland without Denmark's agreement. I'm not familiar with LATAM, but I'm guessing they have similar issues about Trump unilaterally wanting to get the Panama Canal also.

 

[Average Russian Spy]

Well, the day of the rake is finally upon us. I've seen news that the Canadian dollar is already suffering from this. No clue what's going to happen from here on, but it isn't looking good for us leafs.

 

[Mortan Shekelstorm]

I wonder how this is going to effect shipping in The Great Lakes

 

[Sneed Lurker]

Progressives on twitter and reddit actually think Mexico a failed state with a GDP lower than Alabama is going to defeat the U.S in a trade war.

It's funny watching them twist like pretzels trying to explain how a country run by cartels who skin people alive for fun are going to win a trade war with the biggest country in the world.

 

[You're MDNWU]

These tariffs are going to force poor multi billion dollar conglomerates to open factories in the US again and potentially ruin drop shippers Drumpf is gonna be a cooked cheeto

 

[God's strongest milkman]

While America wins a trade war with both countries any day of the week they're obviously not hoping to bankrupt America before it bankrupts them, they're hoping to force a political change in Trump's situation so that he has to stop and they win anyways, which IS possible. I genuinely have no clue what's going to happen but I just hope they speed up on deportations soon.

 

[General Emílio Médici]

As I said on the USPG thread: The United States and Trump can stay retarded way longer than Canada and Mexico can stay afloat. By the time the tariffs actually start hurting Americans Mexico and Canada will have taken hundreds of billions worth of loss and and be on the edge of complete economic collapse, if not already into full economic implosion.

 

[FailurePersonifiedV2]

With this choice, Trump has effectively destroyed the right for decades.

Sorry, call me a pessimist, but starting a trade war with 2 close trade partners after running on a campaign of "we'll make things cheap", over very vague demands about primarily social problems, is probably the single worst decision a president has made in my lifetime. You know the one universal thing everyone gives a fuck about? Money, and this is exactly what's going to make people freak out.

Not to mention, long term, this is just going to send countries running to China, Russia, or other nations that don't flip out and threaten tariffs when they don't immediately get their way.

While I understand the concern I don’t really see the pessimism. Companies will come back to the US if it means they can sell a competitive/affordable product, and if the only way to do that is to hire Americans they will.

Basic revolving cash flow is good economics, something we haven’t had in a long time. One of the few times “keeping it in the family” is a great idea.
Tariffs like this aren’t meant to make the government more money, it’s to force industry to localize here.

It’s just too bad we don’t have 8 yrs to pull this off.

This constant attitude of the last 20 yrs trying to reduce this, reduce that has sure worked out for us this far right?!
Oh let’s just increase our national debt, which directly affects your dollars valuation, but no one care about that I guess?!
Learn some basic economics please.

You are the type to tell others to stay in their foxholes while they are being shelled; I’ll take my chances running.

 

[mindlessobserver]

I expect Trump will climb down off the worst of his demands after about a week or two. "Okay Canada. You win. I will only tarriff you 5% instead of 25%.

 

[Agamemnon Busmalis]

if it means they can sell a competitive/affordable product

This is the biggest risk. If there isn't enough domestic competition in a sector, there's an incentive to raise prices to a level less than the tariffed goods but more than they cost prior to the tariffs. After all, the only competition is selling its products at a higher price by law so there's no incentive not to do so if your goal is to maximize your profits.

If barriers to entry are too high, you end up with oligopolies or even monopolies. For example, right now there is no competitor to Boeing in the manufacture of wide-body civilian aircraft in the United States. Not even one.

This is way too rash and unplanned.

 

[WelperHelper99]

As I said on the USPG thread: The United States and Trump can stay retarded way longer than Canada and Mexico can stay afloat. By the time the tariffs actually start hurting Americans Mexico and Canada will have taken hundreds of billions worth of loss and and be on the edge of complete economic collapse, if not already into full economic implosion.

