r/wallstreetbets • u/s1n0d3utscht3k • Mar 03 '25

News Trump Officially Signs 20% Tariffs on China

https://www.barrons.com/news/trump-signs-order-for-20-tariff-on-china-w-house-d6fec57f
23.3k Upvotes

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4.1k

u/AntiOriginalUsername Mar 03 '25

Recession any % speed run. Negative Q1 GDP confirmed.

1.7k

u/BINGODINGODONG Mar 03 '25

Its not just negative. Its supa negative. And with debt accelerating cus of tax cuts. This gonna be a wild ride until Donnie finds out tariffs are paid by US companies

770

u/MicroBadger_ Mar 03 '25

Us consumers, you think the companies are just going to take that unlubed didlo? They're passing that shit right along.

609

u/IchabodDiesel Mar 03 '25

Not just that, they will tack on extra profits and blame "tariffs" the same way they've been doing with "inflation."

238

u/JayGeezy1 Mar 03 '25

Why miss out on another profit opportunity? Smart business. Consumers will just blame Biden.

90

u/MushroomTea222 Mar 03 '25

I thought it was Obama’s fault? 🤔

6

u/Hashtag_reddit Mar 04 '25 edited 18d ago

salt axiomatic crawl vast grandiose ring station grab versed degree

10

u/RichAustralian Mar 04 '25

Unironically it is in a way Obama's fault. Having a black president just broke a lot of Americans, which directly lead to the series of events that sees Trump becoming president.

If Obama never won, or a white Democrat got nominated, I don't think we would have ever seen a Trump presidency.

18

u/Alarming-Chance-7645 Mar 04 '25

As easy as it is to blame racism—and I do want to—this is just another republic choking on its own wealth. Civilizations start with the many (republics and democracies), get gutted by the few (oligarchs), and end up licking the boots of the one (emperors, dictators, strongmen in expensive suits).

9

u/onpg Mar 04 '25

Wealth isn't the problem. It's inequality. We don't spend the wealth on educating people and improving their lives, so they know something is wrong but are unable to coherently articulate the problem and end up voting for con artists.

5

u/Alarming-Chance-7645 Mar 04 '25

Basically what I'm saying. Choaking on wealth was a metaphor for the greed that has seeped into the foundational cracks

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3

u/ZeekLTK Mar 04 '25

If George Washington hadn't won that war, we wouldn't even be in this situation!

9

u/drbumwine Mar 03 '25

Naw, totally Obama's tan suit fault

7

u/LavishnessOk3439 Mar 04 '25

Honestly that marked the end of our nation

3

u/iPigman Mar 04 '25

Awwwww hell, that tan suit trashed Western Civilisation. We'll never recover.

2

u/iPigman Mar 04 '25

Some people are saying it was the Dijon Mustard on a burger.

30

u/Paradigm_Reset Mar 03 '25

The good 'ol "convenience" fee for using electronic payment route.

6

u/bandy_mcwagon Mar 03 '25

The only question is, will the ‘Merican Consoomur piggies still keep buying up the slop? When will they cease to buy?

7

u/Ashleynn Mar 03 '25

Because of how profit margins are calculated, yes. Profit margins are calculated on total cost. So let's say you had an item that the total production cost was $100 per unit with a 20% profit margin, final sale price would be $120.

Now let's say that these tarrifs increase the total production cost to $110 with a 20% profit margin final sale price is $132. Profit goes from $20 to $22 per item sold.

So not only do we get to pay the extra $10 to pay for the tarrifs, we get shanked for an extra $2 on top of it.

2

u/optimaleverage Mar 03 '25

Exactly. Everyone will charge a tariff premium.

2

u/rugdoctor Mar 03 '25

more likely they'll just stick to inflation and blame biden for it

2

u/Mooseheart84 Mar 04 '25

And the companies that isnt hit by tariffs also raise their prices because they can when the competition has to do it

2

u/FortNightsAtPeelys Mar 04 '25

yup 20% tariff = 30% price increase

1

u/Sexehexes Mar 03 '25

so you think earnings will grow faster?

1

u/Bluenite0100 Mar 04 '25

And then when tariffs are lifted they won't lower the price because we've "become accustomed" to paying that price

1

u/jfwelll Mar 04 '25

Numbers will be higher, illusion of growth passed in the consumers and probably on the debt.

