[RD] Trump in Charge: The MAGA Presidency

The trade war has begun. :(


OTTAWA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Canada will retaliate against President Donald Trump'snew tariffs with 25% levies on a raft of U.S. imports, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday, warning Americans that Trump's actions would have real consequences for them.

As relations between the long-time allies who share the world's longest land border reach a new low, Trudeau told a news conference he was slapping tariffs on C$155 billion ($107 billion) of U.S. goods. Those on C$30 billion will take effect on Tuesday, the same day as Trump's tariffs, and duties on the remaining C$125 billion in 21 days, he said.
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Mexico has not yet released details other than they are going with Plan B.

 
EnglishEdward said:
I am not sure what the impact will be.

It may result in a worldwide tendency for many countries to try to be more
self sufficient and not to import things they can make themselves.

For instance WW2 Germany and apartheid South Africa produced
synthetic oil from coal and faced with a choice between being
screwed by Donald or Vlad may start to look at that capability again.

The vulnerability of the USA is in IPR. Other countries may walk
away from the international treaties supporting US corporate IPR income.

Justin Trudeau's response is trying to talk past the POTUS and while
what he says is true, it is in my opinion unnecessary and unwise to
adopt that line and antagonise Donald and his adoring US nutters.
He'd be better off addressing his comments at the Canadian
electorate and simply state that he is disappointed that the US has
decided to break the treaty, that the tariffs will have an impact on
the economy, so Canada will take measures to protect itself.
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In modern terms German synthetic oil via cosl eould cost 6 tines the normal oil proce.
 
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Kaitzilla said:
The trade war has begun. :(




Mexico has not yet released details other than they are going with Plan B.

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The irony is that conventional wisdom is tariffs hurt the consumers of the country that imposes them on the goods of other countries, but countries respond to tariffs being imposed on their goods by imposing more tariffs :crazyeye:
 
Tariffs probably better off used on strategic industries that you don't want shopped off overseas. Consumer stuff not so much.

Microchips cone to mind.
 
A 2nd federal judge indefinitely blocked the grant and loan freeze that was set to resume on Monday. :whew:


A federal judge blocked President Trump’s federal aid freeze Friday, finding that Democratic state attorneys general who sued are likely to prevail in their claims that it is illegal.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell signaled at a hearing earlier this week that he would grant the motion from 22 states and Washington, D.C., for an immediate injunction.

Already, the Trump administration was prevented from freezing existing federal grants under a separate judge’s order, but that decision only lasts until Monday. McConnell’s ruling will extend until he can consider the states’ request for a longer injunction, which has yet to be filed.

“Are there some aspects of the pause that might be legal and appropriate constitutionally for the Executive to take? The Court imagines there are, but it is equally sure that there are many instances in the Executive Orders’ wide-ranging, all-encompassing, and ambiguous ‘pause’ of critical funding that are not,” McConnell, who was appointed by former President Obama, wrote in Friday’s ruling.

“The Court must act in these early stages of the litigation under the ‘worst case scenario’ because the breadth and ambiguity of the Executive’s action makes it impossible to do otherwise,” he continued.
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Hah!
Since Trump was so vague, the court had to imagine the worst possible outcome and rule off that. :crazyeye:
 
Am I the only one who is getting The Phantom Menace vibes from this whole circus ?
With Palpatine being orange rather than purple and being on crack rather than having a master plan, but the sliding into simili-fascism under a populist autocrat relying on a mindless assembly who blindly follows his directives...
 
Akka said:
Am I the only one who is getting The Phantom Menace vibes from this whole circus ?
With Palpatine being orange rather than purple and being on crack rather than having a master plan, but the sliding into simili-fascism under a populist autocrat relying on a mindless assembly who blindly follows his directives...
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Helped along by dog-brained morons who say things like "this is the consequence of public opinion on immigration being ignored for so long by the globalist regime"
 
Sommerswerd said:
The irony is that conventional wisdom is tariffs hurt the consumers of the country that imposes them on the goods of other countries, but countries respond to tariffs being imposed on their goods by imposing more tariffs :crazyeye:
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At least with Canada, they are focusing solely on goods that come from red states, whereas with Trump, he's going whole hog.
Akka said:
Am I the only one who is getting The Phantom Menace vibes from this whole circus ?
With Palpatine being orange rather than purple and being on crack rather than having a master plan, but the sliding into simili-fascism under a populist autocrat relying on a mindless assembly who blindly follows his directives...
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Comparing Trump to Palpatine isn't a good comparison. He's closer to Old Republic Sith who are basically out for themselves.

