Exactly, what company will spend millions/billions relocating manufacturing, only to see the tarrifs abandoned, meaning you'll be undercut by foreign imports
Making (in) America Goes Away?
Well, I look forward to buying the new Hillbilly, moonshine proof iPhone made in the Appalachian Mountains costing £4k.
Well, I look forward to buying the new Hillbilly, moonshine proof iPhone made in the Appalachian Mountains costing £4k.
You're not far off, to be fair: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5-usa/
100%* 'Murican!
*Except the Indian bits.
I wonder if a certain sort of personality would get a massive kick when they realise that spouting whatever nonsense floats through their head has such a massive effect on the global economy? The way global stock markets have been yo-yoing up and down over the last week might just encourage Trump to keep playing the on again/off again game with tariffs because he likes seeing just how big an effect every one of his utterances is having on the world.
Those who will pick up the pieces in the USA after Trump will very likely want to make an example out of Trump and those around him
Im not sure we live in times where the ‘good and honest people’ are going to rush in and save us , more likely they’ll take advantage of what he has done.
Sorry to be a downer 🙂
Username checks out........
100%* 'Murican!
*Except the Indian bits.
That phone is hilarious. $1,999 for a phone that can't access any apps.
The MAGA nutters on X are celebrating the stock market rebound as some sort of genius move
It's like putting out the fire you deliberately started in your neighbour's house and expecting thanks. Given Trump's longstanding aversion to being told to either what to do or having to change his mind, I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall during the discussion that ended with Trump announcing a 90 day pause. I'll bet it was a "full and frank exchange of views"
I wonder if a certain sort of personality would get a massive kick when they realise that spouting whatever nonsense floats through their head has such a massive effect on the global economy?
I, too, wonder if the pope is catholic, whether bears do indeed shit in the woods, and whether the sky is blue.
Trump is clearly enjoying himself.
And, if he achieves nothing else, that will still be enough for him.
Why the apparent certainty that it isn't a 90 day pause? Because if that's all it is then I can't see what there is to celebrate.
Earlier on this thread it was suggested that American voters who voted for Trump knew exactly what they were voting for, despite the fact that I didn't see anyone accurately predicting Trump's policies before his inauguration, about three months on I'm still none the wiser.
On this thread it was originally predicted that Trump would never place tariffs on Mexico and Canada, then they were announced followed shortly afterwards by an another announcement that they had been paused. This apparently vindicated all the people who predicted that Trump would never put tariffs on Mexico and Canada, it was all talk they said.
The latest is that there is currently a 25% tariff on all imported goods from Mexico and Canada which are not covered by a special exemption, they are not included in the latest 90 day pause.
There is no reliable way of knowing how Trump will behave, the only certainty is that he will be different and won't conform to the status quo. That might not be a great selling point in the UK but for many Americans thoroughly disillusioned with discredited establishment politics the temptation to give it a punt is what helped Trump secure the presidency.
And the reality is that we are very likely to make exactly the same mistake and for exactly the same reasons here in the UK in about 4 years time. Although next month will give us a better idea of which road we are likely to go down.
I reckon the 90 day pause will be indefinite. The MAGA gang of grifters will just ignore it and let it just go away.
I reckon the 90 day pause will be indefinite.
Although pause is a bit misleading given there are still 10% tariffs on everyone. So question is will people respond to that since despite his claims 10% aint reciprocal for most countries.
I reckon the 90 day pause will be indefinite.
Although pause is a bit misleading given there are still 10% tariffs on everyone. So question is will people respond to that since despite his claims 10% aint reciprocal for most countries.
Might be the old tactic... threaten 35% or whatever, and when he 'conceeds' to only 10% people think thats a win, but they have just been hit with 10% tarrifs. So not really a win at all.
So not really a win at all.
That is certainly what Trump's sycophantic hangers-on are now claiming. Apparently it was all part of a brilliant strategy by Trump to get world leaders to queue up to kiss his arse. According to them the man who gave us "The Art of The Deal" is a genius.
Watch from 3mins 10secs
I don’t really get the Trump China thing and how they are ‘ripping off’ the US,Apple gets its stuff made in China and sets its RRP in ‘Merica.
Apple wouldn’t be bothering if they were being ripped off, they’d get it made somewhere else.
Still 145% on the import price is going to burn.
