Economics Thread
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acesfull86
Well-known member
acesfull86
Well-known member
https://www.creators.com/read/veron...out-the-mounting-costs-of-trump-protectionism
American consumers, too, are paying the price. KPMG finds that nearly half of American companies have already raised prices because of tariffs; two-thirds have passed at least part of those costs on to shoppers; and nearly 40% have paused hiring, with a third cutting jobs.
CEOs overwhelmingly expect tariffs to weigh on business for years. Goldman Sachs estimates U.S. consumers are now footing 55% of the total tariff bill, while foreign exporters bear only a sliver of the costs.
Sometimes, though, the cost we pay isn’t higher prices — it’s no product at all. One of Europe’s largest farm-equipment manufacturers, Krone, has halted U.S. sales after a new wave of “steel derivative” tariffs required exporters to document the origin, weight and value of every screw, nut and bolt in their machinery. This bureaucratic tangle is so extreme that many European manufacturers are simply giving up. For American farmers waiting on harvesting equipment, that means delays, shortages and higher costs down the line.
The chaos doesn’t stop there. UPS has been drowning in a customs backlog since the administration scrapped the longstanding rule that allows imports costing less than $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free. Thousands of packages, from Japanese tea to engagement rings, are stuck or even “disposed of” because of missing tariff paperwork. It’s a vivid reminder that protectionism jams everyday commerce.
American consumers, too, are paying the price. KPMG finds that nearly half of American companies have already raised prices because of tariffs; two-thirds have passed at least part of those costs on to shoppers; and nearly 40% have paused hiring, with a third cutting jobs.
CEOs overwhelmingly expect tariffs to weigh on business for years. Goldman Sachs estimates U.S. consumers are now footing 55% of the total tariff bill, while foreign exporters bear only a sliver of the costs.
Sometimes, though, the cost we pay isn’t higher prices — it’s no product at all. One of Europe’s largest farm-equipment manufacturers, Krone, has halted U.S. sales after a new wave of “steel derivative” tariffs required exporters to document the origin, weight and value of every screw, nut and bolt in their machinery. This bureaucratic tangle is so extreme that many European manufacturers are simply giving up. For American farmers waiting on harvesting equipment, that means delays, shortages and higher costs down the line.
The chaos doesn’t stop there. UPS has been drowning in a customs backlog since the administration scrapped the longstanding rule that allows imports costing less than $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free. Thousands of packages, from Japanese tea to engagement rings, are stuck or even “disposed of” because of missing tariff paperwork. It’s a vivid reminder that protectionism jams everyday commerce.
lol - awful correlation
Europe is in economic decline but they aren’t buying as much becusss of TARIFFS!
CCP has been sowing the seeds of but g soybeans elsewhere for decades but it’s TARIFFS!
Healthcare experts at it again while chinas producer prices plummet.
But by all means the systems in place before enriching a communist dictatorship is the way to go!
Europe is in economic decline but they aren’t buying as much becusss of TARIFFS!
CCP has been sowing the seeds of but g soybeans elsewhere for decades but it’s TARIFFS!
Healthcare experts at it again while chinas producer prices plummet.
But by all means the systems in place before enriching a communist dictatorship is the way to go!
Would once again like to point out that we can just look at what’s happened to certain exports specifically in the past 6 months and discover a link. The thing “the experts” claimed would happen is happening as they predicted it would and I’m supposed to believe it was actually Biden’s policies just finally cratering the industry at the same time?
acesfull86
Well-known member
https://reason.com/2025/10/15/trump...cials-say-they-need-a-tariff-exemption/?nab=0
Nevertheless, the "national security" argument clearly has been foundational to Trump's trade policies. Higher tariffs will make America's military more self-sufficient and capable against future threats; that's the White House's point of view.
One problem: that's not how the people actually in charge of America's national security see it.
"The Defense Department routinely acquires items and materials from foreign sources indispensable to meet defense needs that are not readily available or produced in sufficient quantities within the United States," wrote John Tanaglia, director of pricing, contracting, and acquisitions for the Pentagon, in a memo dated August 25.
…
Indeed, given the focus on tariffs as a tool for national security, isn't it more important for them to apply to goods that the military is purchasing? If the Pentagon can ignore the tariffs and continue to purchase steel, aluminum, and anything else in a duty-free environment, then it seems impossible for those tariffs to achieve their stated goal of promoting a self-sufficient supply chain for the military.
There's no good way for the Trump administration to square this circle. At the same time that the president is pushing a huge tax increase on Americans in the name of national security, Congress is telling the Pentagon to ensure those same taxes don't "hinder…national security priorities."
Tariffs can't be both helping and hurting national security. As always, it is instructive to pay more attention to what the administration does than what it says.
Nevertheless, the "national security" argument clearly has been foundational to Trump's trade policies. Higher tariffs will make America's military more self-sufficient and capable against future threats; that's the White House's point of view.
One problem: that's not how the people actually in charge of America's national security see it.
"The Defense Department routinely acquires items and materials from foreign sources indispensable to meet defense needs that are not readily available or produced in sufficient quantities within the United States," wrote John Tanaglia, director of pricing, contracting, and acquisitions for the Pentagon, in a memo dated August 25.
…
Indeed, given the focus on tariffs as a tool for national security, isn't it more important for them to apply to goods that the military is purchasing? If the Pentagon can ignore the tariffs and continue to purchase steel, aluminum, and anything else in a duty-free environment, then it seems impossible for those tariffs to achieve their stated goal of promoting a self-sufficient supply chain for the military.
There's no good way for the Trump administration to square this circle. At the same time that the president is pushing a huge tax increase on Americans in the name of national security, Congress is telling the Pentagon to ensure those same taxes don't "hinder…national security priorities."
Tariffs can't be both helping and hurting national security. As always, it is instructive to pay more attention to what the administration does than what it says.
Tapate50
Well-known member
I mean... I thought this went without having to be said (or written) in this case.
acesfull86
Well-known member
I’d like to think so, but sadly MAGA is going the way of the left, where intentions are prioritized over results, and adherents would rather shout bumper stickers (or say nothing at all) than actually make a coherent defense of these policies.
Jaw
It's OVER 5,000!
This is kind of a justification for the tariffs though. In terms of the overall market the military doesn’t use that much steel or aluminum. If tariffs are making it difficult to find that amount then boosting domestic production is a key national security goal. That has been a key argument in favor of the tariffs from the beginning, boost domestic production to lessen reliance on foreign goods.
Honestly, I am surprised that approval for this isn’t nearly unanimous after the supply chain fiasco during Covid.
acesfull86
Well-known member
It’s a “tariff for thee, not for me” scenario. If the premise of the tariff is to raise the world price to boost domestic production, then handing out exemptions only delays that goal. (Assuming the tariff can actually achieve that goal, which is dubious, given historical precedent)
Jaw
It's OVER 5,000!
I agree on the exemptions being ridiculous. I’m not sure how tariffs could unable to boost domestic production on steel. If the US can’t produce enough to meet domestic demand then domestic supply has incentive to increase.
That’s why the haphazard way they’ve implemented all this is so particularly maddening. I can see good arguments for things like creating domestic supply chains for industries critical for national defense and rare earth metals that we need to combat Chinese dominance in that space.
But instead we’re doing shit like tariffing Lesotho a gazillion percent because they don’t buy things from us, making clothing more expensive and tariffing things we literally cannot produce domestically. We don’t need to fix the entire global trade imbalance to promote domestic production of key items.