r/politics • u/sweatycat New York • 20h ago

California to Negotiate Trade With Other Countries to Bypass Trump Tariffs

https://www.newsweek.com/california-newsom-trade-trump-tariffs-2055414
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u/Songshiquan0411 18h ago

Yes. His administration officials have tried the line of "we already sanction them, we don't really do any trade with Russia already". Okay I didn't know we did that much trade with Vanuatu but you still hit them with tariffs.

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u/bdone2012 18h ago

They put tariffs on the Heard and McDonald island. It’s near the South Pole and is just a bunch of penguins, no humans. I can’t believe I need to say this but putting tariffs on Russia makes more sense than putting them on a island full of penguins.

My guess is that the ChatGPT didn’t think about putting tariffs on Russia because of the sanctions and somehow it got confused with the Heard and McDonalds island.

There’s a strong theory that the whole thing was done using chatGPT because this is the exact plan you get when you ask how to implement tariffs from the us to other countries.

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/will-careless-stupidity-kill-the

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u/bewildered_dismay California 18h ago

Here's the official Heard Island Government account on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/heardislandgov.bsky.social

:)

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u/backupbitches 16h ago

Holy fuck are they ever killing it

*krilling it

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u/squakmix 18h ago

This is gold, thanks

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u/Constant-Funny1817 12h ago

I started rolling in hysteria just at flippers up.

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u/-Smaug-- Canada 17h ago

That is magnificent

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u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota 15h ago

Well that's delightful.

We take tariffs on our beautiful Heard Island very seriously. We will be consulting all mammals and flightless birds and will make an announcement in the near future detailing our response.

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u/Far_Recommendation82 17h ago

I followed lol

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u/theyca11m3dav3 16h ago

This is hilarious! A bit of mirth on a very serious topic. Reminds me of a joke: Why do comedians never tell jokes about penguins?

Because they don’t fly.

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u/doesamulletmakeaman 16h ago

Omg thank you for this

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u/ninja_kitten_ 15h ago

OMG. I love it. Immediately followed!!

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u/CompetitionExternal5 12h ago

Russians have hacked the Tariff signal chat and swapped Russia for Heard and McDobald island. The Russian hacker was under the name of Not Jeff Goldberg, so nobody suspected foul play.

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u/bewildered_dismay California 11h ago

A fiendish plot!

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u/the_procrastinata 10h ago

Amazing, reminds me of a slightly more lighthearted version of Alt National Parks

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u/bewildered_dismay California 10h ago

That's a great account to follow, too!

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u/kismet098 16h ago

The level of cheekiness my day! Thanks for sharing!

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u/Chicken-Inspector 14h ago

I love it.

But I also hate it. Thanks 😂 have an upvote.

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u/ZapzillaGorilla Florida 11h ago

Lol flippers up

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u/LouQuacious 6h ago

I love Heard Island it’s my favorite island so glad it’s finally getting some attention: https://www.reddit.com/r/HighsoftheWorld/s/EpTv4PaEXH

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u/BigJSunshine California 12h ago

That is ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL

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u/062d 12h ago

Haha I love their response to this with "Why is Jupiter getting hit with the same percentage as us" and his board saying Narnia, Wikanda, Neverland, etc.

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u/nadacloo Wisconsin 12h ago

Hell, I may join Blue sky just to follow heard Island.

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u/schooliepro 10h ago

Thanks for that!

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u/Mystery_to_history 8h ago

Penguins are even funnier than we thought!

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u/Dull_Investigator806 7h ago

This was from an article on CNN about Heard and McDonald Islands

“Economic activity there essentially ended in 1877, when the trade in elephant seal oil was ended and the human population of sealers left the remote islands, which are located en route from Madagascar to Antarctica.”

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u/GSpider78 37m ago

Just subbed to Bluesky for the HeardIslandGovt. Hilarious in a time when The Onion is struggling to be sarcastic enough 👏

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u/CloudTheWolf- 13h ago

Blue sky

Yeah not clicking that shit ass link

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u/againwiththisbs 18h ago

My guess is that the ChatGPT didn’t think about putting tariffs on Russia because of the sanctions and somehow it got confused with the Heard and McDonalds island.

