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u/not_a_bot_494 1d ago
Tariffs are a tool and they work. Trump is just trying to use tariffs in a way they aren't meant to because he doesn't know what a trade deficit means.
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u/korbentherhino 1d ago
He thinks using It as a bully tactic will get him better trade deals. It's stupid. Being a bully isn't something we should do as a country
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u/AnOrdinaryMammal 1d ago
Dude thatâs literally our foreign policy, and has been for decades. We bully at every opportunity that benefits us. Hope you didnât just start caring now.
Structural adjustments, for example.
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u/Main_Lloyd 17h ago
Not true, your usaid program was used to increase good will and subsequently political power in countries you historically have had little pull with. All the good will is being flushed down the drain now.
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u/NorthSea98 9h ago
It's very true. Look at the Middle East. The US has been bullying them for decades.
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u/jimbob518 14h ago
USAID is a front for the intelligence agencies. It has done some good and some really bad. It helped dismantle apartheid, but it also destabilized many left wing elected governments.
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u/AnOrdinaryMammal 17h ago
What?
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u/Main_Lloyd 16h ago
Do you not know what usaid was? How aiding countries in their issues increases good will? How good will carries over to trade deals and political alliances? Honestly, I'm not sure what you didn't get there. This is your country, I shouldn't have to explain it.
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u/AnOrdinaryMammal 16h ago
We do good things sometimes. We also have a really long history in fucking you over, especially if youâre a developing country or sign a contract to owe us something.
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u/toasterchild 9h ago
Right, we have gotten away with fucking other countries over by doing enough good things elsewhere that we get away with it. Now we are just abandoning that plan and going with bully everyone into submission. Historically that doesn't have a great track record
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u/AnOrdinaryMammal 9h ago
I donât think thatâs either of those things are cool. If I sock someone in the face and turn around and give someone 100 bucks, everything good?
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u/That_OneOstrich 9h ago
One gets tolerated because "at least we help". When we stop being helpful, the only thing we have left is being cruel and that will make no friends.
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u/toasterchild 7h ago
Everything was not good, but it was tolerated and now it will not be. We are now just making enemies of the entire world. Many would argue that is worse for everyone. I suppose some countries like Russia are loving it though.
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u/Ok-Repair2893 7h ago
a lot more than when you punch someone in the face, and give them nothing.
a great example here is Vietnam. We went to war with them from the 50s-70s, and now we're great allies. Despite still being communist. You know why? they don't hate us for invading them, because they hate china a lot more and we help bolster them against China a ton. China, the very country that invaded them even more recently than us.look at the marshall plan. huge returns, and most of europe loved us for decades, giving us tons of favorable trade deals.
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u/politicalnotfetish 13h ago
Charity is when the people in power impart to their subjects an amount of power which is negligible to them, but improves the subjects quality of life. Charity never gives the subject enough power to play in the game of power like the people in power do, just enough to keep their stomachs from eating their bones. For that reason, I ask, how good is the will we increase? We are only doing as much good as a parent when they choose to feed their children all of the countries usaid helps were countries that US imperialism played a hand in creating the current conditions of. How much good will is made when the US brings water to an African village whos infrastructural water supply the US helped to privatize, and ended up environmentally damaging to the point where the indigenous water supply is no longer potable? And yes, it does increase our political power because we generally are also there to set up yes-men heads-of-state who bend to US will and policy.
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u/schmemel0rd 21h ago
Then why do Americans get so sensitive when people shit on them? Conservatives have been crying about how mean Canadians and Europeans are being to them for a couple months now, but then admit stuff like this? I donât get what Americans expect.
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u/AnOrdinaryMammal 17h ago
You and me both lol. Youâre playing the party thing, and thatâs cool. Youâre just narrowing the conversation.
Conservatives? I dunno. Who? What did they say?
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u/Samsquanch-01 7h ago
I've never met anyone in my life that gives a fuck what Europe and Canada thinks. Oh wait, this is Reddit
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u/CivicSensei Quality Contibutor 23h ago
It's wild that Republicans forget that all the foreign policy blunders they talk about are because of Republican presidents.....
