Another Trump shock and awe as he levies tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium from the EU, Canada and Mexico, who are all threatening retaliation. Past experience suggests such protectionism, as in Reagan era, costs jobs in US and pushes US prices up, hurting US consumers, never mind setting off an escalating trade war elsewhere. Even GOP stalwarts are alarmed.
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) called it “bad news”.
Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said there is “mounting evidence that these tariffs will harm Americans.”
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) warned that similar policies 90 years ago sparked the Great Depression. He said: “This is dumb. Europe, Canada, and Mexico are not China, and you don’t treat allies the same way you treat opponents. ‘Make America Great Again’ shouldn’t mean ‘Make America 1929 Again.'”
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) “This is a big mistake. These tariffs will raise prices and destroy manufacturing jobs, especially auto jobs, which are one-third of all Tennessee manufacturing jobs. Tariffs are “basically higher taxes on American consumers.”
It was signed to start at midnight last night.
This aptly enough produces a self-protective, though usually divorced-from-reality Water Grand Trine of Jupiter in Scorpio trine Venus in Cancer trine Neptune in the 2nd, formed into a Kite by Venus opposition a 12th house Pluto (Moon Saturn) in Capricorn. Plus an explosive Mars on the Aquarius Ascendant opposition North Node in the 7th square Uranus. So an unholy mix of an act of reckless machismo to shore up self-esteem; and some dubious behind-the-scenes-motives. Neptune in the 2nd tied into the central configuration is not remotely hard-headed on the cash front, and Saturn in the 12th isn’t practical.
At the moment Pluto is exactly conjunct the Mars/Saturn midpoint, which is destructive; Saturn is square the Sun/Mars and Uranus/Neptune midpoints which indicates setbacks and loses. Could all be stoking up economic trouble as tr Saturn opposes the US Jupiter Venus this year and the Sun in 2019 at the same time as a fairly devastating tr Pluto trine the US Neptune picking up.
It’ll also have a damaging effect on steel jobs in the EU, UK and elsewhere.
Let me see if I can give a different perspective. I’ll focus on Canada as an example. I’m sure you’ve read what Trudeau is saying. He creates the economic and national security *strawman* argument saying President Trump is calling Canada a national security risk to the U.S. No, President Trump is not saying that. President Trump is saying securing the U.S. Steel and Aluminum industry is vital to U.S. national security interests. All the players in each country had the opportunity for a place at the table to make a deal. Trump warned them all. He floated this idea in the beginning of March–and granted extensions–they were ignored. Trudeau didn’t deal and now his rhetoric doesn’t match his leverage.
Trump was elected specifically because he doesn’t apply a political prism in front of economic or national security decisions and countries are learning he means what he says. It’s not like the US just wants to shaft other countries. It’s just that the shafting has all been going one way and now we have a president who stands up to it. In the end, Canada will adjust, change leaders and learn to self-develop.
BTW, Canada, Mexico and the EU drain the American economy of $240 billion every year. It’s 40% of the total American trade deficit (the balance mostly China). This equates to $2,200 per American family every year. Throw in China and it’s $5,000.
Doesn’t appear to be very different from the now-gone Deborah perspective:
“…countries are learning he means what he says.”
“All the players in each country had the opportunity for a place at the table to make a deal. Trump warned them all.”
“…now we have a president who stands up to it. ”
#notmypresident
“Trump was elected specifically because he doesn’t apply a political prism in front of economic or national security decisions…”
No, trump was elected because of dead people and illegals voting for him. Well, the election process was a fraud, anyways; have you forgotten that trump tweet? DARN THAT CROOKED HILLARY!!!!!!!!
😉
He also separates children from their parents at the border crossings – Nazis did that at selected train stations.
DARN THAT CADET BONE SPURS…
(all-caps in emulation of presidential tweets)
Can we calm the debate. There is an argument put forward by Trump which sounds palatable to his followers which can be countered by those more knowledgeable than I am about global trade. There was a great piece which I cannot find, drat it, explaining why his ideas are wrong. Will keep searching.
“the general conclusion is that it’s the party that introduces them (trade tariffs) that loses the most.”
‘America’s farmers are about to start harvesting the wheat crop. Close to 60m tonnes are gathered annually and almost half is usually exported. Where this crop will be sold, though, remains an open question. Farmers are often the first to feel the hit in trade disputes and the scale of the dispute could hardly be worse: US agricultural exports are worth about $140bn a year. Canada and Mexico import about $39bn worth, China’s share is $20bn and the EU around $12bn. All those countries have threatened retaliation over metal tariffs.’
Sorry; feel free to remove my posts…
It broke my heart to see tRump elected, knowing those who most wanted him in office, were the individuals least likely to see that they would suffer most, from his economic policies and ignorance. I’m very sad for them.
But sadder for those that didn’t vote for him, that are targets of his administration’s bigotry.
