Now, I'm no stock market or financial genius - I don't even play one here at HotAir - so ever since Trump began implementing his tariff campaign of terror, I have just sort of settled back in to watch what happens as it all shakes out.
The one thing I do keep in mind is that this tariff tussle is something the man campaigned on. Never once did he back away from the idea or even modify it. For years he has been consistent that the world has screwed the US over tradewise, and, if he had another shot at the apple, he was going to take a bite.
So, for all the angst and heartburn, everyone had ample warning about what was coming.
POTATUS and his #Bidenomics enabled by a spendthrift Congress have exacerbated the situation.
Good for Wall St, terrible for Main Street
— Real Developments, CFA (@pdubdev) March 4, 2025
And Trump was already working closely with his team on a united stra-tee-gery built around lowering the deficit, the tariffs, etc., before they hit the White House.
Worth the watch.
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) April 4, 2025
pic.twitter.com/h1RJyCGGjP
One of the things I do like, as a non-financial person, is the amount of information the American public is getting about what the rest of the world has been doing to us in the name of 'globalization' and 'free trade.' Everyone's jaw hit the floor when things blew up with Canada a few weeks ago. Like the realization that, after X amount of American eggs come into their country, the Canadian government slaps an egriously high protectionist tariff on any American eggs imported over that number, effectively shutting American egg producers out of Canadian markets.
Do the people complaining about Trump's tariff threats know we have tariffs on a ton of American products already? 🤔
— Zachary Tisdale 🇨🇦 (@ztisdale) March 3, 2025
Removing trade barriers and tariffs will unleash our combined economic potential! pic.twitter.com/oiTKyDrIMz
Well, everyone thought Trump was the blustering jackass picking a fight for no reason with Fidelito until that blew that up publicly.
And now, even with his goofy 'Liberation Day' schtick, the information coming out of it was pretty revealing.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 2, 2025
Everyone's laughing about Trump assessing tariffs on an island that has nothing but penguins, but they have some sort of tariffs on US imports. Who knew? [major dad suggested I let you all know I'm referring to the Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, which is an Australian external territory.]
For all the tough talk, it's only taken less than forty-eight hours for countries to be lining up to negotiate with this White House, with Trump saying just this morning what a lovely conversation he'd had with Vietnam's president.
Countries that have requested to negotiate new tariff agreements (so far):
— Tony Nash (@TonyNashNerd) April 4, 2025
✅Vietnam
✅European Union (we'll consider the EU a country since they have a customs union)
✅Israel
✅Mexico
✅Thailand
✅Canada
✅South Korea
✅Japan
✅Australia
CNBC's Rick Santelli says globalism is in decline, has been for some time and that Trump's tariffs will light off the readjustment for the country again. It certainly hasn't done anything for the waning American middle class. Santelli argues with Steve Liesman that Americans didn't make the choice to buy something from a foreign country - they chose to buy what was 'cheap.' The dark side of the problem was that it was artificially cheaper on the backs of and at the expense of American workers.
...Santelli says the post-war economic order has "outlived its usefulness," and Trump is "lighting the firecracker that will finally end it with a big pop."
By bringing in cheap Chinese products, America’s Main Street, USA was gutted.
The goal is for American families to live the American dream with that house, white picket fence, 2-3 children, two cars, all with one person working.
🚨 Absolutely Must Watch - Rick Santelli brilliantly argues with his hosts the factual necessity of tariffs and how Globalism is in decline!
— Tony Seruga (@TonySeruga) April 4, 2025
CNBC's Liesman vs. Santelli: Tariffs Confront "The Dark Side" Of "Everyday K-Mart Low Prices"
Santelli says the post-war economic order… pic.twitter.com/EhzyOVK5bL
For all the hand-wringing and howling from Democrats about Armgeddon, you knew there had to be video of their hypocrisy. It turns out there's tons of it.
“The average tariff on Chinese products coming into the U.S. is 2% whereas the average tariff on U.S. goods going into China is 35%. Is that reciprocal?
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) April 3, 2025
This Nancy Pelosi clip from the 90s is wild.
It sounds like she could be working in the Trump admin. pic.twitter.com/nVd35Y76Co
It's not just autoworkers hooting for them, either.
"In order to us to survive, we're going to need a lifeline. The lifeline is in the form of tariffs. President Trump has thrown us a lifeline."
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 4, 2025
The days of unfair trade putting American shrimpers out of business are OVER. pic.twitter.com/0G7qwsrwNS
And this was fascinating, with Dana Perino absolutely ripping Democrats for suddenly worrying about farmers after trying to exterminate them for the past four Biden years and the eight during the Obama terms.
.@DanaPerino: "Democrats, all of a sudden, they say they're concerned about the farmers. But for the last four years under Biden, they approved everything that they wanted to do against farmers... They spent nearly two trillion dollars in economic burdens on climate change." pic.twitter.com/cmXi1MNNij
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) April 4, 2025
I understand that a trade war can also be like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get. Thomas Sowell has weighed in against the tariffs for just that reason.
But I am willing to watch - warily, for sure - and learn, and listen. I do not see where the status quo has left us any great stability or self-sustainability in a quaky sort of world.
We are far too dependent on the world for the bits and pieces of our existence, and America 'makes' almost nothing of our own anymore.
I am 100% onboard with onshoring pharmaceuticals again if he can force them home, as well as other industries. The pandemic proved we have almost neutered ourselves with ruthless efficiency. Infant formulas, manufacturing of all description. I do not believe we are now capable of the ramp-up we saw for the First Gulf War, God forbid something lit off.
For the world's 'super power,' that's a sobering realization.
It has to change, even if it's painfully.
Because losing the lead dog position would forever be far more painful.