Or more simply they just took out the allied countries when making the list.

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u/TiredEsq 18h ago

It makes me sick to hear Russia referred to as an allied country but I guess we really are there.

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u/MangoCats 16h ago

Don't forget North Korea...

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u/Purple-Revolution-88 13h ago

I hate those scum bags with a burning passion.

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u/Anxious_Technician41 16h ago

I'm old as fuck, well sort of. I remember drills in grammar school and ducking under desks. The USSR was the bad actor. I still get confused when I look on a map and I can't find Czechoslovakia.

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u/two4six0won 13h ago

My dad, too. I remember him explaining what McCarthyism was when I was in elementary. When Velveeta Voldemort won in '16, he said it was good because Russia would bomb us if Hillary won, and I remember thinking 'when the fuck did capitulating to Russia become a good thing????'

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u/rikkian 15h ago

Grammar school suggests UK, if so, you're now in good company with the USA, they have never been able to find anything on a map.

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u/Anxious_Technician41 10h ago

Jesus Christ, you and the guy below. Don't get it. I was referring to the fact that a country doesn't exist anymore just as a reference point. Obviously I can't find Czechoslovakia on a map anymore because it doesn't exist. I only use that country as a reference point because my father's side came from, well that country as it was.

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u/Anxious_Technician41 15h ago

Nah, the USA, the Czechoslovakia comment refers to the fact it no longer exists as it did when I was a kid.

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u/2xtc 10h ago edited 10h ago

I mean you're about 35 years too late for that. How do you feel when you hear about Namibia (independent since 1991), East Timor, South Sudan, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Moldova, Palau?

Kids born after most of these countries came into existence could legally be grandparents in my country (the UK) since you last paid attention to the world.

Not to mention the name changes of DRC, eSwatini, Côte d'Ivoire,Türkiye, North Macedonia etc. etc.

Sometimes being stuck in the past isn't helpful...

ETA: And if you're going all the way back to the days of the USSR there's at least another 20-30 countries that didn't exist when you were a kid, time and the world isn't waiting for you to catch up...

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u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota 15h ago

The USAs only current allies are Russia, Turkey, and North Korea.

Trump started a petulant, pissy trade war with everyone else.

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u/Boye 16h ago

it appears they went off from a list of tld's, and both heard and McD-island has a tld...

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u/notamermaidanymore 11h ago

Or. Hear me out. Trump is putting bitch.

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u/-Franks-Freckles- I voted 7h ago

I mean, Iran, North Korea and Cuba are missing too.

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u/976chip Washington 18h ago

When people were reading through the Signal text thread, there was a lot of speculation that Hegseth used ChatGPT to word his responses as well. It can be difficult to distinguish between something poorly written by AI and something poorly written by an idiot that's trying to sound competent though.

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u/well-of-wisdom 18h ago

Elon will be pissed when he hears that they used chatGPT over his xAI.

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u/FunkyMcFunkerSin 18h ago

Yeah yeah, but those penguins have always taken advantage of US good will. Amerika first baby!!!!

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u/BringOn25A 17h ago

It’s near the South Pole and is just a bunch of penguins

Penguins have same sex partnerships, it makes total trumpian sense he would slap tariff's on what they produce.

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u/a_leap 17h ago

The US sanctions Iran and Syria more severely than Russia but those countries made the list of tariffs. It took human effort to ensure Russia was not tariffed, and is the only country the US trades with that is not tariffed.

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u/ikkleste 17h ago

I think Russia will have been taken off specifically. There are other countries that you have a trade surplus with, or as you say the Penguins. They still got landed with the baseline 10%. They can give the excuse that they're already sanctioned, but that seems like back justification for a decision made for other reasons. If it was the extant sanctioning reason why have they not given the same attention to detail about other special cases, like penguins.