With the 256GB iPhone 16 Pro Max retailing for US$1,199, the estimated gross profit is US$714, resulting in a gross margin of 59.5%.
So cost of making an iPhone is roughly $488 which gets an additional tariff of $707 so unit cost is now $1195 so roughly assuming they keep that margin makes it now $1901
so Trump now gets as much profit as Apple gets and Chinas ripping the US off 🙂
Meh I’m sure my calcs shonky but it’s been a loooong day 🙂
Ah well, whatever...
I still think a Dealey Plaza motorcade would be a good thing.
It's a matter of good taste if nothing else.
Watch from 3mins 10secs
That was hard work ....... Really struggle to "get" American comedy. Feels so try hard
Apple wouldn’t be bothering if they were being ripped off, they’d get it made somewhere else.
From the BBC:
...as much as 80% of Apple's iPhones intended for US sale are made in China, with the remaining 20% made in India.
Reuters say that Apple chartered cargo flights to ship more than 600 tons of iPhones from India to the US.
.....
Watch from 3mins 10secs
That was hard work ....... Really struggle to "get" American comedy. Feels so try hard
Actually that comments made by Trump supporters at 3mins 10secs was the only bit in that segment which wasn't meant to be comedy. The sycophant who said "he's the negotiator-in-chief" wasn't trying to be funny although the comment was obviously hilarious.
Earlier on this thread it was suggested that American voters who voted for Trump knew exactly what they were voting for, despite the fact that I didn't see anyone accurately predicting Trump's policies before his inauguration, about three months on I'm still none the wiser.
They were voting for a complete ****, an utterly ignorant ****, a particularly vindictive ****, the type of **** that makes you as a **** feel at peace with your vote for a ****.
There you go,
This is a very interesting video about the impact of tariffs on car manufacturing. Compound tariffs! Hadn't got that nuance.
There you go,
Thanks. I am still none the wiser what Trump's actual policies are though.
Although to be fair I don't suppose that Trump himself is really sure what his policies will be tomorrow.
I don't buy the claim that there is a very carefully thought-out plan.
This is a bad one, basically going after the people/law firm ( dominion voting machine case) over anyone who disagreed with his views that the election was stolen from him.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/09/politics/trump-critics-executive-orders-taylor-krebs/index.html
This is a bad one, basically going after the people/law firm ( dominion voting machine case) over anyone who disagreed with his views that the election was stolen from him.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/09/politics/trump-critics-executive-orders-taylor-krebs/index.html
Trumps been after law forms that challenged him since he took office. It is an utter abuse of power in a so-called democracy, follows the path that Putin and Erdoğan went down to stifle criticism and should be enough to get the US sanctioned by international partners. It won't, of course.
It's the quiet domestic shit like this that is going on under the cover of the tariffs storm
It's blackmail in plain sight - he's going to law firms who've investigated him in the past and saying "we're cancelling all of your federal contracts and any special access you have unless you agree to do a ton of free work for us and remove all of your DEI references from your website." And some of them have - one firm agreed to $100 million dollars worth of pro bono work for the administration, another agreed $40 million. Others are fighting back, but for those that just gave it straight up, you can see how committed to those DEI principles they were.
They were voting for a complete *, an utterly ignorant *, a particularly vindictive *, the type of * that makes you as a * feel at peace with your vote for a *.
There you go,
Yes. If in doubt, look who you are sharing a platform with. It's an acid test that is 99.9% accurate.
If it is Trump, Vance, the KKK, Andrew Tate, Nigel Farage, Elon Musk, Aaron Banks etc etc...
It is a fair bet that you are on the wrong side.
DEI is over in the US now - Government don't want it, many shareholders don't want it and where I work it has even been rebadged so it is no longer called DEI. Power to the white male.
Others are fighting back, but for those that just gave it straight up, you can see how committed to those DEI principles they were.
If you are truly committed to DEI (not that I am saying they are) you don’t need to shout about it! If losing government contracts puts your whole business in jeopardy do your “DEI hires” suffer most? Not saying it’s right, and I’d like to be confident that I have the moral fortitude to tell him to **** off… but morals are a rich persons privilege.
The problem is that there is a need for organisations and corporations to make their values clear so they have a chance of becoming the values within every part of that organisation. Every big firm needs policies to fall back on to resolve issues around racism and other forms of discrimination. An individual or small firm can just carry on quietly doing the right thing, but unfortunately it's tougher to have that kind of approach at corporate level.
