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

96% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

149

u/UnfazedBrownie Mar 03 '25

So what’s the end goal with the tariff, as in what levers need to be met by these countries for the tariff to be lifted? This can’t be some permanent PIP.

89

u/hoopaholik91 Mar 03 '25

He thinks that because the US is more powerful than anyone else, other countries will come to him hat in hand and basically give him whatever he wants.

Like the 'deal' with Zelensky. Essentially asking vassal states to pay tribute to big bad America.

31

u/giddycocks Mar 04 '25

He's so God damned dumb he didn't even do it right. He thinks countries are married to America. They are not. Countries can just trade with others and not trade with America anymore. 

2

u/longperipheral Mar 04 '25

Like they did in the 1930s

1

u/Key-Banana-8242 Mar 05 '25

To some extent

15

u/destinyeeeee Mar 04 '25

He is used to running things like a mobster but he is going to learn one way or another that the rest of the world will only put up with it for so long.

10

u/LightninHooker Mar 04 '25

I mean it may works with some countries but China... lmao anal rape incoming

2

u/NoIsland23 Mar 04 '25

Only partially.

The US gets most of it's potash fertilizer from Canada (ballpark 90%). Canada can just choose another trading partner, but who's gonna start major trades with the US if they fear they're gonne be tariffed to hell and back 4 months from now, all because T felt disrespected or some mobster shit like that?

13

u/TrumpAndKamalaSucks Mar 04 '25

Nah, he's tanking the economy because it's good for his daddy Putin.

2

u/kritzy27 Mar 04 '25

That's how some Asian countries are now viewing us. A landlord banging on the door demanding rent.

220

u/Nice_Dependent_7317 Mar 03 '25

I don’t know what his end goal is… he wants to reduce taxes (always good to score popularity points) and have the gaps filled with tariffs. Either way, it ultimately is the American consumer paying the US government. It’s just taxing with extra steps, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it turns out that only the rich will be able to enjoy the tax cuts, while Average Joe gets fked two times over.

128

u/noor1717 Mar 03 '25 edited Mar 03 '25

I’m pretty sure the middle classes taxes are going up under trumps plan too

76

u/IrishPigs Mar 03 '25

They are. I think the income line where you start coming out on top is 300k.

3

u/Boxofcookies1001 Mar 03 '25

Combined or single?

8

u/yunnybun Mar 04 '25

Combined. 320k.

1

u/Time_Definition_2143 Mar 04 '25

well duh, the lower class doesn't make enough for the taxes to satisfy the upper class

1

u/SwampOfDownvotes Mar 04 '25

There hasn't been any officially recently revealed details about Trumps Tax plan.

Yes he is likely screwing the middle class and below, but anything about his "tax plan" that you see is with some older unofficial data. We will have to wait and see.

23

u/bandy_mcwagon Mar 03 '25

The average consumer could, in theory, save money if they stopped buying stuff except the basics and got the benefit of lower taxes. But consumer spending tanking of course kills the economy at large

18

u/ItsActuallyButter Mar 03 '25

And a tanked economy means that saved money is worth much less. And the benefits of lowered taxes is wiped out.

4

u/Loud-Fig-1446 Mar 04 '25

There are no lowered taxes for the people who would need to reduce spending.

1

u/bandy_mcwagon Mar 04 '25

If prices decline like one would expect them to, that doesn’t seem correct

2

u/SeveredFromMySoul Mar 04 '25

If prices are going down we are truly fucked.

3

u/ItsActuallyButter Mar 04 '25

Tanking economy does not exactly mean that prices go down my guy :)

1

u/bandy_mcwagon Mar 04 '25

So nothing will ever be cheap again, eh?

1

u/ItsActuallyButter Mar 04 '25

The only thing that’s cheap is your education.

Try again. What do you think a tanked economy means?

0

u/bandy_mcwagon Mar 04 '25

In this context I’m assuming a crashed stock market

1

u/ItsActuallyButter Mar 04 '25

Jesus Christ man.. have a good day.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/[deleted] Mar 04 '25

[deleted]

1

u/bandy_mcwagon Mar 04 '25

One would hope (foolishly) they’d at least be smart enough to keep income taxes low

1

u/pumpkin_spice_enema Mar 04 '25

Great I'll just stick to egg- FUCK

9

u/PandazCakez Mar 03 '25

So Jon Stewart was right? We at the Diddy party and have to pay for the baby oil.

