President Trump announces new tariffs: 25% for steel, 10% for aluminum

[Harpy Eagle]

The Free Traders had their chance. They blew it.

We still have the highest standard of living in the world. Nothing was blown.

1. No we don't. We are number ten, by this count. Most of the ones ahead of US are in the EU trade bloc. Want to guess how many of them have a large trade surplus with US, at our expense?

2. AND that measurement is an average. It does not take into account the damage done to huge swaths of our nation over the last 50 years.

3. AND, if you look at the potential advances that should have been made by our middle class and working poor, over the last 50 years, if we had had decent policies, you see the real cost of our stupid policies.

Yes we do. Also the cost of living in the US is much lower in the US. Look at gas taxes in Europe. Plus the value added tax.

50 years ago Silicon Valley did not exist. Nor did Microsoft. The skills required in this economy is changing. You have no clue what you are talking about. It is if, or but. Are you using a crystal ball?

Skills?
Have you noticed that Silicon Valley is interested in cheap labor and not skills?
Because only Indians have skills.
If you're not an Indian, MS won't hire you.

Not only that, but once the Indian has a management position, he will NEVER hire anyone but more Indians, and only certain ones.

Racist much?

 

[eddiew37]

You look around you, at your peers and extended family, do you seriously not see a need for more and better jobs?

No, i see the need for fair wealth distribution.

But the thing is, your Daddy's factory job is gone. Replaced by a machine a long time ago, not a Chinaman.

Robots are the thing of the future No holidays no time off for weekends Americans need more education more training to get those better jobs

 

[Correll]

We still have the highest standard of living in the world. Nothing was blown.

1. No we don't. We are number ten, by this count. Most of the ones ahead of US are in the EU trade bloc. Want to guess how many of them have a large trade surplus with US, at our expense?

2. AND that measurement is an average. It does not take into account the damage done to huge swaths of our nation over the last 50 years.

3. AND, if you look at the potential advances that should have been made by our middle class and working poor, over the last 50 years, if we had had decent policies, you see the real cost of our stupid policies.

Yes we do. Also the cost of living in the US is much lower in the US. Look at gas taxes in Europe. Plus the value added tax.

50 years ago Silicon Valley did not exist. Nor did Microsoft. The skills required in this economy is changing. You have no clue what you are talking about. It is if, or but. Are you using a crystal ball?

Skills?
Have you noticed that Silicon Valley is interested in cheap labor and not skills?
Because only Indians have skills.
If you're not an Indian, MS won't hire you.

Not only that, but once the Indian has a management position, he will NEVER hire anyone but more Indians, and only certain ones.

Racist much?

Not sure, it could be a caste thing or a sense of loyalty to fellow citizens.


But I've heard of this behavior from people who deal with Indians in their companies.


The reason for it, doesn't matter much to the Americans who don't get the jobs, now does it?

 

[Correll]

You look around you, at your peers and extended family, do you seriously not see a need for more and better jobs?

No, i see the need for fair wealth distribution.

But the thing is, your Daddy's factory job is gone. Replaced by a machine a long time ago, not a Chinaman.

Robots are the thing of the future No holidays no time off for weekends Americans need more education more training to get those better jobs

Long term, robots and AI will be a huge challenge for national policy.


Hopefully when that time comes, we can actually address the issue seriously.


LOL!! That was a joke.



But today, our trade partners are not pissed off because they worry that their robots will be bored.

 

[JoeB131]

Racist much?

Naw, he's racist all the time. I don't think his racism has an off switch.

 

[busybee01]

Cans are made of aluminum so it will cost more to put beer in a can, They can do one of two things. Raise the price or cut costs by laying people off.

The cost increase will be about $0.0001 per can.

You're such a dope.

Costs go up for everything for everyone. Even businesses. If everything a business buys costs more, prices will have to rise as well, dope. It's not just cans. Its everything.

Costs will go up by a trivial amount, moron. They don't multiply like rabbits. The material component of most manufactured items constitutes a small percentage of the cost. The bulk of costs is labor and capital investment.

Even if the cost of the completed product is double the price increase of steel, that's still only 1% for a washing machine, and it's probably less for most other products.