1

u/FirstTimeShitposter Mar 04 '25

"Covid and supply issues" as well, meanwhile they are making their 3rd consecutive highest revenue ever, companies will use any excuse to bump up the price and we're A-OK with it (the average consumer that is)

1

u/Dozekar Mar 04 '25

What money are consumers going to spend to do this with. Unless the government is going to print money it just translates into that many fewer salees.

0

u/Fit-Remove-6597 Mar 03 '25

lol I have a feeling the market is gonna dump for a couple quarters then Q3 we will see revenues go up 20% profit numbers increase and it’ll pump back up again.

17

u/RideTheLighting Mar 03 '25

Double it and give it to the next person

8

u/throwinmoney Mar 03 '25

you think consumers are going to take that unlubed dildo? all goods with elastic demand are about to tank

7

u/[deleted] Mar 03 '25 edited 17d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-1

u/PotatoWriter 🥔✍️ Mar 04 '25

Which means... Prices will have to go down right? At the end of the day, companies need to make money somehow, God forbid they make less of a profit

3

u/glickja2080 Mar 03 '25

Companies started shifting supply chains from China after the last Trump administration to Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam. They will still raise prices.

3

u/looking_good__ Mar 03 '25

Increased prices with lower demand - we are going to Hooverville in no time! Layoffs left and right are coming.

I mean what a freaking idiot.

3

u/horseydeucey Mar 04 '25

you think the companies are just going to take that unlubed didlo?

It's been in my lived experience that when a raving homeless person on a crowded rush hour subway car starts yelling "WHO WANTS THIS?!" while thrusting an unlubed dildo in people's faces, one has more agency than you may think.
Which is to say, the companies have it (until someone takes it from them).

2

u/PopLegion Mar 03 '25

This is the biggest shit that's gonna hurt. Even when these tariffs are gone, are we trusting these dirtbag fucks who price gouged to the tune of trillions of dollar during a global pandemic to actually lower the prices back to pre tariff level?

Lmao yeah right.

2

u/Ok-Secretary15 Mar 03 '25

Conservatives do, they still think Trump is playing 7D chess

2

u/jay10033 Mar 03 '25

Yup. The dildo of consequences typically comes without lube.

1

u/Oberlatz Mar 04 '25

Not to me, like 80% if my expenditures are food related and I buy half my shit from the farmers market anyway.

It'll slow Amazon, so love that.

1

u/Dozekar Mar 04 '25

What consumers? You think the poors have 25% extra money to buy dumb Tshirts from walmart or whatever? It turns into 25% or whatever less quantity of sales really fucking fast.

Imagine everyone just came out and said expect sales to be down X% where X is the tarrif % they suffer or their resources suffer under. That's literally what this is.

606

u/M_from_Vegas Mar 03 '25

That's the neat part.

Donnie doesn't care. He said he was going to place tariffs from the get-go.

The only ones who will benefit are those who get to sweep in and buy on the cheap for the next four years. Just check who he keeps in close company.

274

u/PHK_JaySteel Mar 03 '25

He can also selectively lift tariffs from specific companies. Now, with bribery being legalized again, you only need to pay coin to the regime and continue business unimpeded while your competition drowns.

I imagine this was always the intention of the tariffs. It's just another grift with these people.

90

u/signalflo4 Mar 03 '25

Yup. By lifting the rules on anti money laundering and doing away with shell company owner verification, nearly nothing is stopping the rich from damn near wiring money to an account in exchange for getting on the exempt list

2

u/Fast-Noise4003 Mar 04 '25

doing away with shell company owner verification

Wait, they repealed the new beneficial ownership reporting rules?

3

u/signalflo4 Mar 04 '25

For US owned companies, yes. And now you can buy a gold US citizenship card for 5,000,000.

27

u/0o0o0o0o0o0z Mar 03 '25

He can also selectively lift tariffs from specific companies. Now, with bribery being legalized again

Ya, that's why you see these delays, he is giving time for countries and companies to give him tribute to ease, delay, or not place tariffs on their product or industry.

5

u/ChampionshipIll3675 Mar 04 '25

Yup. And I didn't hear any tariffs on Russia. They will become our new trading partner! Russian lumber and potash. It will be the best. So much winning.

25

u/mcnastys Mar 03 '25

"The only ones who will benefit are those who get to sweep in and buy on the cheap for the next four years. Just check who he keeps in close company."