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u/AnOrdinaryMammal 23h ago
I canât really speak for the party. I think Americans in general have a sort of amnesia because they are either generally unaffected or positively affected by foreign policy that harms other people.
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u/Tjam3s 22h ago
Benghazi?
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u/lessgooooo000 10h ago
I counter your benghazi with negotiating with the taliban in 2020 promising to have US troops out of afghanistan in a shorter time frame than we were able to do.
but of course ârushing out of afghanistanâ was all bidenâs fault, despite the fact that he postponed the actual pulling out because everyone in the DOD knew we needed more time. military contractors dying in benghazi is tragic, but 11 marines, a corpsman, and a soldier dying because we decided in our infinite wisdom to negotiate with terrorists, is objectively a larger blunder.
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u/Jaded_Garage_3611 7h ago
I thought Trump had pulled out after negotiating with the terrorizers and left Biden a skeleton force?
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u/lessgooooo000 5h ago
He began pulling out, yes. In effect, he pulled out all the personnel that wouldâve been required for the actual evacuation (Afghani interpreters, civilian contractors, etc.), and left a small security detachment.
The Biden admin was still trying to move things out of Bagram when they were running out of time (considering the impossible timeframe left by the prior admin). They had to move troops in to assist, and had a window of time that was impossible to actually remove all resources. 13 service members would be killed, and a huge amount of our equipment would be left for the Taliban
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u/Jaded_Garage_3611 3h ago
Yeah, I know, and Trump is literally on the sidelines screaming âthey need to move more troops into the country!â. You moved them out you moron! Biden didnât defend himself properly. He comes out and does a press thing, but Trump and the alternate news team go 24:7 on Biden killed our troops and gave our weapons to the Taliban.
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u/Ok-Repair2893 7h ago
who do you blame for benghazi? because 300 elected republican officials couldn't blame anyone but jerk themselves off
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u/Tjam3s 6h ago
300 elected Republicans didn't direct security, did they?
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u/Ok-Repair2893 6h ago
you didn't answer- who do you blame?
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u/Tjam3s 6h ago
The entire chain of command involved with state department security. There was a situation brewing, and it was overlooked. I don't know if it was complacency or hubris, but either way, the Obama administration and particularity, his secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, deserve the lumps they got for the situation.
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u/Ok-Repair2893 6h ago
but the republican party couldn't find a single reason to blame her. why do you say it's her fault? she listen to the intel officers. That decision gets made 10/10 times.
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u/FunCryptographer5547 17h ago
No we don't. We're pretty benevolent for being the most powerful country.
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u/GoodGuyGrevious 1d ago
Its us who are getting bullied though
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u/Scary-Button1393 23h ago
Why is the core competency of y'all Trumpers "being a victim"? It's fucking weird.
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u/korbentherhino 1d ago
No lol. We make money by building up other nations. It's a world wide market.
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u/Scary-Button1393 23h ago
You might want to sit this one out and leave it to the adults who knew what a tariff was before trump groomed y'all about it.
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u/korbentherhino 23h ago
I think you are confusing me with a trumper. I'm against trump and his tariffs
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u/Scary-Button1393 23h ago
My mistake, there's a lot of Trumpers running around malding.
Carry on fam.
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u/KunshiraNatura 1d ago
Trump has a toolkit to try and fix america most use nails and hammer hes just using the hammer.
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u/Various_Strain5693 12h ago
I swear when he was asked during debate what his economic plans were, he had absolutely none, and he buffered for a second before remembering the buzz word "TERIFF," and that just became his economic policy.
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u/Complete_Ad_1896 23h ago
Quality shit post.
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u/Valuable_Pain_7582 13h ago
It mostly screams ignorance on how the calculation was preformed and the historical disaster that large tarrifs have been a part of. Poor counties use tarrifs to allow growth of select industries, but the internal growth is rarely able to compete when the tarrifs roll off. Wealthy counties limit tarrifs to high technology areas (e.g. BYD is a superior car vs Tesla) until technology can catch up to competition.
Enjoy your new career in textile manufacturing if you think he's so smart. Oh wait, that doesn't sound like valuable work? Go figure we'd offshore that.