I don't support tariffs, but the hyperventilating over this one is pure politics.

Why don't you shut up boy. Electrolux has suspended their plan to set up a factory in the US because of the expected high cost of steel. You know more than they do? You are a bad joke.

No, I don't know anymore than they do. I'm just not a political correct establishment douchebag like them.

You just sound like Bernie Sanders. They are business people who do not want to put money into a losing proposition. Nothing politically correct about that.

 

[busybee01]

No

Sooo, you support President Trump on this move?

No he’s starting a trade war. It’s like if trump nuked russia. You can get me to agree russia is no good but not Nuking them.

Our trade imbalance needs to be fixed but we don’t need a trade war.

There goes our tax breaks. I hear the cost of living is already going up

We are never going to be able to fix our trade balance, if the rest of the world is able to just take advantage of US with no push back.


Their national governments would be remiss in their own responsibility to their own citizens, if they did NOT take advantage of a fool with his money, ie US.

Burbon from McConnells state of Kentucky Harleys from ah Ryans home state of Wisconsin going down

Which in no way challenges my point.


We are never going to be able to fix our trade balance, if the rest of the world is able to just take advantage of US with no push back.


Their national governments would be remiss in their own responsibility to their own citizens, if they did NOT take advantage of a fool with his money, ie US.

Maybe we should become like Mexico. Too poor to afford anything. Consumers are the reason we have trade imbalances. If they stop consuming our economy collapses.

 

[busybee01]

"The President is proposing a massive tax increase on American families. Protectionism is weak, not strong. You'd expect a policy this bad from a leftist administration, not a supposedly Republican one." - Supercilious Ben Sasse

"i don't know that President Trump should apologize to anyone for protecting American workers and certainly not to Senator Sasse" - Sarah Hogan Sanders

The Free Traders had their chance. They blew it.

We still have the highest standard of living in the world. Nothing was blown.

1. No we don't. We are number ten, by this count. Most of the ones ahead of US are in the EU trade bloc. Want to guess how many of them have a large trade surplus with US, at our expense?

2. AND that measurement is an average. It does not take into account the damage done to huge swaths of our nation over the last 50 years.

3. AND, if you look at the potential advances that should have been made by our middle class and working poor, over the last 50 years, if we had had decent policies, you see the real cost of our stupid policies.

Yes we do. Also the cost of living in the US is much lower in the US. Look at gas taxes in Europe. Plus the value added tax.

50 years ago Silicon Valley did not exist. Nor did Microsoft. The skills required in this economy is changing. You have no clue what you are talking about. It is if, or but. Are you using a crystal ball?

1. Standard of living measurements take cost of living into account. We are not number one anymore.

2. Our percentage of chip manufacturing is dropping due to other nations massively subsidizing their chip manufacturing. Our software is pirated on an industrial scale.

3. National policy has been focused on building these industries of the future (and not protecting them) while utterly ignoring vast segments of the economy and the people who fill those jobs. That has had horrible human costs to our society, and will continue to as long as we do that.

Who supplies the brains for high tech equipment? Mostly Americans. When you look at trade figures, they do not take that into account. Many employers are begging for people for high tech jobs. The problem we have is a mis-match in worker skills.

Manufacturing will continue to employ fewer workers because of high productivity and high tech equipment. That is not going to change.

 

[eddiew37]

1. No we don't. We are number ten, by this count. Most of the ones ahead of US are in the EU trade bloc. Want to guess how many of them have a large trade surplus with US, at our expense?

2. AND that measurement is an average. It does not take into account the damage done to huge swaths of our nation over the last 50 years.

3. AND, if you look at the potential advances that should have been made by our middle class and working poor, over the last 50 years, if we had had decent policies, you see the real cost of our stupid policies.

Yes we do. Also the cost of living in the US is much lower in the US. Look at gas taxes in Europe. Plus the value added tax.

50 years ago Silicon Valley did not exist. Nor did Microsoft. The skills required in this economy is changing. You have no clue what you are talking about. It is if, or but. Are you using a crystal ball?

Skills?
Have you noticed that Silicon Valley is interested in cheap labor and not skills?
Because only Indians have skills.
If you're not an Indian, MS won't hire you.

