The trade and economy mega-thread (7 Viewers)

[superchuck500]

Is there a trade deal with China? Is it really a deal or just a pull-back to status quo ante? Is Trump advancing US interests in this well-executed trade battle plan or was this poorly conceived from the start . . . and harmful?

I think the jury's still out, but I haven't seen that the Chinese are offering much in compromise - and it's not even clear if there's going to be an agreement. But it's clear they are working on something and I'm sure Trump will sell it as the greatest trade deal ever. The proof will be in the details.

 

[UriUT]

 

[efil4]

A blissful 72 hours I’m sure

it actually was. " its not a problem if you dont look up"

sigh. But yes, i got a nice mental respite from just all the insanity for 72 hrs.

 

[UriUT]

Had to explain this this weekend to someone.

Plus we raised tariffs across the board.

 

[efil4]

Had to explain this this weekend to someone.

Plus we raised tariffs across the board.

The kind of genius that bankrupts a casino. A special kind of genius.

 

[UriUT]

The kind of genius that bankrupts a casino. A special kind of genius.

***Many casinos***

 

[UriUT]

Similar theme regarding movies. Is he talking editing strictly? I see quite a number of films shoot on location. So will it costs more to watch mission impossible? It's all nonsense and these maga and Maga-lite, yes including people who claim they aren't supporting trump, eat this poop up like it's gourmet Michelin star food.

 

[efil4]

the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing in this administration. One side telling us talks are "moving" and the other side says " yeah no - no talks yet"

 

[DaveXA]

Had to explain this this weekend to someone.

Plus we raised tariffs across the board.

Trump was always a dumbass full of excuses that sometimes covered for his lack of intellect. Now it's being laid completely bare. If his supporters can't see it, well they're dumber than he is.

 

[efil4]

Trump was quoting the wholesale gas price, not retail, last week when he touted $1.98/gal

good grief.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/05/where-trump-is-likely-getting-his-1point98-gas-price-figure.html?taid=6818fffc8ac612000125dec6&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_content=main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

 

[DaveXA]

Trump was quoting the wholesale gas price, not retail, last week when he touted $1.98/gal

good grief.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/05/where-trump-is-likely-getting-his-1point98-gas-price-figure.html?taid=6818fffc8ac612000125dec6&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_content=main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

Of course he was. He's always been a liar. And his followers love him regardless.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Trump was always a dumbass full of excuses that sometimes covered for his lack of intellect. Now it's being laid completely bare. If his supporters can't see it, well they're dumber than he is.

It's been that way since the day he first rode down that escalator

At this point if his supporters still don't see it, they happily never will

Or they absolutely see it, they just happily don't care

Not really a third option

Either way, they're happy

 

[Optimus Prime]

Add movies to the ever-expanding list of areas where Donald Trump has no expertise or even passing knowledge, but assumes problems can be solved through tariffs and maybe a little racism, as a treat.

Citing a threat to “national security” from movies that aren’t shot in the United States, Trump announced that he would be enacting a 100% tariff on movies made anywhere else.

Characteristically, this proclamation was not so bold as to make any sense whatsoever, lacking as it was any sign that Trump understands the difference between movies that are produced (at least partially) by US companies and shot in other locations, and foreign films that are produced elsewhere but released in the US (by, of course, US companies who obtain distribution rights).

But the consensus seems to be that Trump is referring mainly to purportedly American productions that are lured to shoot in various international locations by tax credits that allow for substantial savings on big budgets.

Andrew Pulver has detailed analysis of how that may work on a financial level, sifting through the detritus of Trump’s all-encompassing ignorance to explain why so many US films shoot overseas.

Los Angeles film productions have declined in recent years so naturally, rather than creating incentives for more US shoots in the heart of the American film industry, Trump figures the best way to go about it is make it more expensive to shoot elsewhere.………

Trump’s attack on the film industry is a sign of xenophobic contempt | Jesse Hassenger

By insisting tariffs on films at least partly produced outside the US, the president is trying to limit the important worldview of cinema

www.theguardian.com

 

[faceman]

It's been that way since the day he first rode down that escalator

At this point if his supporters still don't see it, they happily never will

Or they absolutely see it, they just happily don't care

Not really a third option

Either way, they're happy

Who is more foolish,the fool or the fool that follows him?

 

[MT15]

Five pencils

Okay, he has now repeated this idea, that little girls will have to do with a few dolls instead of 30 or whatever. This person takes a look at what he is really doing:

Why Trump wants you to blame little girls

Jeffrey Epstein's old best friend demonstrates his playbook to frame the coming economic crisis.

www.thefarce.org

“Three times in just days, the president of the United States called out the enemies of America’s prosperity—little girls.

Now, if you’re someone who believes that Trump is rapidly deteriorating or plain nuts, this kind of obsession probably seems to fit your narrative perfectly.

As someone who agrees with Dr. George Lakoff that Trump is, unfortunately, a fatally unscrupulous yet effective salesman, I think he’s on to a few things here that will definitely work with his audience.