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u/MoundsEnthusiast 1d ago
Canada places tariffs on timber to protect their logging industry because it's an important sector of the economy.
Of course tariffs work for certain purposes. Blanket tariffs are not just going to lower prices and bring back good manufacturing jobs. Because if the jobs were any good, you'd have to pay the employees a lot, and to do that you'd have to sell the products at a higher price. We don't need to make toasters in this country, we need more nurses, engineers, and teachers...
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u/Infinite-Gate6674 15h ago
We need to make toasters in this country so that working at Walmart is not seen a as a good job.
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u/Birdo-the-Besto 1d ago
Yes, and the US can protect their own industries. I get why Canada does it, itâs self-serving. The USA can also be self-serving.
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u/Omnizoom 1d ago
Ah yes, tariff the potash from Canada that the USA canât produce enough of for the farmers
But well with 90%of your soya going to china likely not having the market maybe you wonât need as much potash anyways , but fuck those farmers right
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u/MongoBobalossus 1d ago
Most of the tariffs are on things we donât make here. Thereâs no domestic industry weâre protecting, weâre just making things more expensive.
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u/trickyguayota 1d ago
It hit me today that Ghiradelli was a Belgian chocolate company. Then it hit me again⌠America produces almost no cocoa because we literally cannot grow it anywhere but Hawaii. The next realization was coffee. Also limited to Hawaii. Weâre fucked.
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u/MongoBobalossus 1d ago
If the average Trump ball shiner had any functioning grey matter, theyâd realize that.
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u/SnooWoofers462 5h ago
How much fucking cocoa do you think they grow in Belgium?
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u/trickyguayota 4h ago
They practice free trade so it doesnât really matter. They get it from a former colony and sell the finished product to us.
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u/SnooWoofers462 5h ago
The no domestic industry to protect is exactly the fucking problem, you don't think we have trees in the US?
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u/MongoBobalossus 5h ago
Of course we do.
But Canada has more of the lumber producing trees we use for construction.
You want to pay a premium for Canadian lumber while we wait 15 years for the trees to grow to meet current demand?
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u/SnooWoofers462 5h ago
So you're saying we have trees but we need to wait 15 years to grow trees?
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u/MongoBobalossus 5h ago
Fast growing varieties of pine take 15 years to mature for harvest. Oak takes around 20. Fir is also around 20. We donât currently have enough to meet domestic demand, hence why we import more from Canada.
Do you think we can just snap our fingers and magically make fully mature trees appear?
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u/SnooWoofers462 5h ago
We have plenty of trees.
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u/MongoBobalossus 5h ago
We donât have enough to meet domestic demand. I literally just told you that.
Do you think we just have trees sitting around that weâre not using? Thatâs not the case.
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u/Edgezg 11h ago
I believe, THAT IS THE PROBLEM these tariffs are trying to fix.
Make manufactures want to produce in the USA to avoid tariffs.
More USA made products. Less reliant on other nations for critical goods.
Stronger economy in the long run.The whole point of these tariffs is to drive people back into the USA to manufacture and build so things are cheaper in the US than foreign trade.
Do you want to keep seeing "made in china" on EVERYTHING you own? Come on.
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u/MongoBobalossus 11h ago
I mean, if you want to do that youâre talking literal years to onshore manufacturing production facilities and the creation of alternate, in country logistics, and then even longer to get those supply lines up to current demand. All with higher prices on everything.
Theres no way to âmake it cheaper in the USA.â An American worker will always produce the same product for more money given labor costs. The only way around that would be AI and automation, which isnât going to help workers struggling to get a job.
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u/satyvakta 4h ago
So you are saying that tariffs are required if you want to have a high minimum wage and still keep jobs in the US?
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u/MongoBobalossus 4h ago
Sure, but youâd still end up with everything being expensive, and Iâm not sure how many jobs that would create.
Congress can raise the minimum wage at any time, with or without tariffs.
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u/satyvakta 4h ago
Isnât the argument in favour of raising the minimum wage always that it wonât meaningfully increase prices because labour is only a small portion of a companyâs expenses? So why would tariffs meant to balance out wage inequalities between countries work differently?