I think these tariffs have Steve Miller stamp all over them. Trump is actually looking very disoriented these days.
Remember, about a year ago, when we were talking of Trump maybe being on early stage dementia? That discussion kind of faded for various reasons, but for me mostly because Trump seemed healthier in public. Now it seems he has been acting increasingly bizzardly. Inappropriate faciam expression, not being “quite there”. A Santa Fe victim’s mother described talking to him being like talking to a toddler – and this was obviously a person screened, with a Republican friendly solution to gun violence at schools.
And I was thinking maybe this has something to do with FLOTUS disappearing after a “minor surgery”. I am not going to jump into some crazier conspiracies, but it’s quite possible she is not in The WH, or is not able to engage with POTUS otherwise. Remember that she also living in NY for the first 3-4 months of her husband’s term. Her husband gained visible weight then, and seemed disorientated. So, my conclusion is, although this isn’t the most affectionate marriage, Melania obviously have a good effect on DJT’s health. She is very heath concious herself, and has a down-to-earth chart. If she is not there to remind, he could, in fact, forget his medicine.
Isn’t Mars conjunct South Node also associated with stock market crashes? Also, I noticed the Visa and Mastercard systems crashed yesterday (1/6/18).
Up until 1914 the US was an isolationist nation that protected its economy behind a tariff wall. In fact from 1789 to 1914 the income from tariffs was the US governments biggest source of funds. The US only started to adopt free trade policies as it started to become the worlds dominant power and there have been many interruptions in that process including the Smopot Hawley tariff in the early 1930s . Even after FDR became President all tariff reductions were based on reciprocal agreements up until 1945. Very few US administration have adopted the mantra of Robert Peel that it was always in the interest of a country to buy cheap whether others reciprocated or not.
It should be noted that there is more than a whiff of hypocricy on this issue from Trumps opponents and trade partners, The EU customs union is a protectionist block if it is anything, with a range of duties being placed on imports from outside of Europe for goods as diverse as coffee, soft fruit through to unicycles. There is precious little point health officials hectoring the poor in places like Britain about their diet and then slapping a tariff of 12% on imported oranges thus rendering the item more expensive that it need be for the very people who might need it most. Some of these duties are particularly damaging to countries in Africa who would otherwise find ready a market for their agricultural producst in Europe. The crocodile tears about third world poverty mean nothing if accompanied by trade polcies that guarantee it.
There is a certain irony that the very same people who mock the UK as delusional for wanting free trade with the EU post Brexit then in the are the very same ones who in the next breath criticise a US government for creating a tariff wall on products not dissimilar to the sort that the EU will maintain against Britain. I guess it must be the Neptune in Pisces effect but there seems to be an orgy of double standards, delusion and lack of coherent thinking on trade liberalisation and a lot of other things at the moment and not just in the White House. Protectionist and mercantalist beggar my neighbour policies are bad period. particularly for the poorest. And this should apply regardless of whether it is Trump, Brussels or Beijing adopting them.
A rather wide brush-stroke of opinions nay?
“… the very same people who mock the UK as delusional for wanting free trade with the EU post Brexit then in the are the very same ones who in the next breath criticise a US government for creating a tariff wall on products not dissimilar to the sort that the EU will maintain against Britain.”
EU protectionism over coffee? Really?
Now, please, by all means, list all the coffee producing countries in EU, and their position on “largest coffee producers in the World” list. The truth is, EU does not produce coffee. EU imports coffee beans mainly from Africa and South America. EU does have separated trade treaties with these countries. What does it mean to importers? Well, they can import the goods to 27 countries, with a population base of 741 million people, with one agreement, instead of 27. So, who win? I’d say both coffee producing countries, which are generally speaking developing economies without means to set out massive diplomatic missions to negociate these deals, and consumers in EU countries, because their coffee can be shipped directly from, let’s say, Colombia to Spain, and doesn’t have to pass 10-12 customs. I know that my coffee costs 50 per cent less now than it did in 1995, when my country joined EU, and this is not even inflation. Also, common markets are incredibly good for smaller companies. I live in a small country. Most companies in my country would not be profitable selling things or services locally. But EU has opened markets in an unprecedented way. In fact, there’s a coffee startup I know of that got a supply deal with US Army for German Bases. Now, maybe having Starbucks to flow in stuff would be more in line with MAGA in job creation. But they simply can’t provide this quality at this price, due to logistics. This small company in Helsinki gets the coffee to Germany much faster, cheaper and “greener”.
Thank you, Solaia!
I’m axiously awaiting for the Trump administration to implode. The country goes swirling down the drain; no one will notice with yet another war (~2020) and economic fallout afterwards. Trump flies merrily back to Mar-A-Lago to practice his “game”.
#notmypresident
“reckless machismo to shore up self-esteem; and some dubious behind-the-scenes-motives” – that’s basically the crater-deep shallow essence of Donald Trump in a nutshell, isn’t it?