Trump plans new tariffs on semiconductors, promises flexibility for some companies

[dirtyferret]

Honestly, the isolationist actions being taken by the current administration make me wonder whether, for the duration of this administration, at least, the same thing will happen to the US as when China isolated itself from the rest of the world. It took the Chinese many many years to recover from that political faux pas.

but isolationism is a plan and as John Bolton (trump's former national security advisor) stated
"Trump has no philosophy. He gets ideas, but does not follow a coherent pattern. There is no underlying strategy." Also, every country be it russia, saudi arabia, japan, isreal, etc., have all stated trump is always open for business when it comes to getting a cut of money and you are seeing it as more and more companies "visit" him and suddenly tariffs no longer apply to them. So he is not an isolationist at his core, he appeals to them because he has people in his ear saying hey I can make a ton of money and give you a cut of it. These actions actually follow Putin more than China. For example, gather a ton of natural resources by annexing Greenland and Canada.
See comments by Trudeau after meeting trump;
"I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have but that may even be why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state. They're very aware of our resources, of what we have, and they very much want to be able to benefit from those,"
Trudeau accused the trump of planning "a total collapse of the Canadian economy because that will make it easier to annex us". Trump has it in mind that one of the easiest ways of doing that [annexing Canada] is absorbing our country. And it is a real thing."

It's identical to how the mob (and Putin) work but typically those guys have a level of intelligence that escapes trump. trump's one and only philosophy is the world has winners and losers. If this billionaire makes a ton of money and I get a cut, I'm a winner. If that billionaire rips people off, get people sick, destroys the environment, take advantage of people; screw them they are losers for letting it happen to them.

 

[Axeia]

Trumps actions have forced dozens of countries to approach him and ask him for a deal. I wouldnt say thats turning countries against America.

Forcing and turning against kind of go hand in hand. Forcing by definition means you're getting someone to do something they don't want to do.

Im curious because very few of the people who are emotionally compromised by hatred for Trump like yourself, have any ideas. They just hurl criticism.

Don't think I quite qualify as emotionally compromised by hatred for Trump but I'll throw some ideas out there regardless.

Stick to what's proven to work. Trump himself (according to himself) asked the German chancellor (at the time) Angela Merkel how many Chevrolets there are in Germany.
Germany put a 10% import tax (tariff really) on cars being imported. That helps protect Germany's own car industry (Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, etc).
Now note that they put it on cars, not on everything.

So I'd say Trump has the right idea but the execution of it is terrible. Putting a tax on literally everything won't protect everything - it just makes things more expensive. Some things the US just cannot do competitively (a popular example is growing coffee beans, the climate isn't right for it).
It could have been done a lot more coordinated as well. Rather than from one day to the other going "Here you go, this is the tariff rate starting right now" it could have been "Starting [insert future date depending on how hard it is to build this industry locally] this will be the tariff". Companies would have time to adjust, the stock market wouldn't crash as hard.

The other way (that I don't like) is by simply giving companies money if they move their stuff. It's what Biden tried with the CHIPS-Act. Giving tax-payer money to a highly profitable company just doesn't sit right with me.

---

The main problems with Trumps approach are
1) Calculating a tariff based on trade deficits? wtf?
2) A base line tariff of 10%? wtf?
3) Tariffing literally everything from every country? wtf?
4) Implementing tariffs over night? wtf?
5) Suspending tariffs within the same week of announcing them? wtf?

The whole thing just seems less thought through than napkin math unnecessarily destabilizing the world economy and upsetting allies.
Perhaps it's the negotiation tactic of doing something so incredibly outrageous that the next thing seems normal by comparison to it - if it was it did work. Everyone seems to think the tariffs are gone now whilst everyone is slapped with a 10% tariff which is something that'd be a pretty high rate to begin with (it worked for the Germans to keep their industry protected after all).

It might also work for getting products made in America, getting them sold to other countries might be a whole different story. Unless Chevrolet starts catering to the EU market (reasonably sized cars with excellent fuel economy and safety features for a decent price) they still won't sell any.

 

[dirtyferret]

Stick to what's proven to work. Trump himself (according to himself) asked the German chancellor (at the time) Angela Merkel how many Chevrolets there are in Germany.

trump asked Merkel to cut a direct deal with the USA. She said he had to cut a deal with the EU directly. He asked her this...11 times with each time she stated he can only cut a deal with the EU. How can you be a "deal maker in chief" as he self proclaimed when you don't even understand the basics of how these deals work?