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u/MongoBobalossus 4h ago
The answer is: it depends. Thereâs a ton of factors involved, and raising the minimum wage doesnât inherently mean prices increases due to aggregate demand.
But tariffs are a different story since theyâre a direct cost added to the product.
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u/Ok-Repair2893 6h ago
I'm happy to see made in [x] for tons of my goods. The USA doesn't need to produce everything. The USA cannot produce everything. Trade is almost a universal benefactor for all. We produce tons and tons of valuable services instead, and now other countries have tons of reasons to be wary of ever using those US services.
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u/Ok-Repair2893 6h ago
So do you want allow another 200-300m more immigrants into the US to accomplish all the labor we'll need to get done?
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u/Mendicant__ 6h ago
Ah yes, that's why we're tariffing bananas and coffee. Famous US industries.
Here's a question: the US is the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world.
It also has fewer trade barriers than most countries.
Does that scream to you that protectionism always "works" or that maybe US policy recognized something that others did not?
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u/Jaded_Garage_3611 7h ago
Neither of you are hoping for that toaster plant job, it just sounds good in your head. So the Walmart greeter population will just breed more to fill in the toaster plant jobs. Thatâs what youâre saying?
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u/MoundsEnthusiast 1d ago
The US is always self serving... we've been importing cheap products made in other countries for decades. We won't have cheap products if we jack up the prices on imports with tariffs. If he picked one sector of the economy, like vehicle manufacturing, that would make sense. Jacking up the prices on all imports across the board is just going to overwhelm the working class. Factories are not going to just pop into existence here...
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u/Gingerchaun 1d ago
America does protect it's industries. The us uses farm subsidies to protect their farming the same way Canada uses our tarrif rate quotas.
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u/Mendicant__ 6h ago
The US has also been very aggressive about global IP laws, because so much of the actual industry here is high value added R&D. There's room for a less rigidly free-trade trade policy, but blowing up the whole thing to get more people working in shoe factories isn't it.
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u/lasttimechdckngths 1d ago
US should use tariffs for various purposes. That's a no-brainer unless you're some neo-liberal who'd still won't be listened when it comes to security issues.
Yet, what Trump doing isn't a selective use of tariffs, nor some principled use, something to protect the local US industries (which the US already have regarding many, including non-direct tariffs), tariffs for the sake of better jobs or cutting the race to the bottom, nothing to ensure this or that... it's just untargeted tariffs which would only work for compensating the revenue losses from the tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefited the rich, i.e. socialisation of their gains in a collective fashion.
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u/TheJuiceBoxS 9h ago
The way they're implementing tariffs is like performing surgery with a sledgehammer. Obviously tariffs can work if done carefully and deliberately. This isn't that.
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u/snakesign 12h ago
What industry are we protecting from Lesotho? How about the McDonald Islands? Madagascar?
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u/FAT_Penguin00 10h ago
because also tariffing raw materials is gonna do wonders for domestic industry
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u/joyibib 1d ago
Stunning how people will just spit out any nonsense to try to convince themselves Trump isnât a complete idiot. Fun fact when someone acts like a narcissistic idiot their entire life itâs because they are a narcissistic idiot.