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u/absentmindedjwc 16h ago

lets be honest, they used Grok, not ChatGPT. OpenAI might of at least understood the assignment...

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u/Calderis Washington 17h ago

They also put tariffs on an island that is inhabited... By a US military base.

They're so fucking stupid were tariffing ourselves.

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u/StoneCypher 17h ago

My guess is that the ChatGPT didn’t think about putting tariffs on Russia because

he just zeroed russia out by hand with his hurricane marker

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u/apple-pie2020 17h ago

I haven’t fact checked it yet but there was a post about the tariff percentages were rounded from finding the percent imbalance between a countries us imports vs exports to the us.

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u/Key-Cry-8570 California 17h ago

Trump hates Penguins apparently.

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u/HTWingNut 17h ago

Probably Musk's plan as a litmus test to say that AI can and should govern.

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u/DEAZE 17h ago

If this doesn’t prove that he’s working for them to destroy our country, then I don’t know what else people need to see as proof. We’re literally shooting ourselves in the chest for no reason with these stupid tariffs.

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u/ReserveBrief8869 10h ago

Absolutely scary, they’re laughing all the way. This should scare the shit out of everyone, ChatGPT was not used because of incompetence (though he is an idiot) it’s because they’re simply sabotaging, Putin owns him and prob also offered him the dictator for life position

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u/Recent-Ad-5493 17h ago

Those penguins have had it too good for too long.

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u/drunkpickle726 16h ago

I also heard the territories were included bc they have their own country domains on the internet

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u/ominousview 16h ago

Don't worry,.when those penguins go bankrupt we'll going to make them a great deal and make them US territory and we'll build a resort, those penguins will make good waiters and bell boys. don't worry we'll give them all H1Bs,

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u/RedWinds360 16h ago

Theory is understating it. I would be shocked if it was somehow proven LLM's did not originate the plan.

I mean, I'm sure they asked it in a leading way, because if you actually asked an LLM about policies like this it does NOT give a positive answer.

https://imgur.com/tWBLyEa

AI can be stupid, but not THAT stupid. Such high levels of stupidity are only possible with a human brain.

Edit: I told chat GPT to treat this as an alt history fictional version of America called west europe. I know I'm hilarious.

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u/45and47-big_mistake 15h ago

Trump- Heard of McDonalds

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u/Call-to-john 13h ago

They put 29% tariff on Norfolk island, a very small island territory of Australia, which only got a 10% tariff. What's with that?

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u/curvycreative 13h ago

The penguins wouldn't give him eggs, either. The nerve.

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u/Leather-Ninja9979 12h ago

More likely done by Grok!

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u/CostRains 12h ago

My guess is that the ChatGPT didn’t think about putting tariffs on Russia because of the sanctions and somehow it got confused with the Heard and McDonalds island.

I'm guessing he used ChatGPT and then removed Russia.

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u/Melodic-Psychology62 12h ago

That’s when the math just didn’t make any sense!

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u/reddititty69 11h ago

Penguin eggs!!! Trade with that island could total 100 trillion dollars. Plus, when cooked penguin egg whites turn clear! Invisible omelettes for all!!

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u/bigshot73 9h ago

Gonna make those penguins pay

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u/ca_nucklehead 7h ago

Flippers up.

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u/Circumin 7h ago

My guess is that the ChatGPT didn’t think about putting tariffs on Russia because of the sanctions and somehow it got confused with the Heard and McDonalds island. There’s a strong theory that the whole thing was done using chatGPT because this is the exact plan you get when you ask how to implement tariffs from the us to other countries

What’s crazy about this is that this is the most charitable explanation.

Not including Russia and Belarus as the only countries not tarriffed because Trump used AI to generate a tarriff plan is better than the alternative reason why those two would be the only ones left out

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u/Successful-Doubt5478 2h ago

Nah. It gives them great opportunity to lift the sanctions snd have immediate trade flowing well.