Agreed. It's not that the US won't take damage, it's that Canada and Mexico will have taken battleship shells to critical points to their economy. Trump can red line the US harder than either Canada or Mexico can without blowing up. In the end, they will fold.

 

[John Badman]

I hated the first time I’ll be annoyed by the second.

 

[FailurePersonifiedV2]

This is the biggest risk. If there isn't enough domestic competition in a sector, there's an incentive to raise prices to a level less than the tariffed goods but more than they cost prior to the tariffs. After all, the only competition is selling its products at a higher price by law so there's no incentive not to do so if your goal is to maximize your profits.

If barriers to entry are too high, you end up with oligopolies or even monopolies. For example, right now there is no competitor to Boeing in the manufacture of wide-body civilian aircraft in the United States. Not even one.

This is way too rash and unplanned.

That’s the result of crony capitalism. Regulation is the only reason why Boeing is the only one, if it didn’t cost 6 figures just to get started this wouldn’t be an issue.

It’s gonna get a little ugly, and we only do it to ourselves.

 

[Agamemnon Busmalis]

That’s the result of crony capitalism. Regulation is the only reason why Boeing is the only one, if it didn’t cost 6 figures just to get started this wouldn’t be an issue.

That's the worst part, the revolving door between industry and government means these corporations write their own rules. They're intentionally designed to get them off the hook while preventing competitors from entry.

It’s gonna get a little ugly, and we only do it to ourselves.

We should have tackled these issues first before attempting anything with tariffs or protectionism. Getting the illegal immigration situation under control should also be a higher priority - secure the border, deport illegals, provide training and education for targeted sectors to create a pool of skilled workers for domestic manufacturing.

 

[Niggs Monaghan]

Getting the illegal immigration situation under control should also be a higher priority

Isn't the reason he's putting the tariffs in understood to be because of border issues? At least for Mexico, because they're letting people across their border to Mexico into US and being bitchy about accepting the deported Mexicans back.

 

[WelperHelper99]

Isn't the reason he's putting the tariffs in understood to be because of border issues? At least for Mexico, because they're letting people across their border to Mexico into US and being bitchy about accepting the deported Mexicans back.

Yes. It's a little bit of economic coercion. Get your shit together or I nuke you economy to hell and back. That's for the border, drugs, gangs, literally everything both countries are doing

 

[Agamemnon Busmalis]

Isn't the reason he's putting the tariffs in understood to be because of border issues? At least for Mexico, because they're letting people across their border to Mexico into US and being bitchy about accepting the deported Mexicans back.

That's definitely not the impression I've gotten from his statements around this. They're very vague in terms of justification and extremely broad, with no actionable goals as if used as a threat (similar to what happened with Colombia).

If this was a clear-cut ultimatum such as "enforce the Remain-in-Mexico policy for all asylum seekers and accept all deportees from the United States who are are arrested on the US-Mexico border or face tariffs" it'd be a more workable situation. This is going way too hard on the offensive without prior planning.

 

[FailurePersonifiedV2]

That's the worst part, the revolving door between industry and government means these corporations write their own rules. They're intentionally designed to get them off the hook while preventing competitors from entry.

Unfortunately it’s all too easy to let someone go from a company, only for them to go into politics coincidently to represent the interests of their previous employment. Only too easy for a donor to get you elected with unspoken, or should I say unrecorded, expectations.
How does it go? Death and taxes? Why not “Government Corruption and Theft”? I will never die, haven’t yet! The others have
Crazy how we’ve allowed these mongoloids to affect the way we speak, and in effect, how we think.

We should have tackled these issues first before attempting anything with tariffs or protectionism. Getting the illegal immigration situation under control should also be a higher priority - secure the border, deport illegals, provide training and education for targeted sectors to create a pool of skilled workers for domestic manufacturing.

While I agree, we won’t given the short amount of time we have to have effective change. A perfect plan executed too late isn’t optimal. I hate being rash and bullish but I don’t think there’s any other way to get there.
I don’t think it will ever happen the way it should