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u/No-Dimension9538 1d ago
To be fair to OOP, Iâd argue that Trump is not an idiot and is being quite intentional. I understand not to attribute to malice what is explained by stupidity, but itâs not exactly hard to look at the stock market and think âmaybe I should back offâ if he is just being stupid. Not sure what he aims to achieve, but until midterms, whatever is going on in Washington is beyond my ability to change in the slightest. I think it would be wise to give the tariff situation a while to play out, but then again, I spent 80$ yesterday on the bare minimum groceries I needed so not sure exactly what Iâm supposed to do either
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u/joyibib 1d ago
My point was take this not as an individual moment but look at everything Trump has done his entire life. All the horrible or stupid things heâs done. You want to fight to excuse each one as being intentional? All the bankruptcies? The frauds? The hiring people who would be criminally charged? The bragging about sexual assault? The bragging about walking in on underage girls changing? The talking about how he would have sex with his daughter if she wasnât his daughter? The racist business practices? The refusing to pay employees? The inane calling into to the media with a fake name and voice to talk himself up? Thatâs not a fraction of it but it all points to him being a narcissistic idiot
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u/No-Dimension9538 1d ago
Narcissist, yes. Every politician is a narcissist in my opinion, but Trump is especially egregious, or at least more upfront about it I concede. I believe weâve had a miscommunication as you have shown multiple instances I agree are pure malice. Iâm not excusing Trump for being intentional at all, but rather, I am saying hopefully in time he will explain what the hell his goal is, and ideally before midterms. I donât believe heâs an idiot though. You donât win the presidency with the plurality of voters, while simultaneously being a felon, as an idiot, unless your opponent is of course even worse somehow (which is another debate but id say Kamala wasnât âworseâ) He tactfully manipulated the American people, formed a coalition, and correctly targeted online platforms. I think he has some sort of end game and isnât being an idiot. If his endgame is good or bad for Americans is the most telling, and why giving the situation more time, even if you are correct and heâs an idiot, will only serve to give us definitive proof. Personally I believe he is aiming to do something that will negatively impact most people, especially in the short run, and he knows this. Otherwise, even a toddler would check out the stock market, see the color red, and rethink their plan. What he intends to achieve is critical to understanding the situation though, and the dude wonât say probably until heâs forced to by the 2026 election cycle.
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u/joyibib 1d ago
You are saying heâs not an idiot because people voted for him? So all the stupid behavior and lack of self awareness is excuses because of actions and choices other people made? That doesnât make sense.
What did he do to get elected? Say boorish candid things that no serious politician would ever say. That worked. Thatâs not an intelligent move thatâs just who Trump was his entire life. He didnât strategically make a choice to be boorish and grandiose. He never ever presented well thought out or intelligence plans. Heâs just an idiot who thinks heâs a genius and people have been cynically globing or projecting intelligence onto nonsense.
Everything makes perfect sense if you see things in this way. Tell me in what way this view is inconsistent. Your view seems inconsistent to me. You have to suspend disbelief I dont
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u/Effective_Tea_6618 5m ago
I think this post was for the lulz. Tariffs are an effective tool when you want to decimate a single country. We are now the new north korea
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u/wrydrune 1d ago
It's because we can afford it and we run the show. "Returning the favor" will end up isolating us and take that away. The aura gets lost and nobody will want to deal anymore.
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u/Neat_Chi 1d ago
How to make a conservatives head explode: Show them what Reagan said about tariffs and trade wars
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u/DTBlayde 1d ago
Hoses work when used properly. If you leave them on full blast inside your house they're a terrible idea and destructive.
Controlled burning is great for protecting against wildfires. Setting an entire forest on fire is a terrible idea and destructive.
No one is saying tariffs are just always bad. They're saying we have an idiotic leader that's using them in a terrible and destructive way
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u/OGsloppyjohnson35 1d ago
Does making memes like this actually entertain people? Or are people genuinely dumb enough to think monumentally oversimplified and childish takes are some sort of âgotchaâ? I genuinely ask because I donât see entertainment value in it. It seems like low-hanging fruit.
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u/FatmanDK 1d ago
the lack of understanding what a tariff is here is extraordinary... please get a lesson on how economy's work on a global trade sector
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u/Solondthewookiee 1d ago
Y'all figure out how penguins are putting tariffs on America yet or you just gonna keep ignoring that one?
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u/Pale-Highlight-6895 23h ago
Uninhabited islands and US Air Force bases must have really been tightening those tariff screws on us.
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u/getbigordietrying919 23h ago
Iâm curious if there will be any loop hole to these, as for there a few companies in NC( and Iâm sure else were in the usa) that start products here, but send them over to India and china to be completed to only be sent back to resell. I mean I get it. Itâs cheaper labor and the company saves money that way. But will the tariffs put an end to that whole ordeal
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u/Scary-Button1393 23h ago
Can't help but feel like Dr Doebeck.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIByFisJBRR/?igsh=Mno4dmdxM3ZidDIy
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u/AudMar848 22h ago
The orange guy doesnât even know how tariffs work, this is the issue. He is not using them in the correct manner, he is using them as a bully tactic.