Most people are kind and fair, but a fair few employees are racist, homophobic or misogynist. Without these kinds of policies, it's a lot easier for them to be openly discriminatory.
Most people are kind and fair, but a fair few employees are racist, homophobic or misogynist. Without these kinds of policies, it's a lot easier for them to be openly discriminatory.
Sad to say a colleague went through this recently. Absolutely appalling sexist attitudes and behaviour from the team and her own line managers. Genuinely horrified that a cluster of dinosaurs was still surviving in the 21st century. Other women in that area just accepted it.
She documented and kept records of everything and got a move back before dropping an enormous grievance case. I'm not vindictive but I'd hope they got at least final warnings. She's a tough and clever young woman but it's taken her a few months to get over it.
If you are truly committed to DEI (not that I am saying they are) you don’t need to shout about it! If losing government contracts puts your whole business in jeopardy do your “DEI hires” suffer most? Not saying it’s right, and I’d like to be confident that I have the moral fortitude to tell him to **** off… but morals are a rich persons privilege.
100% agree - although, Paul Weiss's revenue is $2.6 billion, PEP is $7.5 million - they don't do so bad.... 🙂 I see their pro bono arm is titled the Center to Combat Hate - irony! 🙂
Thanks. I am still none the wiser what Trump's actual policies are though.
Although to be fair I don't suppose that Trump himself is really sure what his policies will be tomorrow.
President Trump's policies are firmly rooted in the 20th century. Have a look there and you'll get an idea of what's coming:
Coal-mining peaked in the US during WW1 and has declined ever since. Trump has signed orders to revive the US coal industry
Tariffs and protectionism peaked in 1933. He's been talking about this since he lost the 2020 election
US motor industry, peaked in the 1970s with GM, Ford, Chrysler and AMC. GM now imports 18% of cars it sold in the US
The problem is that there's been a global shift in context
I don't buy the claim that there is a very carefully thought-out plan.
So-called "soft power" is the way that things get done today (by and large) and threatening Iran, for example, if it develops nuclear weapons isn't the way forward. The problem was that 20th century solutions got in the way of 21st century reality when Trump walked away from Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action soft-power negotiations in 2018 and Iran is now closer than ever to possession.
The 20th century view extends to climate change, tariffs, US manufacturing, etc. The US simply doesn't have the huge advantages of economic and military might that it once had to complement its 20th century US world-view.
There is a plan, just not one for a 21st century context where Marcegaglia in Sheffield exports stainless steel billets to the US where Marcegaglia, South Carolina, produces finished items for the US market (now with added tariffs)
It's the quiet domestic shit like this that is going on under the cover of the tariffs storm
They overlap. I read a (paywalled) article about the tariffs which was quoting, anonymously, several senior finance people and lawyers saying that that tariffs would be difficult to support in court (even with how many tame judges the republicans have put in place) since its based on emergency powers for unusual scenarios and, well, the current system has been around for years plus there are various other legal options against it.
However the companies were wary of starting the case since they would have a target on their backs and even if they did so several law firms were equally wary of taking the case for the same reasons.
I think someone has started a lawsuit but seems most have been intimidated into silence.
Thanks. I am still none the wiser what Trump's actual policies are though.
I reckon his policies simply mirror the values and opinions of the insular and parochial section of American society. In the postwar period the US mindset was that they were saviours of the free world, and willing defenders of western democracy against it's communist enemies. Now that turned on it's head, they don't want to be "leaders of the free world", and are only interested in themselves and what they can get out of others. The US is basically a massive gated community which has little interest in what goes on outside, and pretty much every policy is designed towards that principle.
Tariffs and protectionism peaked in 1933. He's been talking about this since he lost the 2020 election
Actually Trump has had an obsession with tariffs since the 1980s
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/trumps-tariff-strategy-can-be-traced-back-to-the-1980s/
So-called "soft power" is the way that things get done today (by and large) and threatening Iran, for example, if it develops nuclear weapons isn't the way forward.
I agree but whatever Trump says he actually has a much lower record of taking military action than any other recent US president, in fact that is one of his main appeal to many of his supporters. In over four years as US president the only military action I think of that he has authorised has been the attack on Houthis targets, and that recieved significant criticism from some of his base support.
