US to put $50B in tariffs on China. China to retaliate.

[K1052]

After reading analysis on the subject, leveraging it's US Debt holdings would hurt China just as much as helping it, at best. It would only work if a number of countries did it together, and stopped buying more.

Some nations have already started trimming their purchases back. It's relatively small now but if interest and appetite abroad for US debt declines much as we get ready to issue ton of it to pay for the tax cut the US is going to have problems.

Given the number of countries we've alienated recently they could well decide to slow or stop purchasing almost simultaneously even without coordinating.

 

[K1052]

Looks like he's cranky at the EU again...

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Looks like he's cranky at the EU again...

EU tariffs against several US products like bourbon, orange juice etc... came into effect today. The asshat assumes every other company will just take his bullshit and not respond. At this rate he will crash the economy by year's end.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Fuck just when ram prices were expected to fall a little bit.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Fuck just when ram prices were expected to fall a little bit.

Now you guys are going to get rammed with much higher prices all around.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Now you guys are going to get rammed with much higher prices all around.

Already are, price is almost double what it was 2 years ago.

 

[Victorian Gray]

EU tariffs against several US products like bourbon, orange juice etc... came into effect today. The asshat assumes every other company will just take his bullshit and not respond. At this rate he will crash the economy by year's end.

If he can destroy a few military/economic alliances by doing so I suspect he'll be happy enough

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

China should put economic sanctions on the Trump family as should the EU.

 

[K1052]

China should put economic sanctions on the Trump family as should the EU.

A possibly if things turn real ugly. They could not only go after his biz but ban members of his family and biz representatives from entering their territories at all.

 

[VRAMdemon]

With regards to NAFTA, the question remains is that NAFTA...is it effectively dead?. Even if it were renegotiated even if the sunset proposal were dropped, any businessman would be crazy to base his plans on it. How a business in New Brunswick, say might prefer to import steel from Maine than ship it from BC, while a business in Washington state might prefer to import it from BC that ship from Maine. Well, they might do it short term, but they will be loathe to set up supply lines on the assumption that they will continue once they realize that the US can elect some asshole who will throw it out the window. Businessmen depend on dependability.

 

[K1052]

The negotiations have pretty much stalled as I understand it. No way can Congress move on a replacement before the midterms even if there was a deal (there isn't). I figure Turmp will randomly pull out one day when he's feeling feisty or has a bad phone call with Trudeau.

 

[Bitek]

Don't be silly. That money has already been earmarked for stock buybacks, mergers, and executive bonuses. When the recovery needs to be financed they will need a taxpayer bailout like always.

Well clearly they need another tax cut then!

 

[K1052]

Trump's tweeting about the strong economy again. Maybe he'll ban Airbus planes from US skies or something next.

 

[K1052]

From the "trade wars are so easy to win" department:

Harley pushing production to overseas plants due to tariffs.

Harley-Davidson, up against spiraling costs from tariffs, will begin shifting the production of motorcycles headed for Europe from the U.S. to factories overseas.

The European Union on Friday began rolling out tariffs on American imports like bourbon, peanut butter and orange juice. The EU tariffs on $3.4 billion worth of U.S. products are retaliation for duties the Trump administration is imposing on European steel and aluminum.

Harley-Davidson Inc. sold almost 40,000 motorcycles in the Europe Union last year, generating revenue second only to the United States, according to the company.

https://www.apnews.com/6c8942f73637...g-by-tariffs,-shifts-some-production-overseas


Missouri nail company to lay off almost half of it's workforce with future in doubt.

President Trump’s tariff on steel imports that took effect June 1 has caused a southeast Missouri nail manufacturer to lose about 50% of its business in two weeks. Mid Continent Nail Corporation in Poplar Bluff – the remaining major nail producer in the country – has had to take drastic measures to make ends meet. The company employing 500 people earlier this month has laid off 60 temporary workers. It could slash 200 more jobs by the end of July and be out of business around Labor Day.

Mid Continent is one of the largest employers in Butler County and the second largest manufacturer in Poplar Bluff. If push comes to shove, slicing the remaining 440 jobs that pay an average of $12.50 an hour would add to the Bootheel’s struggling reputation marked by several of the poorest counties in the state.

https://www.missourinet.com/2018/06...nail-company-gets-hammered-by-trumps-tariffs/

 

[K1052]

Also as Trump pulls the US back everyone else moves forward to secure competitive advantages against the US. He thinks the world is standing still waiting on him. It isn't.

As US cheesemakers are getting to experience by losing market share and the ability to use certain cheese labels (kinda a big deal) to Europe which will impact their exports worldwide.

https://nyti.ms/2ly4eAg

The dairy industry now faces substantial tariffs on products it exports as Mexico, Canada and other countries retaliate against Mr. Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs. American exporters also fear that they could lose access to Canada and Mexico if the president goes ahead with his threat to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement. And they are finding themselves at an increasing disadvantage as other countries move ahead with trade agreements that grant each other freer access to their markets while Mr. Trump further isolates the United States.

They have watched woefully as other countries move ahead without the United States, signing trade agreements that cut barriers to each other’s markets and put American producers at a competitive disadvantage. The European Union in April signed a deal with Mexico that is expected to slash tariffs on European dairy and offer further protections for European cheese names like feta, muenster, fontina and Parmesan, blocking American companies from using those labels.

Just like Champagne can technically only come from France, the European Union has striven to enshrine so-called “geographic indications” for its cheeses. Under these rules, a cheese must be made in Greece to be labeled “feta.” Parmesan must be made near Parma, Italy, and asiago must be crafted near its eponymous Italian village. As the Europeans sign agreements with countries like South Korea, Vietnam and Canada, they are locking American cheese producers out of using these names.

The European Union incorporated some of these restrictions into a new trade pact it signed with Japan last July, as well as a new agreement with Canada that went into effect last September. Its trade pact with Mexico is expected to expand similar protections. And on June 18, the Europeans announced they would proceed with another trade agreement with Australia.

Mr. Schwager says these agreements create confusion for customers and tremendous expense for his company, which must market its cheeses under different names. In Mexico, because of ongoing litigation, it must now sell its asiago as “Sartiago,” a change Mr. Schwager says has led to a roughly 30 percent drop in revenue from Mexico in the last 90 days.

Mr. Schwager says these agreements create confusion for customers and tremendous expense for his company, which must market its cheeses under different names. In Mexico, because of ongoing litigation, it must now sell its asiago as “Sartiago,” a change Mr. Schwager says has led to a roughly 30 percent drop in revenue from Mexico in the last 90 days.

 

[K1052]

Mnuchin says that the new investment restrictions will apply to whatever countries the US deems necessary. Given how Trump has used his trade powers to far this could have some incredible consequences.