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u/Timo-the-hippo 22h ago
I agreed with a lot of Trump's messaging on tariffs but then he ignored his own messaging and implemented them differently.
That's not cool.
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u/DearIntention7756 21h ago
If 170 other countries weren't tarrfing us back, tarrifs would work.
It's almost like you can't take money from someone else without them trying to take it back. Too bad Donald Trump was spoon fed by his daddy too long to know that.
Thanks for the grocery bill, dip.
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u/Status-Priority5337 20h ago
Whatever you think about Tariffs, what this whole debacle has really shown me, is that a lot of people really are upset that it's going to be harder for them to benefit some slave labor making their gadgets, clothes, and toys,
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u/FrogLock_ 19h ago
Ah yes, there's only black and white and no such thing as nuance obviously you either think all tarrifs are bad or you love them all even if it's 50% to everyone we've ever traded with
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u/brokencreedman 19h ago
Conservatives continue to prove they are stupid with each and every passing day.
Tariffs aren't useful to base the entire economy around. When you tariff everyone, everyone should tariff you back to keep things even.
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u/1998ChevyTaHoe 16h ago
It's funny how we never hear anything about tariffs until its Trump doing it lol
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u/not_slaw_kid 15h ago
If asbestos was toxic, all these apartment buildings wouldn't be putting it in their insulation
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u/VincentTalksToGod 14h ago
That made me raise my eyebrows at how simple of an argument that is. I already was a fan of Trump and tariffs bringing in the money but it's frustrating to see people talk like he's destroying the economy with tariffs and now I see this impossible to argue against argument and I'm like wow it's really that simple
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u/Various_Strain5693 12h ago
I swear when he was asked during debate what his economic plans were, he had absolutely none, and he buffered for a second before remembering the buzz word "TERIFF," and that just became his economic policy.
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u/Informal_Cream_9060 12h ago
Tariffs are like medicine, when given in the right dosage, in the right situation, they can have a positive effect. When given broadly without a singular purpose, that can be ineffective, even have negative results.
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u/im-feeling-lucky 9h ago
higher cost for import, and now export. wow. that sounds like a good thing to you?
smoot-hawley had a lot of retaliatory tariffs. look how that went for the United States
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u/OliverSwan0637 8h ago
Tariffs can work. When theyâre targeted towards an industry to encourage people buying locally. Historically tariffing everything from a country has done nothing but make shit worse globally, see the Smoot-Hawley tariff act and how that made the Great Depression more great in the worst way possible.
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u/esgellman 5h ago
Tariffs can work, but they arenât an omnitool you can throw out for infinite positive results you have to actually think through when and how to apply them then try to work with the relevant countries and companies (if they are willing to cooperate) ahead of implementation to smooth the economic shifts as much as is feasible. An analogy would be saying âusing dynamite for construction worksâ when people complain about some lunatic chucking lit sticks in all directions at random from within a construction site.
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u/FlockaFlameSmurf 5h ago
I honestly canât believe you think this will work. How far does the economy have to tank for you to realize this is an awful idea I wonder
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u/LastPlaceGuaranteed 5h ago
How many of those 170 countries have a better average income and quality of life for their citizens?
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u/Busy-Virus9911 1h ago
By gody god how hard it is to think for yourself literally 2 searches
US free trade agreements (little to no tariffs imposed by these countries)
God for people who care so much about the âtruthâ you really donât seem to like when someone says your in the wrong.
If tariffs are so good why has r/stocks had to put the suicide hotline up.
Plus:
Mmmm yes healthy economy. Yâall must love watching your money evaporate away Iâm glad I can watch this shit show from afar.
