Tariffs in the second Trump Administration [SPLIT]

[rareboy]

This is just fucking naked market manipulation at this point.

And everyone is falling for it.

But it also speaks to the panic in the White House as TrumpCo. are being forced to cave by everyone from China, to the Koch Bros. over the last few days.

It throws the markets into an extended period of disarray, will have still resulted in permanent shifts away from relations between the US and other countries and all for what?

For nothing.

No billions of dollars being collected by federal excise. No US coming out as the winner in this ill advised tariff war. Trump increasingly viewed as a senile idiot.

Wow.

Not with a bang but a whimper.

From Bluesky...sums it all up:

"Let’s break this down: in summary- he’s shat his pants because US treasury bonds were being sold off ... He’s fucked up big time. And any other spin is bullshit."

 

[KaraBulut]

...From Bluesky...sums it all up:

"Let’s break this down: in summary- he’s shat his pants because US treasury bonds were being sold off ... He’s fucked up big time. And any other spin is bullshit."

"The Great Negotiator".

Now, anytime he tries to use a tariff for negotiating, no one is going to take him seriously.

This is like someone who walks into a car dealer and announces, "I read that you all will lower the sticker price by 10%".

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/09/trump-tariffs-live-updates.html

Meanwhile, CEOs are looking at the shitshow and saying, "How can I plan anything with this insane person toying with the economy?".

 

[rareboy]

 

[rareboy]

"The Great Negotiator".

Now, anytime he tries to use a tariff for negotiating, no one is going to take him seriously.

This is like someone who walks into a car dealer and announces, "I read that you all will lower the sticker price by 10%".

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/09/trump-tariffs-live-updates.html

Meanwhile, CEOs are looking at the shitshow and saying, "How can I plan anything with this insane person toying with the economy?".

I think all the countries should just maintain their current tariff rates on the US.

This is wreaking havoc in the real world...I am trying to fucking juggle this nonsense right now with a number of projects.

The one thing that I suspect won't be repealed is that Ontario and a lot of other 'partners' have instituted lock-out policies that prevent purchases from American suppliers. I spent part of my morning in a meeting on this subject and frankly I am no fucking mood to be gracious or 'fair' because this nutcase regime has decided to fuck around with everyone for another 90 days.

If the US wants to impose a goods and services tax of 10% on all purchases, then fucking do that. Stop lying and playing games and pretending that these tariffs are somehow about something else.

And when I read on one hand today that TrumpCo. are walking away from 500 million in tax revenue because of DOGE and that Trump wants to spend 92 million for a military parade for his birthday while listening to Greer testify that all the tariffs are because of some imaginary 1.2 trillion dollar deficit they are blaming on Biden to explain why the US is imposing tariffs of 10% on countries WHERE THEY ARE RUNNING A TRADE SURPLUS...I have fucking had it.

For fuck's sake America.

Get a fucking grip on this and make it stop.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

OMG, it's "Tariff Hokey Pokey", orchestrated by the dumbest kid in pre-school. Thank god it's Nap Time!

 

[rareboy]

 

[TX-Beau]

This is just fucking naked market manipulation at this point.

And everyone is falling for it.

But it also speaks to the panic in the White House as TrumpCo. are being forced to cave by everyone from China, to the Koch Bros. over the last few days.

It throws the markets into an extended period of disarray, will have still resulted in permanent shifts away from relations between the US and other countries and all for what?

For nothing.

No billions of dollars being collected by federal excise. No US coming out as the winner in this ill advised tariff war. Trump increasingly viewed as a senile idiot.

Wow.

Not with a bang but a whimper.

From Bluesky...sums it all up:

"Let’s break this down: in summary- he’s shat his pants because US treasury bonds were being sold off ... He’s fucked up big time. And any other spin is bullshit."

If only it were market manipulation, there might be some sanity behind it. But no, this is Toad playing emperor and wrecking the ship of state on his crazy, then the fucking Coc bros et al. filing lawsuits to take his toys away and threatening to kick him out of the clubhouse.

 

[TX-Beau]

Get a fucking grip on this and make it stop.

Two bills are in Congress to stop it. It's in the courts, and everyone from Bernie to Koch clearly understands that safeguards are needed. People are out in the streets across the country. I wish I could wave my fairy wand and make it go away, I can't, but someone else got to him.

We'll see where it goes from here, but I suspect it will disappear from the headlines, and in three months, there will be no whisper that any of this ever happened.

Don't expect Toad to be humbled. In his madness, he will invent so much winning and fiendishly clever manipulation of the world that they are going to try to sell us—and the horde will eat it up.

 

[Norri]

This is just fucking naked market manipulation at this point.

And everyone is falling for it.

But it also speaks to the panic in the White House as TrumpCo. are being forced to cave by everyone from China, to the Koch Bros. over the last few days.

It throws the markets into an extended period of disarray, will have still resulted in permanent shifts away from relations between the US and other countries and all for what?

For nothing.

No billions of dollars being collected by federal excise. No US coming out as the winner in this ill advised tariff war. Trump increasingly viewed as a senile idiot.

Wow.

Not with a bang but a whimper.