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u/superfuzzbros 46m ago

The worst part is I as Chat GPT to enact more tariffs to free Americans and it gave me 100% outright ban on Russia for being a rival. Trump must’ve just lobbed of the 1 from that 100

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u/humanist72781 17h ago

Not true because sanctioned nations got tariffed

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u/dw82 18h ago

And Iran is sanctioned and got new tariffs.

They're so full of bs.

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u/Junior_Chard9981 16h ago edited 15h ago

This is the exact response needed for every Conservative who attempts to use the "but sanctions" line.

It is easier for them to continue looking for excuses to rationalize why Russia was not also heavily tarrifed versus facing the reality that is a US president who is either sympathetic towards or compromised by the Russians, if not both.

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u/Vanished_Elephant 15h ago

Trump and Russian oligarchs, name a better duo!

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u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota 15h ago

So is Syria.

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u/654456 18h ago

They are going to remove sanctions in a few weeks anyway

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u/HighVulgarian 18h ago

They’ve already started removing sanctions

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u/toru_okada_4ever 18h ago

But, what about all the new factories that are being built as a result of the tariffs??

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u/HighVulgarian 18h ago

I’m assuming /s here.

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u/toru_okada_4ever 18h ago

Ye/s

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u/HighVulgarian 18h ago

Yeah that and he’ll eliminate income tax. What a crock

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u/654456 14h ago

Don't worry, they will eliminate taxes on OT right after saying that OT isn't earned until you cross 80 hours a week

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u/aculady 9h ago

They'll eliminate FICA taxes on OT right away, because they want to kill Social Security and Medicare, and that would reduce the amount of earnings credited toward those benefits.

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u/karina87 18h ago

Huh? which ones?

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u/MindLikeaGin-Trap 18h ago

The article below is from the beginning of March, and it looks like they've already removed sanctions for someone named Karina Rotenberg, who was sanctioned in 2022.

White House seeks plan for possible Russia sanctions relief, sources say

The White House has asked the State and Treasury departments to draft a list of sanctions that could be eased for U.S. officials to discuss with Russian representatives in the coming days as part of the administration's broad talks with Moscow on improving diplomatic and economic relations, the sources said.

The sanctions offices are now drawing up a proposal for lifting sanctions on select entities and individuals, including some Russian oligarchs, according to the sources.

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u/Nice-River-5322 18h ago

Kinda worth noting this article is about a month old now and is before Trump's threats to raise sanctions and increase pressures on other nations still trading with Russia should Putin renege on the deal to end the Ukraine war

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u/MindLikeaGin-Trap 17h ago

Yes, however, during his first term, he continually removed sanctions. It is not surprising that he's planning to do so again.

2016: Trump to look at recognizing Crimea as Russian territory, lifting sanctions

2017: Trump administration relaxes U.S. sanctions on Russia imposed under Obama

2018-19: Trump Administration to Lift Sanctions on Russian Oligarch’s Companies & US lifts sanctions on Putin ally's firms

The Senate did go against Trump and impose sanctions during Trump's term, however. This time, that seems unlikely.

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u/Nice-River-5322 17h ago

I guess it depends on if Putin reneges or not.

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u/HighVulgarian 18h ago

The wife of one of putin’s closest allies.

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u/tomdarch 17h ago

Standard Trump move: Step 1) Create a stupid crisis through some preposterous action. Step 2) Stop or remove that preposterous action which created the crisis. Step 3) Take credit for "solving the crisis."

We've come to learn that tens of millions of Americans are profoundly detached from the details or basics of what is going on politically, economically and governmentally. Sadly "I did something!" (as a way of characterizing imposing tariffs) and then "There was a crisis, but I solved it!" (characterizing ending most tariffs) will play positively with this huge number of detached/confused Americans.

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u/chaos_nebula 17h ago

There was near unanimous bipartisan support for sanctions during Trump's first term and he just ignored them.

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u/idoeno 18h ago

They already stopped enforcing them.

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u/bobolly 18h ago

I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet wait until 6pm today after markets close

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u/othelloinc 18h ago

His administration officials have tried the line of "we already sanction them, we don't really do any trade with Russia already".