Not gonna happen. The soft landing looked like it was actually going to work, but no economy can withstand inflation of 20-25% overnight with people in the most secure job sectors (government) getting fired.

All the money these companies (and individuals) have to "swoop in" is based on stock valuations and overall inflated costs.

I expect we are going to see people jumping off buildings, great depression style.

7

u/MrRandom04 Mar 04 '25

JPow and the previous admin just got the soft landing nearly right and then we have a midair collision. Funny how that goes.

1

u/M_from_Vegas Mar 04 '25

Turns out that the so-called "business people" are all actually small business owners that will be directly impacted and potentially hurt the worst by tariffs.

Who could have ever warned them?

10

u/King_Chochacho Mar 03 '25

He's being paid and controlled by 1. Russia and 2. Billionaire technocrats. Both of them want to cripple the US government and economy, just for different reasons.

3

u/Cute-Elderberry-7866 Mar 04 '25

So what, hold more cash than normal and pay off debts for normal people? 

I'm also concerned what will happen to the US dollar during this administration.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 04 '25

[deleted]

1

u/No-Breakfast-8154 Mar 04 '25

The only thing that the USD has been backed by is our 1 trillion dollar military. As long as we are the world’s police force the dollar will be relevant. BRICS and the euro are catching up though

2

u/jrex035 Mar 04 '25

The only ones who will benefit are those who get to sweep in and buy on the cheap for the next four years. Just check who he keeps in close company.

In fact theyre gonna get fat tax cuts to give them even more liquidity to buy up all the assets left behind by the desperate poors

2

u/Jjhend Mar 03 '25

Hes setting the field for Oligarchs to come in and buy up everything.

251

u/Budget_Bear6914 Mar 03 '25

This asshole has fucked up the stock market, crypto market and the supermarket he could fuck up a junk yard.

79

u/NoFutureIn21Century Mar 03 '25

Don't forget the casino! 

But ever since someone broke the fundamentals of the economy in the 2000s, all those aforementioned markets have basically been different types of  casinos.

11

u/TheVermonster Mar 03 '25

Anytime some days he is a great businessman I ask how great of a businessman can he be if he can't keep a casino open. Always crickets.

6

u/worldspawn00 Mar 03 '25

Several, he bankrupted 3 or 4 iirc.

3

u/Dixon_Uranuss3 Mar 04 '25

Which is doubly funny when you know that he intentionally bankrupted them as part of his eternal grift. Funnel everything out of the casino into NY high rise real estate money laundering schemes then bankrupt the casino and dont pay any taxes on anything. But a trump tard would never be able to understand that.

2

u/tothemoonandback01 Mar 04 '25

Sir, this is the Casino

2

u/rockelscorcho Mar 03 '25

He could fuck up a cup of coffee.

2

u/mojomoreddit Mar 04 '25

Cool down man, this is short term. Money printer and Powpow will fix it. Orange man 🍊 just needs something to nudge Papa powpow to lower rates again and do it faster. Dollar will reach parity with EUR, making those exports cheapo and then do a 180 on Nato and on Zelenski boi so that they buy BIG in us defence stocks, catalysing a then flourishing industrial powerhouse. US Long term baby!! Fuck the ghey bears

1

u/DocHolliday3884 Mar 04 '25

Dont forget the housing market

67

u/reichjef Mar 03 '25 edited Mar 03 '25

Seriously, this is not a decline in GDP growth, this a decline in GDP, period. Any % speed run achieved. Germany just tagged an ATH in their session today. This is completely self inflicted.

47

u/DontrentWNC Mar 03 '25

All the people who said us having the best economy in the world didn't matter because they weren't feeling it are about to experience what happens when it is one of the worst in the world.

15

u/ChampionshipIll3675 Mar 04 '25

Yep. They're about to learn real inflation. The kind that will keep us hungry most of the time.

6

u/Special-Remove-3294 Mar 04 '25

Going from the best G7 economy in 2024 to a shrink in GDP for Q1 2025 is wild especially considering that there is no crisis going on. It is all due to US government being ass.....

1

u/reichjef Mar 04 '25

Shooting ourselves in the foot.

1

u/meridianblade Mar 04 '25

It's intentional evil cruelty. It's to teach us a lesson by these fucking traitor oligarchs.