From Bluesky...sums it all up:

"Let’s break this down: in summary- he’s shat his pants because US treasury bonds were being sold off ... He’s fucked up big time. And any other spin is bullshit."

Don’t discount all the extra attention Trump gets with his ‘stay tuned’ approach because he surely enjoys it. If he just stated his policy and shut up the eyes of the financial world wouldn’t always be looking his way.

And I’d worry far more about how this is going to effect the future sale of bonds than I would about the dumping of them.

 

[KaraBulut]

...And I’d worry far more about how this is going to effect the future sale of bonds than I would about the dumping of them.

The thing that is worrisome is the "lack of refuge" over the past 2 weeks.

Normally, when the stock market has a correction, you can look at other markets to move your money into, like commodities, bonds, real estate investments. The problem is that it all sucks- oil is down $20/barrel, bonds and US treasuries have been volatile and real estate is not looking great, either.

Trump's folly with the American economy has spooked investors, money is moving to overseas markets.

I don't think this is over and the damage done has been significant.

 

[rareboy]

Don’t discount all the extra attention Trump gets with his ‘stay tuned’ approach because he surely enjoys it. If he just stated his policy and shut up the eyes of the financial world wouldn’t always be looking his way.

And I’d worry far more about how this is going to effect the future sale of bonds than I would about the dumping of them.

We already know. US treasuries markets are collapsing unless the US ponies up a premium rate.

I have told my investment guy to watch for them to reach junk bond status and then to throw mad money in my account at them.

Because seriously, at the rate the US is going, more and more of us outside the domestic bond market are starting to view them as high risk because Trump would have no problem with the US defaulting in order to settle some personal score.

 

[rareboy]

Two bills are in Congress to stop it. It's in the courts, and everyone from Bernie to Koch clearly understands that safeguards are needed. People are out in the streets across the country. I wish I could wave my fairy wand and make it go away, I can't, but someone else got to him.

We'll see where it goes from here, but I suspect it will disappear from the headlines, and in three months, there will be no whisper that any of this ever happened.

Don't expect Toad to be humbled. In his madness, he will invent so much winning and fiendishly clever manipulation of the world that they are going to try to sell us—and the horde will eat it up.

Well for us and Mexico, nothing changed.

So we are still effectively at war with the US.

And our patience is totally gone at this point. Along with China's I have no doubt. So while TrumpCo. try to scramble out of the quicksand with all the other relatively minor players they elected to drag into this federal sales tax theatre they are presenting to American consumers, the real major players in trade with the US just aren't having it.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/livestory/trump-pauses-most-global-tariffs-but-changes-nothing-for-canada-and-mexico-9.6717027

 

[KaraBulut]

A view of all markets over the past week.

 

[rareboy]

Sanders on the chaos.

 

[KaraBulut]

Sanders on the chaos.

Kind of tying a couple of recent discussions together. This is what an old-fashioned liberal sounds like.

It's also what actual Congressional oversight sounds like. We're not getting much of that, in between all of the reality show contestants and scared of Tweet crowd that we've elected to Congress recently.

We're also getting people who are coming to Congress not to testify but instead to make excuses for the inexcusable.

This was yesterday, the day the tariffamegaddon went into effect and the day before Trump caved when the bond markets crashed.

 

[KaraBulut]

This stuff isn't getting covered on Fox or the other right wing outlets. The Senator asks a good question: "If we negotiate trade deals and then renege on the deals, why is any country going to trust us in the future?".

The answer? "Americans like buying cheap stuff, so we have to punish the countries who are making and selling us cheap stuff".

I thought Trump was elected because stuff was too expensive when Biden was in office?

 

[Rickrock]

Are you able to look at your current balances online at the financial institution where the funds are held?

I think that I should be able to, but I didn't pay attention to any information on this because I am not tech savvy. It is in funds that invest in many different stocks so I could not look up any stocks but would have to look up the funds. I would have to go back through my papers and try to figure it out. It isn't worth it because it is what it is and I wouldn't know what to do. Also I would have to be careful because this is pre-tax dollars and if I do it wrong I might have to pay big taxes on it.

 

[KaraBulut]

I think that I should be able to, but I didn't pay attention to any information on this because I am not tech savvy. It is in funds that invest in many different stocks so I could not look up any stocks but would have to look up the funds. I would have to go back through my papers and try to figure it out. It isn't worth it because it is what it is and I wouldn't know what to do. Also I would have to be careful because this is pre-tax dollars and if I do it wrong I might have to pay big taxes on it.

Some retirement funds, particularly pensions, are managed by an administrator and the fund owner may limited options for changing the investments. Others, like 401K funds, can be managed by the owner. If you are in a plan that allows you to make choices, you might ask if there are planning services available to guide you through what your holdings are and what the best strategy is for you. If you are retired, you probably want to be in investments that are low risk and pay a guaranteed annuity.

 

[rareboy]

So Trump basically bragged about how rich people made a lot of money with his reversal on tariffs yesterday. Insider trading at a staggering scale to the cost of middle class retirement funds and smaller investors.

So. Market manipulation in the open.

And then his announcement that he might reconsider tariffs on certain companies.

Openly asking for bribes.

The US presidency is now even more nakedly corrupt than any banana republic.

 

[rareboy]

Meanwhile...inside the House,