During his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2017, Trump insisted on to negotiating a trade deal between the U.S. and Germany, only to be shut down numerous times. 'You can’t do a trade deal with Germany, only the EU,'" a senior German official told the Times of London.
"On the eleventh refusal, Trump finally got the message, 'Oh, we’ll do a deal with Europe then,'" the official added.
Merkel explained to Trump that he must instead negotiate with the EU in its entirety after his administration's efforts to reach out to the nations individually had been denied. Merkel also said to her own cabinet members that Trump only had "very basic misunderstandings" regarding the "fundamentals" of the EU and multinational trade agreements.

 

[wiyosaya]

but isolationism is a plan and as John Bolton (trump's former national security advisor) stated
"Trump has no philosophy. He gets ideas, but does not follow a coherent pattern. There is no underlying strategy." Also, every country be it russia, saudi arabia, japan, isreal, etc., have all stated trump is always open for business when it comes to getting a cut of money and you are seeing it as more and more companies "visit" him and suddenly tariffs no longer apply to them. So he is not an isolationist at his core, he appeals to them because he has people in his ear saying hey I can make a ton of money and give you a cut of it. These actions actually follow Putin more than China. For example, gather a ton of natural resources by annexing Greenland and Canada.
See comments by Trudeau after meeting trump;

My post was made with the thought that Trump would not/does not realize that his tariff policy is alienating other countries, and furthering an isolation of the US from those countries as isolation is a possible outcome. IMO, Trump is too arrogant to realize that he's not a stable genius and really does not know what he is doing. To me, he's a prime example of Dunning-Kruger syndrome - and is incapable of understanding his incompetence. True - China isolated itself on purpose. Trump may not have the intent of isolation, but it may be a consequence of the Trump administration's policies, especially with China now actively seeking relationships with other countries and those countries, apparently, entertaining the offered relationships.

It's identical to how the mob (and Putin) work but typically those guys have a level of intelligence that escapes trump. trump's one and only philosophy is the world has winners and losers. If this billionaire makes a ton of money and I get a cut, I'm a winner. If that billionaire rips people off, get people sick, destroys the environment, take advantage of people; screw them they are losers for letting it happen to them.

I do agree that Trump's actions, like Putin's, are the actions of someone who knows nothing other than how to be a bully. He puts on airs for the sake of his worshipers.

 

[dirtyferret]

My post was made with the thought that Trump would not/does not realize that his tariff policy is alienating other countries, and furthering an isolation of the US from those countries as isolation is a possible outcome.

I don't think he cares about alienating other countries and I truly believe he sees them as weak with weak leaders. trumps (not the USA) allies are dictators, he likes putin, kim jung, bukele. In his view those guys are winners. Isolation from other democratically run countries is a given and currently happening.

IMO, Trump is too arrogant to realize that he's not a stable genius and really does not know what he is doing. To me, he's a prime example of Dunning-Kruger syndrome - and is incapable of understanding his incompetence.

100%

Trump may not have the intent of isolation, but it may be a consequence of the Trump administration's policies, especially with China now actively seeking relationships with other countries and those countries, apparently, entertaining the offered relationships.

agree although it's "will be" not "may be". See what Canada has already stated;
After his first phone call with the US president, Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney has signaled the bipartisan relationship with the US is over.
While Mr Carney admits that there may be some cooperation, there is "no turning back" for Canada as it seeks to move away from a reliance on the United States, a country he now says is not a reliable partner.

 

[wiyosaya]

I don't think he cares about alienating other countries and I truly believe he sees them as weak with weak leaders. trumps (not the USA) allies are dictators, he likes putin, kim jung, bukele. In his view those guys are winners. Isolation from other democratically run countries is a given and currently happening.

100%

agree although it's "will be" not "may be". See what Canada has already stated;
After his first phone call with the US president, Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney has signaled the bipartisan relationship with the US is over.
While Mr Carney admits that there may be some cooperation, there is "no turning back" for Canada as it seeks to move away from a reliance on the United States, a country he now says is not a reliable partner.

I agree Trump doesn't care about anything, however, I do think he wasn't expecting the kind of reaction he's gotten to his tariffs. Carney's statement is proof of the alienation and is in as much isolating the US now and in the future.

But his flip-flopping on Tariffs, to me, anyway, shows he wasn't expecting the reaction he got. But, maybe he does care, however, I think his concern is about how much his actions affect his "wealth" and image.