12

u/Beginning_Night1575 Mar 03 '25

What’s really wild to me is that I haven’t seen ONE reporter push him on this. One time I saw a reporter tell tell him that tariffs get paid by consumers. His response, “no the other countries will pay the tariffs”. THE END. Zero pushback. I highly doubt that he legitimately doesn’t know how this works, but being able to get away with that answer for this long is just a failure of our entire country. Like at all levels, we are trash. Not just the 1/3 that voted for him or whatever, but as a collective, we are dumb trash.

7

u/onpg Mar 04 '25

Any reporter that challenges him in even the most minor way gets their whole agency blackballed. See the AP when they didn't use the Gulf of Mexico's new pronouns.

4

u/No-Breakfast-8154 Mar 04 '25

Last week the press secretary said the White House has to approve any media that gets in. Media suppression similar to how Russia works

1

u/onpg Mar 05 '25

And immediately after they did that, Russian state media got in. Lovely.

17

u/mauvillarreal Mar 03 '25

We are missing the point. Good ol Donnie is working for Putin.

4

u/LavishnessOk3439 Mar 04 '25

Well he’s doing a damned good job then

20

u/SomewhereNormal9157 Mar 03 '25

You don't realize. Orange man is a Russia Asset and his plan is to destroy America.

5

u/xkenn Mar 03 '25

This is wishful thinking that the companies will eat the tariff. They will pass it down to the consumers. If anything more companies will seek to bump their prices even if they are not affected by the tariffs. We as consumers are the biggest losers in this.

1

u/PotatoWriter 🥔✍️ Mar 04 '25

OK but what if consumers just buy less? There are essential goods that sure I can see companies fucking us over on but everything else I can see the consumer just not buying as much and demand falling right? Would that not mean companies have to decrease prices on those items?

3

u/xkenn Mar 04 '25

The best weapon we have is our wallet but we are a consumer oriented country. People will go into debt just to wear designer goods or portray a certain lifestyle. Just look at all the pandemic price bumps due to supply chain issues while companies continued to record all time high profits. How many of these goods have gone back down in price? Where are the supply chain issues now? Just chalk prices up to inflation while salaries remain stagnant. All this money goes somewhere and it’s not into our pockets.

2

u/PotatoWriter 🥔✍️ Mar 04 '25

I'd say that this has been true for the past few years mainly because wages did go up to a certain degree and I think just about outpaced inflation, even though, yes, credit debt has been going up too.

But now, companies won't be incentivized to pay their employees more given they have to cope with tarrifs, and if prices increase beyond the people's thresholds with their now truly stagnant wages, then the fun begins.

5

u/BlackEagleActual Mar 03 '25

Sadly as a Chinese I would say the US may get impacted less than your imagination.

Companies here are plagued with over-competition, when the tariff hits they always tends to offer lower prices by squeezing their employee and domestic suppliers further to appease foreign buyers, in a hope to keep 'prestige' US customers, and killed their domestic competitors in the ways.

They will do this even when they are getting no profits and keep losing money, just to stick to a wet dream of being monopoly (which I think is nearly impossible), Fuck I feel sorry for the people working under them

5

u/ResetReptiles Mar 04 '25

Trump is a puppet. Putin is aiming for the complete collapse of the American state and Trump is doing exactly what an enemy in charge of the task would do.

3

u/_kurt_propane_ Mar 03 '25

He knows. He’s trying to drive down interest rates so he can buy more shit and take out more loans

3

u/AsstacularSpiderman Mar 04 '25

He thinks he can win a war of attrition with Europe and Asia by forcing them to negotiate deals.

He got excited when they did minor changes the last time he tried this in 2017

3

u/Scaevus Mar 04 '25

He won’t care about burning the country to the ground, as long as he could be king of the ashes.

3

u/smel_bert Mar 04 '25

He won’t find out. He’s doing what he’s told. Musk and Putin already know what’ll happen, it’s the goal.

2

u/ElectricHamSandwich Mar 03 '25

Actually they’re paid by me. And you. I just ordered some electronic components yesterday from Mouser and got hit with new tariff surcharges.

2

u/0o0o0o0o0o0z Mar 03 '25

Its not just negative. Its supa negative. And with debt accelerating cus of tax cuts. This gonna be a wild ride until Donnie finds out tariffs are paid by US companies

But, but... I just watched some super smart guy on Bloomberg say tariffs are needed to bring back manufacturing to the US! Can you order a Steel Mill or a Microprocessor factory on Amazon Prime? Say for like Friday delivery? These things don't take decades or anything to set up right? Supply chains, etc... I can get that through Prime right? ... Guys, right?

