The United States(!) of A


GuySmiley wrote:etarip wrote:indo-dreaming wrote:Sure i understand it's not always that simple but whatever way you want to spin it, your example is a terrible example and a perfect example of where tariff's would work.
Eh?
I do agree, i cant see how you can bring down inflation while going crazy on tariffs.
Tariffs will increase prices of imports and cause inflation
But if you want to bring back thing's like manufacturing or process your lobster at home, then you need tariffs yeah?
Really people need to decide what's important, do you want lot's of cheap shit made in places like China that will end up on your nature strip in 5 years time for hard rubbish collection.
Or do you want to go back to the days when thing's like bikes or clothing etc cost more compared to wages, either being manufactured at home (if your country is big enough to make it viable) or import them then sold at a higher cost because tariffs are added (tariffs that raise government revenue)
IMHO paying more for some things isn't a bad thing it put's more value in those things and help's rewind the high consumption throw away society we have become.
Otherwise how do you bring manufacturing home and rewind from this high consumption throw away society????
Is there another way?


You will bring down the inflation with tariffs by crushing the economy. And I don’t mean just 2, 3 quarters of the recession. I mean crushing it.
You probably won’t end up paying more. Short term yes but long term the demand will probably collapse and businesses will have to absorb the cost to stay competitive. Margins disappear and business investments collapses. People get sacked. FED cuts rates (hopefully) and USD devaluates. That is their end game, weaker USD.


Hmm. i dont know you read so many different views even from so called experts on this topic.
It just seems crazy that we have these free trade agreement's with places like China import all this cheap stuff and have zero chance of manufacturing anything in Australia even just sending mineral's to China instead of processing here and adding value.
Selected tariffs to me make's sense to wind things back or try to diversify and not be so reliant on China, for USA with such a big population it make's even more sense.
Covid i thought was a wake up call, to try to bring some manufacturing back to the West.
I think there is a bit of a if Trump says black, we say white thing with this topic though.
Trumps not silly he is doing something even if it's just a way to negotiate different things through tarrifs
I think it was you who said the other week he is smarter than people think, the way he has managed Israel and Ukraine to just get thing's moving in different direction's.


You’re changing the topic. I’m all for tariffs against China. China is the worst country in the world when it comes to tariffs. It’s not just that they will hit you with tariffs against your country, they will outright ban you from participating in certain industries. And all that while directly subsidising certain products and then dumping them in your market.
The problem with Trump’s tariffs is that he’s not being selective as you say and, he’s hitting his allies hard against the agreement he himself signed in his first term (TSMCA). He called it the best agreement in history. So why was it good then but it’s not good now?


“If you want to process your lobsters at home”
FFS.
- They’re in a free trade agreement. That Trump championed. It’s effectively one market anyway. It’s fucking retarded.
The whole point of this example is precisely that it probably HASN’T been considered. It’s not a big ticket item, except for probably the lobster fishermen of Maine, the factory workers in New Brunswick and the consumers in the US.


flollo wrote:You’re changing the topic. I’m all for tariffs against China. China is the worst country in the world when it comes to tariffs. It’s not just that they will hit you with tariffs against your country, they will outright ban you from participating in certain industries. And all that while directly subsidising certain products and then dumping them in your market.
The problem with Trump’s tariffs is that he’s not being selective as you say and, he’s hitting his allies hard against the agreement he himself signed in his first term (TSMCA). He called it the best agreement in history. So why was it good then but it’s not good now?
I dont think im changing the topic its all related, but if we just go back to Canada then, what do you think his aim is?
He isn't silly like many like to say or like to think, he knows how it all works he has seen it from the inside and had four years to think about it all and no doubt talked to many who are even more knowledgeable.


His aim is to raise more revenue. It’s a money grab. This is why he’s going after Canada, Mexico and China. These countries have no so choice but to keep trading with each other. So some level of revenue will flow in. He will say that it’s ‘trillions’ of dollars and then proceed with his tax cuts.