The best comparison to Palpatine are the rich folks who cultivated the far-right like Rupert Murdock or politicians like Mitch McConnell.
 
Lexicus said:
Helped along by dog-brained morons who say things like "this is the consequence of public opinion on immigration being ignored for so long by the globalist regime"
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You mean dog-brained morons who are so blinded by their ideological fanaticism that they can't ever consider they might be in the wrong ?
SemiLazyGamer said:
Comparing Trump to Palpatine isn't a good comparison. He's closer to Old Republic Sith who are basically out for themselves.

The best comparison to Palpatine are the rich folks who cultivated the far-right like Rupert Murdock or politicians like Mitch McConnell.
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Hey, I did say "on crack rather than having a master plan".
 
Speaking on his Truth Social platform on Sunday afternoon, The pompous dickhead said: "We pay hundreds of Billions of Dollars to SUBSIDIZE Canada. Why? There is no reason.

"We don't need anything they have. We have unlimited Energy, should make our own Cars, and have more Lumber than we can ever use."

He claimed that without the "massive subsidy" Canada "ceases to exist as a viable country".

He added: "Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State. Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada - AND NO TARIFFS!"
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It's weird because for years, Democrats constantly talked about democracy, threats to democracy, and the importance of preserving democracy. Well, Trump was democratically elected in a free and fair election, and he is carrying out his mandate given to him by the citizens who voted for him. In no universe does this make him a dictator or autocrat.
 
Archon8 said:
This in addition to China having manipulated their currency in order to harm US manufacturing, particularly by dumping cheap steel in our markets.
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Every country on Earth, which prints their own money, is manipulating their own currency. They do it not out of desire to harm other countries, but out of need to support own economy. Americans, as often as Chinese, manipulate own currency creation rates and other available financial and political levers in order to achieve stated goals. Branding China a “manipulator” begs the question - are you guys not manipulating anything at all to achieve your goals? Are you not manipulating cost of credit to take the Capital away from countries competing with you? Are you not extorting positive outcomes under threat of sanctions, tariffs? Yes you do. As such attempts to brand anyone else a currency manipulator has a certain hollow sound to it.

Archon8 said:
Trump is spurring domestic manufacturing and investment, which will save Americans money in the long term
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That can turn out true. Trump's combination of measures: (lower tax, prohibitive tariffs, cheaper energy and reduction of government expenditure) is designed to attract capital and cut costs. I'd say his advisers are right in that there's hardly any other way to stop the dragon from spreading his wings, or to challenge dragon's claim to leadership. The Chinese have cheaper energy and labour. Their market is 1.5 bn people deep, their neighbouring country has another 1.5 bn people. The only way to compete with that kind depth of efficiency is to get the house in order, financially.

Whether this strategy achieves success and gathers allies remains to be seen. America still needs allies for the future confrontation with China, right? Heavy handed slaps to the faces of allies flying left and right the last few weeks are detrimental to coalition of western nations.
 
Archon8 said:
It's weird because for years, Democrats constantly talked about democracy, threats to democracy, and the importance of preserving democracy. Well, Trump was democratically elected in a free and fair election, and he is carrying out his mandate given to him by the citizens who voted for him. In no universe does this make him a dictator or autocrat.
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Yeah, no dictator or autocrat in history was democratically elected.

edit: I do agree with you though. Being elected doesn't make him an autocrat. It's what he does after that.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
Yeah, no dictator or autocrat in history was democratically elected.

edit: I do agree with you though. Being elected doesn't make him an autocrat. It's what he does after that.
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He has made executive orders to keep his campaign promises. And certainly the House or Senate can try to stop him... oh wait, we democratically elected Republican majorities in both houses. At some point you got to accept that he won the election, and elections have consequences. It doesn't make him a dictator.
 
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