22 Comments
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G. Elliott Morris's avatar

You published it! Yes!!

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Prof Dave White's avatar

You are completely wrong! These tariffs are good for the American worker. Quit buying crap made in China. more than 70 countries who were prevented us from selling our goods in their country have now requested negotiations. China will cave also. This is why the pause to allow the 15 deals and more to be completed. Lots of government waste also

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Gene Frenkle's avatar

So what is the goal of the tariffs?? Is it to get other countries to negotiate in order to reduce tariffs??

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Prof Dave White's avatar

bingo!

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El Monstro's avatar

There are already no tariffs with Canada. He is not trying to reduce tariffs he is trying to reduce the trade deficit. Though I guess he gives different reasons on different days of the week.

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J.K. Lund's avatar

This, El Monstro, is precisely the problem with this whole endeavour; it is not clear what the end outcome is.

If the goal is to have no "trade deficit" with any nation, then...well...we are now subscribing to what is being derided as "critical trade theory." The taxes on imports will have to remain because it's not possible to eliminate them entirely.

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Daniel Manriquez's avatar

Great charts! Can you share what software you’re using? Thanks again for sharing.

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Joseph Politano's avatar

Thanks Daniel! I use the programming language R if you want to take a look at the code: https://github.com/Miles-byte/Apricitas

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Sam Deutsch's avatar

Fantastic article, thank you for sharing! Even if Trump’s stated goal is to “bring back American manufacturing”, the haphazard nature of implementation means that most businesses won’t bother.

Why spend billions of dollars in capital investment and years of effort to build a brand new manufacturing facility in the U.S. when Trump could change his mind at any moment?

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J.K. Lund's avatar

Exactly Sam. And even if they were more predictable, tariffing everyone isn't the way to do this. Lerner symmetry holds that tariffs on imports function as tariffs on exports. We are killing industry on both ends.

Biden's approach of using subsidies isn't exactly efficient either, but it has a better track record than tariffs.

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Buddy's avatar

Already out of date, I’m guessing. 😀

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Santiago Lisa's avatar

Nope he updated it for today’s exemption from smartphones and other electronics from china

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Buddy's avatar

Oh! Thank you

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Prof Dave White's avatar

You are completely wrong! These tariffs are good for the American worker. Quit buying crap made in China. more than 70 countries who were prevented us from selling our goods in their country have now requested negotiations. China will cave also. This is why the pause to allow the 15 deals and more to be completed. Lots of government waste also

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Eric Johnson's avatar

Excellent info, this is truly grueling already, don’t see us coming back from this in my lifetime.

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Prof Dave White's avatar

You are completely wrong! These tariffs are good for the American worker. Quit buying crap made in China. more than 70 countries who were prevented us from selling our goods in their country have now requested negotiations. China will cave also. This is why the pause to allow the 15 deals and more to be completed. Lots of government waste also

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El Monstro's avatar

Don’t beat yourself up over Trump’s deranged nature. I appreciate your hard work and attention to detail.

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kyla scanlon's avatar

Great piece Joey!

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drllau's avatar

The analogy I can only come up with is medieval toll roads vs free cities-(states). In Italy and elsewhere, fortified burghs emerged, trying to establish the "freedom to conduct and regulate their own affairs and security from arbitrary taxation and harassment from the bishop, abbot, or count in whose jurisdiction these obscure and ignoble social outsiders lay. " (Wikipedia). Charters were then purchased at high cost to guarantee immunity from centralized interferrence ("sorry, a shame those bandits are camped at crossroads").

It appears the 10% is permanent, this is a proto-GST/VAT, I expect exporters will push for refund of any tariffs if re-exported (xref economic zones). But in the end it is still a consumption tax that will fall disproportionately on the lower-middle class, unlike the upper-middle who can travel abroad to acquire their luxuries/durables. But the return of charters is basically institutionalised lobbying leading to different business sector infighting.

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Erl Happ's avatar

Your post is wholly appropriate.

The worry is that Trump himself and more so his advisers, are off with the fairies. I see this described as Trumps Liz Truss moment. One can but hope that the increase in the bond rate and the fall in the value of the dollar will be lesson enough, and that wiser counsel will prevail.

The response that would signal an proper appreciation of the situation, would be to cut military expenditures to the bone and Trump signing up to China's humanitarian Belt and Road initiative.

Belligerence is inappropriate. Goodwill is fast evaporating.

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Prof Dave White's avatar

You are completely wrong! These tariffs are good for the American worker. Quit buying crap made in China. more than 70 countries who were prevented us from selling our goods in their country have now requested negotiations. China will cave also. This is why the pause to allow the 15 deals and more to be completed. Lots of government waste also.  34 PPM fraud in the CO2 rise and 36 NOAA PhDs fired. ie: Kathryn McCain cctruth.org

 waste Federal Court, Judge Alsup ruled that only Congress can hire and fire federal workers, not the president. However, as you know, the US Constitution states the President is the Chief Executive of the Executive branch of the Federal Government and its bureaucratic employees. He can hire and fire anyone if congress appropriates the money. This explains why the US Supreme Court wrote a stay for the $2 billion going out of the country for USAID. https://www.npr.org/2025/02/27/nx-s1-5311445/federal-employees-firing-court-judge

https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-people-receive-government-assistance/

 100 million people on entitlements.

https://federalsafetynet.com/entitlement-programs/entitlement-spending/

 $3363 billion That is $3.3 trillion per year.

https://www.opb.org/article/2023/08/05/columbia-river-salmon-habitat-spending-study/

Or https://salmonproectiondevice.com/Billions_spent_on%20hatcheries.pdf

Salmonprotectiondevice.com will fix the declining salmon and sturgeon

runs in the Columbia river within a few years. The Sea Lions have always been the issue for the declining runs.

https://thelawisyourattorney.com/judicial-bias-against-litigants-in-dam-removal-cases/

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El Monstro's avatar

You are as deranged and your thinking is as confused and disorganized as Trump’s is.

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