Trump Tariffs would increase laptop prices by 45%
tomshardware.com
tomshardware.com
Edit: I also note that the tariff levels he's talking about are absolutely beyond sanity. I saw an interview where he said "100%, 200%, even 2000%" when throwing out numbers for EV tariffs on China. I have to assume this is hyperbolic but he's talking about it as if he's serious. The only ways I can see supporting these wild numbers are either 1) assuming he's joking, or 2) being truly financially illiterate.
In other words, virtually everyone will pay more. The only real winner is government which gets a new income stream.
Simple minded solutions for simple minded folks.
The problem is they think they have found a simple minded shortcut back to the good ole days.
The reality is you can never go back and trying what looks like a shortcut will only make things even worse.
Boomers refuse to admit how much the destruction caused by WWII made their lives better.
If you work for one of the many, many American companies that makes stuff solely from inputs from America, which themselves are American all the way down, then sure, might be good (provided you only buy American stuff). If you work for an American company which needs to buy stuff (surely there are very few of those), then, well, not so great.
And tariffs tend to breed retaliatory tariffs.
Realistically the only way heavy protectionism can work (for some value of ‘work’; the quality of goods in such countries tends to be very low due to lack of competition) is if you’re verging on an autarky. This is, well, something that is generally imposed on countries, not something that they opt for themselves because it sounds nice.
https://www.cato.org/blog/how-american-steel-protectionism-h...
"Numerous economic analyses have shown that these measures raise domestic steel prices and harm steel-consuming U.S. manufacturers, including by disadvantaging them against foreign competitors with access to lower-cost (less-tariffed) steel inputs."
I suppose there's something to the argument that steel is a security priority and protecting it is worth some cost, but there is definitely a cost.
His second most beautiful word must be "stupid" --- because it describes his followers who obviously don't understand that "tariff" is really a tax on them.
to wit, a few conversations with some red hats that i've had:
"tariffs will put america first and make us be more dependent on american-made goods and services" "but, at least in the near-term, tariffs will also create shortages AND further price increases, which is a major sticking point for you with 'bidenomics'" "no they wont"
"i'm happy to see that trump is putting america first and seeking to level the economic playing field with other nations. globalization has been a setback" ... (establish that they're talking about tariffs) "until the us can get up to speed with the raw materials and manufacturing of things that we've traditionally imported from these companies, there will likely be shortages and price increases" "that is a small price to pay. sometimes you have to make sacrifices to do what is right."
i'll reserve judgment on these conversations outside of the assessment that trump is hoping that the majority of his supporters fall into a category such as one of the two above.
And that's why he gets away with all these ridiculous outbursts.
Remember how he suggested to inject disinfectant against covid?
Sometimes the simple answer is correct: he's that stupid.
"I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that."
Ie. he asked if there was something that could be injected that would kill the virus.
I'm not a Trump fan but many people on the left seem to think saying he said stupid stuff he didn't say is a sure fire way to stop him being elected but you know people see through it.
There's a word for making charitable interpretations: sanewashing.
> I'm not a Trump fan but many people on the left
I'm neither on the left or an American.
The "con" reply to the "pro" argument is that, even if that's all true, the prices still go up, and that's probably a losing political argument if people actually understood what it was going to mean.
His staff had to steal papers off his desk to prevent him from signing stupid shit that would hurt the US and its allies.
https://www.axios.com/2018/09/07/trump-bob-woodward-south-ko...
If he's re-elected, he'll be surrounded by sycophants this time, and no one will be there to stop him.
If he gets in and actually brings in these tariffs (there’s a non-zero chance he’s just talking about it to appeal to idiots), then he will blame everyone but himself when the obvious happens, and the idiots will believe it. So there will be no _personal_ consequences to him, therefore it is fine.
He's a master at getting publicity by saying outrageous stuff. Which then gets mostly forgotten about. Remember 'build that wall'? I'm not sure you'd call it a joke but it got lots of publicity and didn't happen. This is probably similar.
The US would also face retaliatory tariffs.