2

u/Rolli_boi Mar 03 '25

Do you really think he doesn’t know that and that what he really wants is us (the consumers) to suffer so his dumb followers can hitler salute him!?

2

u/SeniorSubstance5400 Mar 04 '25

It brings me a villaineous joy for some reason 😄

2

u/StarPhished Mar 04 '25

He knows how tariffs work and he doesn't care.

3

u/jonlmbs Mar 03 '25

He doesn’t care who pays for tariffs as long as the revenue ends up at the Treasury

3

u/AgitatedStranger9698 Mar 03 '25

Awww....you think he cares about that.

-2

u/jonlmbs Mar 03 '25

What else would he care about? He’s on-shoring manufacturing and raising revenues. The man said he wants to use tariffs to get rid of income tax.

8

u/Nodaker1 Mar 03 '25

If you onshore manufacturing, tariff revenues will go down.

3

u/AgitatedStranger9698 Mar 03 '25

Using logic you have given me hope.

1

u/jonlmbs Mar 03 '25

Totally. I know that and you know that but I'm not sure the president does. And that on-shoring of manufacturing could take like decades to materialize across various industries.

He said he wants to use tariffs to bring back manufacturing and fund tax cuts so might as well take him at his word

3

u/AgitatedStranger9698 Mar 03 '25

He doesn't. That's the thing. He wants lower taxes, that's it.

He can't get them through without doing "something" else. The tariffs are "something" else and he is selling it that way.

SIMPLY put he wants LESS TAXES FOR HIMSELF!!!!

Literally, his tax plan as proposed cuts ALL government services to the people, while ONLY helping >400k earners and corporations....think abotu that for a moment.

0

u/FMtmt Mar 03 '25

What tax cuts?

11

u/KymbboSlice Mar 03 '25

Trump and republicans passed a huge unfunded tax cut during his first term, spiking the national debt ever since.

-3

u/FMtmt Mar 03 '25

Yes you’re right - it was just him and the democrats didn’t do anything to further increase the deficit!!!!!

8

u/KymbboSlice Mar 04 '25

Look dumb ass, you asked what tax cuts and I told you. Those tax cuts in 2017 account for a huge amount of the current deficit.

1

u/EffOffReddit Mar 03 '25

You think he cares lmao

1

u/Swiftzor Mar 03 '25

That’s the best part, he knows, he just doesn’t care. In fact this is what they want. Crash the economy and let the people at the top buy it all back up.

1

u/Same-Barnacle-6250 Mar 04 '25

Price increases, demand decreases, such is life.

1

u/agnostic_science Mar 04 '25

Nobody in his inner circle will tell him until the people with pitchforks come crashing in

1

u/EnotPoloskun Mar 04 '25

Has Trump announced any new tax cuts?

1

u/Dozekar Mar 04 '25

Finding that out won't matter, the damage is done.

0

u/mark1forever Mar 03 '25

ahem..more like.. passed down to the consumers, the same ppl that elected tramp.

4

u/reality72 🦍🦍 Mar 03 '25

Recessions are just opportunities for the super wealthy to buy up stocks and real estate at discount prices while us peasants lose our jobs and homes. It’s not a bug it’s a feature.

3

u/Sealhunterx Mar 03 '25

Just buy puts until you're super wealthy too 🙌

3

u/Polarstrike Mar 03 '25

1st attempt!

2

u/Aggressive-Fly-9187 Mar 04 '25

Trump's next press conference will have him walking out to Dream's speed run music

2

u/rougewitch Mar 04 '25

Don’t worry, they’re not going to include GDP in their Q1 reports I heard. They’re already looking to cook the books in whatever reports they put out.

1

u/_flateric Mar 04 '25

Get ready for contraction!

1

u/PeruvianHeadshrinker Mar 04 '25

And you thought ATL Fed GDP projection for 25Q1 of -1.5% was bullish!

1

u/fuglysc Mar 04 '25

Atlanta Fed Q1 forecast

-2.8%

1

u/8bitmorals Mar 03 '25

Joke is on you, we wont have any real GDP metrics for a while.

4

u/AntiOriginalUsername Mar 03 '25

Cooked books. there is no war in Ba Sing Se