Trump's greatest foreign policy success (from a US hegemonic perspective) was achieved through "soft power", the Abraham Accords.
Knowing what Trump stands for is not the same as knowing what his policies are or what they will be in the future. His policies this week are not necessarily the same policies as last week or what his policies will be next week. He is frankly impossible to predict.
The US simply doesn't have the huge advantages of economic and military might that it once had to complement its 20th century US world-view.
When did the United States have greater military might than it has today? ** And I wouldn't underestimate the United States economic dominance, its massive influence on global economies is precisely what is currently making the headlines.
Edit : ** That's a genuine question btw, it seems to me that the US currently has the most unrivalled military dominance in its history, certainly in terms of military hardware.
President Trump's policies are firmly rooted in the 20th century
Project2025's policies?
But yes. It's all a huge dose of rosey tinted spectacles looking backward to "the good old days".
When did the United States have greater military might than it has today?
In context to the rest of the world it doesn't have the huge advantage that it once enjoyed, particularly in combination with a massively reduced post cold-war NATO.
China's PLA has around 2mn active and another 2mn military reserves. It's navy is about 50% larger than that of the US
China is believed to have the fastest-growing nuclear arsenal among the nine nuclear-armed states; it is the only Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons that is significantly increasing its nuclear arsenal.
The Pentagon also estimates that China’s arsenal will surpass 1,000 warheads by 2030, many of which will probably be “deployed at higher readiness levels” https://thebulletin.org/premium/2025-03/chinese-nuclear-weapons-2025/
And I wouldn't underestimate the United States economic dominance, it's massive influence on global economies is precisely what is currently making the headlines.
There are headlines and there is reality. The US doesn't have unopposed dominance here either, it's already damaged the US stock market and will effectively increase taxes on US citizens https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/global-research/current-events/us-tariffs
President Trump's policies are firmly rooted in the 20th century
Which bit of the 20th century? The first half was very different to the second half. Half the problem is that the living memories of most of the world are of a US which is outward looking and globally motivated, but that's a direct result of WWII and the cold war and doesn't reflect the real mindset which is insular and self-interested. Before WWII the US didn't give a shit about any other country or what was going on globally as long as it was able to pursue it's uniquely ruthless form wild-west capitalism unhindered. That's what Trump is trying to get back to, even though almost every global social and economic trend is pushing in the opposite direction.
... its based on emergency powers for unusual scenarios and, well, the current system has been around for years plus there are various other legal options against it.
Plus, of course, he's sinced paused most of them, so it's clearly not much of an emergency.
Actually I would say you've got that totally back to front! You don't need a specific written policy to wave at people if you have the culture right. Policies are a band aid for cultural issues not the solution. I'm not arguing for one second that trump's attack on DEI stuff is good or warranted, and clearly if an organisation says "we want to stick by this in the face of political aggrivation" good on them - but unpublishing the policy is not that same as instituring a counter policy. Mostly, certainly in the UK, the policies aren't some deep seated cultural belief, they are boiler plate BS produced by HR departments trying to tick a compliance box either for an external agency or so that when your dick of an employee does something dickish and the "victim" complains the company can say "see not out fault". Firing dicks for being dicks has always been possible and Trump is definitely not opposed to firing people who piss you off.The problem is that there is a need for organisations and corporations to make their values clear so they have a chance of becoming the values within every part of that organisation. Every big firm needs policies to fall back on to resolve issues around racism and other forms of discrimination. An individual or small firm can just carry on quietly doing the right thing, but unfortunately it's tougher to have that kind of approach at corporate level.
Most people are kind and fair, but a fair few employees are racist, homophobic or misogynist. Without these kinds of policies, it's a lot easier for them to be openly discriminatory.
The question is how you develop this correct culture in a large organisation in the absence of explicit policies. Especially a large organisation where the existing culture is far from perfect, and many of the 'dicks' are long-serving and hard to shift. It's about changing a poor culture, which many companies have, into a better one, and DEI policies are just one tool in the kit to either change behaviours or manage out those who can't.
The other point is that an order to remove DEI policies sends another message - that they have already been responsible for unfairness, for the hiring or retention of less qualified minorities or women, at the expense of (mostly) white men. It just reinforces the false sense of grievance that festers among some of these people that blacks, gays and women are being preferentially treated.