Also Iâd like to add you people have to arguments itâs either:
- Tariffs are good and we donât need to fact check trump
Or
- Fucking Biden
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u/Effective_Tea_6618 6m ago edited 3m ago
Tariffs are incredibly good at suffocating a single country and destroying their economy
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u/No-Asparagus2823 1d ago
Reddit hates this fact
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u/Friendlyvoices 1d ago
The highest tarriff globally was 18.4% from the Bahamas to protect its local food markets. America doing a blanket 10% alone is higher than all of its existing trading partners by a huge margin. Most tarrifs are for emerging markets in small countries, not blanket tarrifs.
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u/Monte924 1d ago
Its not a fact. Australia, for instance, has a free trade agreement with the US... trump hit them with a 10% tariff anyway. The list Trump showed was pure BS that had nothing to do with tariffs
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u/trickyguayota 1d ago
Ah, so they donât work. Because 170 countries arenât tariffing America. Yet.
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u/PolecatXOXO Quality Contibutor 1d ago
Yep, anyone can look at the real tariff numbers. Most countries have an effective tariff rate of less than 2% with the US, if anything, and that includes free trade agreements where most goods are 0%.
Our own tariffs, as a general rule, are already higher than the other country's.
This trade war is based on absolutely nothing. It's probably worse than the "Iraq has WMDs" lie we were sold.
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u/brokencreedman 19h ago
This trade war is based on Trump's tiny pecker and the fact that he needs to overcompensate and throw his testosterone around to claim he's the big dawg now.
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u/MissionUnlucky1860 11h ago
What about hidden tariffs/taxes, currency manipulation, non-trade barriers, or any other ways to make importing stuff more expensive and time consuming?
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u/PolecatXOXO Quality Contibutor 11h ago
What about it? None of that was taken into account on those numbers.
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u/MissionUnlucky1860 10h ago
Importing a car from America to Europe involves shipping costs (around $1,150-$2,250) plus potential customs duties (around 10%), excise duty (3.1% to 18.7% of the car's value), and VAT (19% or 8% for vintage cars).
- Shipping Costs: Port-to-Port: Shipping a car from the US to Europe can cost between $1,050 and $1,800. Destination Charges: Expect to pay around $600 in destination charges. Factors Affecting Shipping Costs: The cost can vary based on the origin and port of entry in the US, the type of shipping (RoRo or container), and whether you require additional services.
- Potential Costs: Customs Duty: You'll likely have to pay customs duty, which can range from 10% to 20% of the car's value, depending on the country. Excise Duty: Some countries impose excise duty, which can be a percentage of the car's value. VAT (Value Added Tax): VAT is a tax on the value of goods, and the rate varies by country. Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF): A fee of 0.125% of the cargo value. Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF): A fee of 0.3464% of the cargo value. Additional Fees: You may incur fees for inspections, documentation, and other services. Modifications: US cars may need modifications to comply with European standards, such as changes to lights, engine settings, and emissions control. Registration Fees: There are registration fees in the destination country, which can vary depending on the vehicle's emissions, engine size, and fuel type.
- Examples of Costs: Shipping to Romania: Export cost estimate is $1,495 with an estimated turnaround time of 4-6 weeks. Shipping to Spain: Export cost estimate is $1,395 with an estimated turnaround time of 4-8 weeks. Shipping to Switzerland: Export cost estimate is $1,195 with an estimated turnaround time of 4-6 weeks. Shipping to Sweden: Export cost estimate is $1,295 with an estimated turnaround time of 21 days.
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u/PolecatXOXO Quality Contibutor 10h ago
VAT is a flat sales tax on everything bought or sold in Europe. It's not a tariff, it's a sales tax and applies on domestically produced cars as well. It shouldn't be a factor when calculating trade value.
Nor should registration costs based on things like engine size and emissions standards, as those are also the same regardless of where the car is produced. It can actually cost more to register that same car in California in some cases.
Cost of shipping is irrelevant to this argument as well.
Ditto for excise tax on luxury cars. Again, this is charged on everyone regardless of where the car was produced.
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And again, to the main point, NONE of these factors were even looked at for the numbers Trump pulled out of his ass.
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u/Glittering-Lie2077 23h ago
Theres been tariffs on american good for decades smooth brain.
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u/Business-Plastic5278 16h ago
There have been, but its sure as fuck not anywhere near 170 and most of the ones that do exist are meaningless to the US economy.