7

u/SenoraRaton Mar 04 '25

Tariffs in and of themselves are a regressive tax. Poor people are forced to spend their money to survive, and drive consumer spending. Every penny of that is taxed from the tariffs. The rich on the other hand can hold equities, which aren't taxed and instead generate wealth. So inherently tariffs will raise costs for those who are poor, and the tax "cuts" they make will almost certainly benefit the rich.

5

u/fakieTreFlip Mar 04 '25

it's taxing with extra steps and a massive erosion of good will between the US and its (presumably former) allies

2

u/Nebbii Mar 04 '25

In theory:He wants companies in USA to isolate themselves and boost the country by themselves without over reliance in foreign exchanges.

In practice;This takes a lot of time and effort, and companies will just hold the ground for 4y until another democrat saves their asses again(after they get tons of bails out and profits by passing all the costs to consumers)

9

u/giddycocks Mar 04 '25

In theory, he's a moron. But in reality, he's a fucking idiot.

This has never worked. Stopped being a fence sitter. 

1

u/D_hallucatus Mar 03 '25

I think if someone told him that a GST is like putting a “Tariff On Everyone!!” he’d just go with that and be done with it

33

u/Halbaras Mar 03 '25

He genuinely doesn't understand that trade can be mutually beneficial, he thinks somebody always has to 'lose'.

They also genuinely don't understand how tariffs work, and are simultaneously floating the idea of putting up tariffs to strengthen their own industries (*cough* reduce international trade) and seem to think they can replace income tax with tariffs which will decrease in revenue every year if they actually work.

6

u/Bo-zard Mar 04 '25

He doesn't seem to understand that the trade imbalance with Canada and Mexico are due to the trade deal he negotiated.

2

u/Tylanthia Mar 04 '25

He genuinely doesn't understand that trade can be mutually beneficial, he thinks somebody always has to 'lose'.

If you've never won at a trade before, you might come to that conclusion.

5

u/VexatiousJigsaw Mar 04 '25 edited Mar 04 '25

There are a few layers to this. Publicly this is described as for immigration/drugs because the presidents tariff power comes from national security grounds and sticking to this angle makes it more legally sound. The more realistic reason also given publicly is that the tariffs are intended to impact almost any country the US has a trade deficit with and convince them to reverse that deficit. Reading in between the lines a bit further, the policy is influenced by 16th amendment critics influential in Trump's inner circle who belive the income tax is not a valid way of collecting revenue and want to return to the pre-1913 strategy of trying to fund the federal government on tariffs and excise taxes. If you recall earlier noise amongst the executive orders, the creation of the "External Revenue Service" contrasting with the IRS is meant to tie into that. The implication is that excuses might be made but they'd rather make the tariffs permanent, whether or not that is just posturing.

5

u/marshsmellow Mar 03 '25

Some bullshit that's already been implemented and paid for to make him look good. 

2

u/fdr_is_a_dime Mar 03 '25

My editorial is that he's doing this now kind of like beating up somebody random in your first day of prison.

3

u/Sufficient-Cost5436 Mar 03 '25

Of course he plans for it to be permanent, his goal is to get rid of income tax and replace it with tariffs. He wants to fund the US government with tariffs

He's just too stupid to realize that Americans will be paying tariffs as well.

2

u/elmoo2210 Mar 04 '25

He said China sends the chemicals for fentanyl or Canada and Mexico then it crosses to America from there so they need to figure out how to stop that before tariffs will be lifted.

2

u/Qualityhams Mar 04 '25

For a reason to reestablish trade with Russia

2

u/Normal_Choice9322 Mar 04 '25

The goal is instability and weakening the west so Russia can rise to power

It's clear as day

1

u/hydrocap Mar 04 '25

Oh yeah good question the end goal is to stop fentanyl from coming into the US from checks notes China

1

u/DYMAXIONman Mar 04 '25

Trump wants to bully other nations to get random shit. He feels that if a relationship is win-win it's bad for the US, it needs to be win-lose for him.

1

u/Frosty-Date7054 Mar 04 '25

The end goal is racism and quick money for old white people

0

u/kinshoBanhammer Mar 03 '25

So what’s the end goal with the tariff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCoYDxytsG4

3

u/NotHearingYourShit Mar 04 '25 edited Mar 04 '25

The opposite:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment?wprov=sfti1#

Y’all don’t even know the philosophy of the leaders of your own movement.

1

u/kinshoBanhammer Mar 04 '25

I don't support 🥭 or anybody associated with him, you silly cuck

1

u/destinyeeeee Mar 04 '25

I hope you're not implying Trump follows this. He has no ideology. He operates on ego alone.