1. Misogyny, as always.
   ”Yeah, the fixation on the forking doll thing is about gender,” Salon’s Amanda Marcotte posted. “It's invoking the misogynist concept of the ‘ungrateful female’ in order to justify a very stupid policy that hurt everyone.”
2. Arming the choir.
   Every step-uncle something to say when those ungrateful twerps blame Great Mr. Trump for screwing up the global supply chains twice in one decade.
   Republicans have gotten busy selling each other on the idea of “sacrifice” to frame the pain they now seem eager to pass on to the poorest Americans.
3. Using the compelling rhetoric of class warfare.
   Trump knows how to agitate brains and he knows people are going to pissed at billionaires very soon. And it’s never been difficult to get the masses thinking about the tenderness of the rich oppressors' necks.”

 

[Optimus Prime]

American shoppers could end up feeling another price hike in the coming months, even as US wholesalers are already beginning to feel the squeeze of Donald Trump’s tariff-based trade agenda.

The Republicans’ message in response? Embrace the pain.

The president’s sit-down with NBC’s Kristen Welker over the weekend solidified the Trump 2.0 trade policy, as haphazardly laid out by the White House over the past several months: Trump plans to not merely force US trading partners to renegotiate agreements and cease their supposed campaigns to “rip off” American businesses; he hopes to reshore manufacturing and production facilities in the US en masse…….

US shoppers told to brace for ‘shared sacrifice’ amid the wait for Trump trade deals

Markets closed down again Monday as president’s trade war continues

www.independent.co.uk

 

[superchuck500]

Okay, he has now repeated this idea, that little girls will have to do with a few dolls instead of 30 or whatever. This person takes a look at what he is really doing:

Why Trump wants you to blame little girls

Jeffrey Epstein's old best friend demonstrates his playbook to frame the coming economic crisis.

www.thefarce.org

“Three times in just days, the president of the United States called out the enemies of America’s prosperity—little girls.

Now, if you’re someone who believes that Trump is rapidly deteriorating or plain nuts, this kind of obsession probably seems to fit your narrative perfectly.

As someone who agrees with Dr. George Lakoff that Trump is, unfortunately, a fatally unscrupulous yet effective salesman, I think he’s on to a few things here that will definitely work with his audience.

1. Misogyny, as always.
   ”Yeah, the fixation on the forking doll thing is about gender,” Salon’s Amanda Marcotte posted. “It's invoking the misogynist concept of the ‘ungrateful female’ in order to justify a very stupid policy that hurt everyone.”
2. Arming the choir.
   Every step-uncle something to say when those ungrateful twerps blame Great Mr. Trump for screwing up the global supply chains twice in one decade.
   Republicans have gotten busy selling each other on the idea of “sacrifice” to frame the pain they now seem eager to pass on to the poorest Americans.
3. Using the compelling rhetoric of class warfare.
   Trump knows how to agitate brains and he knows people are going to pissed at billionaires very soon. And it’s never been difficult to get the masses thinking about the tenderness of the rich oppressors' necks.”

 

[Optimus Prime]

The White House on Monday said no final decisions have been made about tariffs on foreign firms, after President Trump a day prior called for a 100 percent tariff on movies produced in other countries.

“Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again,” spokesperson Kush Desai told The Hill when asked how a tariff on intellectual property would be implemented.

The president later on Monday said that he would be meeting with leaders in the film industry to discuss his idea for tariffs.

“We’re going to meet with the industry, I want to make sure they’re happy with it because we’re all about jobs,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s a big industry but it’s an industry now, it’s really left, it’s abandoned the USA. Where it started. And we’ll get it back.”………

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5283096-white-house-no-final-decisions-on-foreign-film-tariffs/

 

[Optimus Prime]

Americans would suffer most if Donald Trumpimposed tariffs on imports of pharmaceuticals, as medications would become more expensive and potentially unaffordable for some people, drugmakers have warned.

Drugmakers have been braced for targeted border taxes – similar to the 25% levies on steel, aluminium and car imports – after the US president threatened to hit the sector and announced an investigation last month. Last week, Trump hinted at a possible reprieve for companies, saying they would be given time to move their operations to the US, But “after that it’s going to be a tariff wall put up, and they won’t be happy about it,” he added.

Giovanni Barbella, the global head of strategy and supply chain at the Swiss multinational Sandoz, said tariffs would lead to supply disruptions and in the medium term price increases, hitting US patients hardest. Sandoz is one of the world’s biggest makers of generic drugs – cheaper versions of branded medicines whose patents have expired. The majority of prescription drugs sold around the world are generic.


“We are producing products on a very tight margin,” Barbella said. “That’s the nature of our industry. So ultimately, higher production cost, including the cost of tariffs, will lead to higher prices.”

He added: “There can be even more supply disruption, because some players can leave the [US] market and focus on markets where they can make more business. So ultimately, the risk is that the US patient will suffer the most.”

There are already persistent drug shortages in the US, the UK and other countries, and tariffs would potentially exacerbate that by disrupting the long and complex global supply chains.

Mark Samuels, the chief executive of Medicines UK, which represents Britain-based generic drugmakers, said: “In an insurance-based system, as the US has, if medicine costs increase and insurance runs out, then that does increase the risk that people either can’t afford to complete their cancer treatments or pay for it altogether.”…..

Americans would suffer most if Trump imposes pharma tariffs, sector warns

Industry says levies would hit supply chains, making medicines potentially unaffordable for some US patients

www.theguardian.com