indo-dreaming wrote:Hmm. i dont know you read so many different views even from so called experts on this topic.
It just seems crazy that we have these free trade agreement's with places like China import all this cheap stuff and have zero chance of manufacturing anything in Australia even just sending mineral's to China instead of processing here and adding value.
Selected tariffs to me make's sense to wind things back or try to diversify and not be so reliant on China, for USA with such a big population it make's even more sense.
Covid i thought was a wake up call, to try to bring some manufacturing back to the West.
I think there is a bit of a if Trump says black, we say white thing with this topic though.
Trumps not silly he is doing something even if it's just a way to negotiate different things through tarrifs
I think it was you who said the other week he is smarter than people think, the way he has managed Israel and Ukraine to just get thing's moving in different direction's.
Forget the lobsters Indo, look at car manufacturing.
Trump has a plan to apply 25% tariffs to automotive components. What he didn’t realise was these components can cross the Canadian and Mexican borders up to seven times before being assembled into the finished vehicle.
This article from the Cato Institute (of all people!) explains the application of tariffs in detail.
https://www.cato.org/blog/seven-charts-show-how-us-tariffs-would-harm-am...
Now Trump has given the local manufacturers a few weeks to relocate all their component suppliers inside US borders. Should be easy.
Ultimately this will add thousands to the cost of a US manufactured vehicle and every car buyer will feel it.
Trump and his “advisors” clearly have no idea how international trade works and the finer points of “Comparative Advantage”. He believes a country of 20 million should have “balanced” trade with a country of 300 million. He is a complete simpleton masquerading as a bully.
One more thing, while it is my opinion stock markets are populated with con men, shonks and shysters, the markets do act as a barometer for a countries economy. They thrive on prosperous profitable industry but above all on certainty.
Now look at what has happened to markets since Trump started to “even things up” with tariffs. Tariffs applied one day are postponed the next, and no one knows what is going on.
The markets don’t like all this indecision, not to mention the inflationary implications of tariffs. Check how your Super balance has dropped in the last six weeks, to see how it’s affected you: it’s cost me a fair slab of money.
This whole Trump thing will in my opinion, end in disaster.
More and more Americans are now realising they have elected an idiot.


Trump hates unions, so does Elon. Trump has said he'd rather pay someone else than pay overtime. He's declared bankruptcy on 6 businesses, X is worth waaaaaaaaaay less than it was when Elon bought it, which is funny, eugenicsdreaming, that you say LOOK WHAT HE'S DONE WITH TWITTER! lol.
Are these the boobs you'd want running your country? Imagine if someone said tried to cut overtime/penalties here. Uproar. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cheeto administration decided to lower minimum wage. He did think about vetoing raising it. Scab rat dogs, the both of them.


Mark your calendars, April 4th is the next job data release. This one will start showing doge redundancies. I expect it to be a shocker.


It might be, but surely it's not something that should be judged straight away but something that should be judged much latter, many thing's need some pain before the gain.
Personally im very happy so far with pretty much everything Trump has done including DOGE, but the economical aspects of tariffs is the thing that i worry he will go too hard on, and then it ends up ruining the legacy of everything else, because at the end of the day it's the economy and cost of living that most people care about


flollo wrote:His aim is to raise more revenue. It’s a money grab. This is why he’s going after Canada, Mexico and China. These countries have no so choice but to keep trading with each other. So some level of revenue will flow in. He will say that it’s ‘trillions’ of dollars and then proceed with his tax cuts.
gaaawwwd knows what his aim is really...
and how far he'll push it, but this clearly is one of em, to fund his tax cuts
but he's also clearly using it as leverage for other requests - to encourage change...
it's interesting watching some of you (not you) take the position tarrifs are inherently bad. when they're used the world over, even in the EU.
to discourage and encourage behaviour!
related but different, australia's 'lobster' industry didn't collapse when china stopped trade - despite the usual overly hysterical claims and forcasts of doom and gloom - they just moved to a different market...
that's how shit works
anyone who's lived in Indonesia knows exactly how tarrifs work... some shit gets damn expensive, so you learn to live without it... or you learn to pay $10 bucks for a tub of butter...
the 'choice' is yours...
I get it, that all may seem rather anachronistic to our cosmopolitan class that has developed, but it's not the end of the world
truth of the matter is we just don't know what he's up to, and the exact effects it will have, and we're all indoctrinated into a world where supposed free trade is seen as a common good
fwiw, I think he's being reckless, and possibly stupid, but I think the really dangerous part is the effect it will have on US$ primacy
he seems a little too willing to trash many china shops to get what he wants
and now, it appears nato and UN membership are seriously on the table... which if followed through with, I cannot imagine would help with US$ primacy situation...
it's all a bit terrifying tbh, but really, most of his critics are more worried about their little pie slice and bashing trump, so come across a bit disingenuous actually
its terrifying that someone like michael shellengberger would write like this... but totally understandable too, if you appreciate what he's saying...
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2025/03/04/americans_can_no_l...


flollo wrote:Hmm, is watching the only way to get informed in today’s world? Sorry, rhetorical question. You don’t need to answer, I know you don’t have the capacity.
I have the capacity to know that reading is great, because you can go at your own pace, so it makes it easier to understand.


back to bed, bud.


basesix wrote:back to bed, bud.
What is your aircon broken again?
Is the wind coming from Olympic Dam , or Maralinga?
No I’m just being evil 、it’s not that bad there.


just got home. 'brilliant minds pop on swellnet within seconds of each other', it's an old saying @sypkan wheels out when he's impressed by people with relatable online addictions : )
#crayfish


basesix wrote:just got home. 'brilliant minds pop on swellnet within seconds of each other', it's an old saying @sypkan wheels out when he's impressed by people with relatable online addictions : )
#crayfish
B6. Brilliant minds do pop up on Swellnet and then there’s total Confusion. AW


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Septic Tanks are going to Septic Tank