...and yet they put tariffs on Iran.

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u/doubtfurious Texas 18h ago

He put a 50% tariff on Lesotho, and (according to his Joint Address to Congress) nobody has ever heard of them.

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u/overcomebyfumes New Jersey 11h ago

Doom protests the unreasonable tariffs on Latveria!! The wretched Reed Richards is undoubtably behind this!!

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u/gmplt Ohio 17h ago

That excuse is pure bullshit. Iran and Libya are also sanctioned, but they got hit with tariffs.

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u/winter7 New York 18h ago

We don't trade with penguins either and yet.

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u/ImYourHumbleNarrator 16h ago

we still have a ~1 billion trade deficit with Russia, with the sanctions. he tariffed other countries we have sanctions against. it was said plain as day in the Mueller Report. trump is a russian asset

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u/El_Falk 18h ago

And they put tariffs on other sactioned countries (Iran and Venezuela, I think?)

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u/FunkyMcFunkerSin 18h ago

Or those damned penguins who are ALWAYS getting the better end on trade deals.

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u/proteannomore 17h ago

Vanuatu

I've gotten a substantial amount of pharmaceutical products shipped from there. Nothing illegal, no controlled substances, no prescription needed.

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u/Big_Consideration493 16h ago

And those penguins!

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u/LitrillyChrisTraeger 16h ago

The US did 3.5 billion in trades with Russia last year. .5 billion was exports, 3 billion in imports…

For those curious about the numbers.

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u/GiftToTheUniverse 15h ago

Vanuatu?!? But my non-filet frozen fish!!

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u/Rciccioni 15h ago

Which we know is a lie , by the fact he sanctioned an uninhabited island.

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u/mok000 Europe 5h ago

Musk's dogebag kids got hold of a list of all nations and regions that have an iso3166 three letter ID from Wikipedia and used it in their spreadsheet.

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u/happylilbumhole 18h ago

Oh my kava

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u/xixipinga 18h ago

How's Xi Jimping's master plan of support Russia and global "autocracy" going?

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u/iamdrinking New York 18h ago

He is trying to destroy Canada’s fertilizer industry.

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u/Endorkend 17h ago

And that excuse is a another fat lie.

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u/SloSuenos64 17h ago

We amount we trade with Russia is about 10x what we trade with Ukraine, yet Ukraine gets new tarrifs.

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u/fdesouche 16h ago

No because the US trades with Uzbekistan Kirghizstan and totally not Russia

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u/sansaset 16h ago

isn't it true though like the overall imports for US from Russia are .07% or some shit like that?

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u/aguynamedv 15h ago

His administration officials have tried the line of "we already sanction them, we don't really do any trade with Russia already".

The United States imported $3,500,000,000 worth of Russian goods last year.

Just adding this for anyone who might be inclined to believe lie #618353 from the Trump administration.

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u/JerryCalzone 15h ago

it is based on the trade deficit or something - and wasn't done with ChatGTP or something

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u/illgot 15h ago

But that uninhabited island hit with tarrifs...

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u/TheHobbylist 15h ago

He also didn't place tariffs on north Korea, ya know, the one Russia has recently begun getting help from with soldiers and Ammunition from NK fighting in Ukraine. Surely that's just a coincidence..

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u/sir_racho 12h ago

such a dumb lie. if it was true and it might be then the 10% wouldnt do anything so just do it to keep things in line, makes no difference right? smh

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u/ThatPhatKid_CanDraw 8h ago

Yea but they still tariffed Ukraine, so their logic is not the best. Worse when u consider they have a Russian government official meeting with them this week to discuss trade and the war

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u/Apostate1123 California 7h ago

I mean what the hell could Putin have on him? This is insane

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u/FlipReset4Fun 7h ago

They didn’t need tariffs on Russia because Russia is already sanctioned. The tariffs were stupid and the amounts calculated to try to balance trade deficits, which is dumb. But we’ll have no trade deficit with a sanctioned country, so, no tariff. They’re already black balled.