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u/trickyguayota 23h ago
Source.
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u/Glittering-Lie2077 22h ago
Holy shit, so easy to confirm this. You honestly dont believe theres countries that tariff usa?
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u/fathersmuck 1d ago
We have a trade deficit with these countries. No tariffs against our country. This is all to try to make businesses and countries bend the knee to Trump.
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u/Ijusshtmadrorss 22h ago
All the people here complaining have under $100 in their bank account and probably $100k in student loan debt. Get to work and donât forget my side of ranch with that pizza.
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u/Accomplished_Bar6196 6h ago
Yeah, all of Reddit with their pink haired buffoons suddenly have a master understanding of economics and policy.
Laughable
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u/Nate2322 Quality Contibutor 1d ago
How many of those countries have tariffs on absolutely everything for basically every country in the world? Tariffs are a tool using it like Trump does is unproductive and will just hurt anyone if he used them well like he mostly did in his first term basically no one would have an issue with it.
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u/SilentStormNC 23h ago
Can someone explain to me why its ok for other countries to tariff the US but the US is not allowed to tariff anyone?
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u/BigDaddyCoolDeisel 12h ago
Should Eritrea aspire to be more like the United States economy, or should the United States aspire to be more like Eritrea?
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u/No_Explorer_352 17h ago
They work when you know what you are doing and have some buisness sense. But when youre a 6 time failed buisness man you have zero idea what's even going on.
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u/CommonSense1787 1d ago
Fun fact - if tariffs worked, at least one of those 170 countries would have a *stronger* economy than the US.
But they don't - the US economy has literally been the envy of the world for the past four years.
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u/ElectricalRush1878 1d ago
Just because a hammer works doesn't mean it's going to work right in the hand of a toddler.
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u/Fit-Rip-4550 23h ago
He's using them as negotiation leverage. Other countries are not going to negotiate with the United States on trade deals unless there is leverage. Once leverage is put forth, both countries can come to the table and make arrangements. Ironically, the end effect could be actual free trade where both countries do not have tariffs or import restrictions on each other.
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u/FAT_Penguin00 10h ago
thats not how negotiations work idiot. you would usually put a deal forward with the threat of using your leverage before actually using it and causing trillions in losses from american businesses.
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u/brokencreedman 19h ago
Why negotiate with the US when they can just negotiate with everyone else? America has proven itself to no longer be a reliable friend or partner. I can see other countries designating us as hostile going forward until a more stable (competent, intelligent, human?) administration gets into power. I can see the rest of the world ignoring us for at least four years because Trump is a fucktard.
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u/Swaggletackle 21h ago
Exactly! I'm not really in favor of the tariffs at least in the way they were implemented but I cannot for the life of me find one person who can justify why it's okay for other countries to have tariffs on us but we can't apply tariffs on them.
Please, someone, anyone, explain to me why other countries having tariffs on the US is not a problem.
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u/Ecphonesis1 18h ago
You can go to r/askeconomics and read many posts talking about the rationale and logistics behind why a minuscule country (in economic terms) might propose tariffs on the biggest economy in the world, whose currency is the global standard, and why reciprocal tariffs do not make sense in the dynamic of that economic relationship. Also can read about Trumpâs apocryphal interpretations of tariffs, reciprocal tariffs, and the very figures he is using to justify the âreciprocalâ nature of his tariffs.
This post is a decent place to start, but there are tons. Can search for keywords to try and narrow down the information you are looking to find.
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u/No-Bill-5867 19h ago
Because you can and should use tariffs for specific products your country produces to make sure people buy your own products. If he did that itâs fine (we have done the same thing for decades now)
Problem is they just flat taxed every country on earth (10%) no matter if we can produce it or not (bananas for example) and then some truly outrageous ones to country we rely on for our standard of living in America that we cannot and will never be able to produce (20%+)
So all that comes from this is a complete crash of stocks, living expenses explodes because we absolutely have to import things, and companies begin to squeeze out works etc as people spend less as things get more expensive.
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u/Das_Guet 1d ago
Don't drink water. An estimated 300,000 people drown annually.