Musk was just returning the salute from Waltz.
It was the Nazi party pushing the EV sales to protect the environment.
Tesla has the largest sales of EVs.
The Nazis sent two astronauts into space for two weeks. But just like Afghanistan, they were to stupid or totally incompetent of getting the Americans home. Just like true Nazis, wanting citizens to give their life for the party.
The list also included Norfolk Island which is an external Territory of Australia and part of NSW. The Islanders were lumped with a 29 % tariff though what on earth they export to the USA is a complete mystery but it gave them a moment in the sun.
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There is no escaping the Tariff Bruce!
The DOW closed down over 2200 points! Holy crap!
So in a nutshell, it’s all Thatcher’s fault
It is hard to believe that those party to the planning of massive tariffs did not know and expect a significant hit to stock values, everywhere but especially in the US. So it is equally hard to think that millionaires and billionaires who knew such tariffs were coming did not plan for that. Either carefully selling off in the past weeks or now deciding when to buy into much reduced stock. It is nearly impossible to expect the very rich that surround Trump’s inner circle have not worked out the opportunity to get even richer.
Disaster capitalists, those who make lots of money when a country suffers, look at rishi sunak, he made money on the crash in 2008, trump is now saying he wants to stand for the presidency at the end of his term, he wants to alter the constitution to make that happen, we are witnessing the fall of democracy and the emergence of a dictatorship, who would have thought this would happen in the USA…
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That seems certain. Trump is already ensuring law firms, universities and major businesses sign up to support / endorse / not criticize him. He is reaming out all federal departments. He is acting without involvement of the upper or lower chambers. The next step, frighteningly, would be to change the pledge made by military leaders - simply switch from pledge to constitution to pledge to the president.
I am sure there were voices of dissent but they took a gamble based on the expectation that the markets will level out eventually. I think we are wise not to retaliate in a kneejerk reaction, but foolish to rely on an uncertain trade deal that would not be favourable for the UK. We need to look elsewhere, including increasing trade with partners such as Canada and going for closer ties with the EU.
There was a discussion on the radio this morning with an economic historian saying the expectation is that China is now strong enough to rely on its own domestic economy. They don’t need the US as much as the US needs China.
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The thing is that these tariffs do not make economic sense nor do they really make much commercial sense. The impact will be increased prices for US consumers and surplus production elsewhere.
Higher prices for US consumers will lead to a fall in demand, for both US made products and non-US products. These both lead to US businesses tightening their operations - i.e. lay-offs. Surplus production in the rest of the world will certainly lead to redundancies. Both factors - higher prices and higher unemployment leads to recession.
Even if the US treasury gains billions in tariff payments, these come from American companies and consumers. Its internal money. Plus, the plan seems to be to use these billions for tax cuts - but at a time of increasing costs. So no real economic benefit of increased demand. Just tax cuts to pay for higher prices, that is, higher prices caused by tariffs being paid for by the people who get the tax cuts. Meaningless.
In the meantime, the other countries face their own recessions directly from the tariffs reducing exports to the US and the increase in uncertainty. And the intense bad feeling means fewer people will buy American goods or services. I know I won’t. So US exports go down, just as they have done so in Canada. So the tariffs do not rectify any trade balance - the imports by the US go down due to tariffs, the exports from the US go down due to reciprocal tariffs and from international displeasure at Trump’s actions. No gain for the US.
Something else is at hand here.
They are assuming long term income from tariffs to fund tax cuts, but saying they want to be less reliant on the tariff-generating imports by being self-sufficient. You have to wonder whether they are planning to devalue the dollar in future by defaulting on their international debts. Who knows what this administration is capable of.
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I am optimistic that there will not be a recession, but instead consolidation and withdrawal from the US to other markets. There is talk of sidling up to China.
The U.S. Senate just passed a massive tax cut bill which will cost trillions and mainly benefit the rich. Two Republicans voted against it along with all the Democrats, but it still passed. It will pass the House next week, since Republicans have a majority and then signed into law by Trump.
I thought part of the reason for the tariffs was to balance the budget. Apparently, it was to pay for more tax cuts for the rich.
If tariffs are effective in bringing manufacturing back to the U.S., they would need to be permanent. It would take a factory located overseas at least three or four years to close up shop and move their operations to the U.S. Well, in four years, we’ll have another president who will no doubt ease the idiotic tariffs. That is, unless Trump is successful in making himself dictator.
So rather than moving to the U.S., manufacturers will probably just wait it out, and in the mean time, U.S. consumers will pay the cost.
In addition, it’s a little odd that Russia does not appear on Trump’s tariff list.
Since Russia shares a border with China, it would be a lot easier for manufacturers to move their operations to Russia to avoid the tariffs than to move to the U.S. Could that be the plan? Could all this actually be to improve Russia’s economy?
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Well knock me over with a feather duster. I’m astonished and so very, very surprised. Not.
This is not what many voters thought they were voting for, surely?
I would not be so sure. Watching all that Trump does it seems to me that he is intent on a Trump dynasty in power for many, many years. There literally is no sign that he does not want to emulate Putin. Including the corruption.
President Forest Trump
Just popped on here, waiting for the 10% club to come on the telly 
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In a way perhaps it makes picking sides easier. China has always been a worrying friend because of its undemocratic system, similarly with Russia
However if all three major powers are dictatorships, then in a way you can pick who most suits you without fear or favour.
I am not suggesting this will happen and hopefully Trump is just an aberration but it is an interesting thought.
BTW as an aside - in the Federal election both sides have promised to take the port of Darwin back into public hands. The lease granted to a Chinese company has apparently led to several American Presidents having apoplectic fits due to its strategic location.