Not only that, but once the Indian has a management position, he will NEVER hire anyone but more Indians, and only certain ones.

Racist much?

Not sure, it could be a caste thing or a sense of loyalty to fellow citizens.


But I've heard of this behavior from people who deal with Indians in their companies.


The reason for it, doesn't matter much to the Americans who don't get the jobs, now does it?

You repubs keep talking jobs when trump and others say we're at full employment

 

[sealybobo]

No he’s starting a trade war. It’s like if trump nuked russia. You can get me to agree russia is no good but not Nuking them.

Our trade imbalance needs to be fixed but we don’t need a trade war.

There goes our tax breaks. I hear the cost of living is already going up

We are never going to be able to fix our trade balance, if the rest of the world is able to just take advantage of US with no push back.


Their national governments would be remiss in their own responsibility to their own citizens, if they did NOT take advantage of a fool with his money, ie US.

Burbon from McConnells state of Kentucky Harleys from ah Ryans home state of Wisconsin going down

Which in no way challenges my point.


We are never going to be able to fix our trade balance, if the rest of the world is able to just take advantage of US with no push back.


Their national governments would be remiss in their own responsibility to their own citizens, if they did NOT take advantage of a fool with his money, ie US.

I’m not going to say we have some trade imbalances but there’s a right way to fix them and a wrong way. Consequences.

You would need to first point out the specific flaw and then explain how you’re gonna fix it. Trump wants to do what? Sounds like he’s not that bright. Are we going to tariff the shoe industry and help those workers?

The flaw, imo, is hidden in the details of a million pages of trade laws and regulations and subsidizes that effectively fixes the trade "game" against US.

It is a broad problem and Trump is addressing it with a broad solution.


These other nations, they didn't accidentally build trade barriers. They know what they need to do to fix it.


This is on them.


Or they can blow up world trade and see how they like that.

You really believe trumps going to do that to business and for workers?

 

[eddiew37]

We are never going to be able to fix our trade balance, if the rest of the world is able to just take advantage of US with no push back.


Their national governments would be remiss in their own responsibility to their own citizens, if they did NOT take advantage of a fool with his money, ie US.

Burbon from McConnells state of Kentucky Harleys from ah Ryans home state of Wisconsin going down

Which in no way challenges my point.


We are never going to be able to fix our trade balance, if the rest of the world is able to just take advantage of US with no push back.


Their national governments would be remiss in their own responsibility to their own citizens, if they did NOT take advantage of a fool with his money, ie US.

I’m not going to say we have some trade imbalances but there’s a right way to fix them and a wrong way. Consequences.

You would need to first point out the specific flaw and then explain how you’re gonna fix it. Trump wants to do what? Sounds like he’s not that bright. Are we going to tariff the shoe industry and help those workers?

The flaw, imo, is hidden in the details of a million pages of trade laws and regulations and subsidizes that effectively fixes the trade "game" against US.

It is a broad problem and Trump is addressing it with a broad solution.


These other nations, they didn't accidentally build trade barriers. They know what they need to do to fix it.


This is on them.


Or they can blow up world trade and see how they like that.

You really believe trumps going to do that to business and for workers?

Hope not sealy but trumps the kind of ah that'll cut off his nose to spite his face

 

[sealybobo]

Burbon from McConnells state of Kentucky Harleys from ah Ryans home state of Wisconsin going down

Which in no way challenges my point.


We are never going to be able to fix our trade balance, if the rest of the world is able to just take advantage of US with no push back.


Their national governments would be remiss in their own responsibility to their own citizens, if they did NOT take advantage of a fool with his money, ie US.

I’m not going to say we have some trade imbalances but there’s a right way to fix them and a wrong way. Consequences.

You would need to first point out the specific flaw and then explain how you’re gonna fix it. Trump wants to do what? Sounds like he’s not that bright. Are we going to tariff the shoe industry and help those workers?

The flaw, imo, is hidden in the details of a million pages of trade laws and regulations and subsidizes that effectively fixes the trade "game" against US.

It is a broad problem and Trump is addressing it with a broad solution.


These other nations, they didn't accidentally build trade barriers. They know what they need to do to fix it.


This is on them.


Or they can blow up world trade and see how they like that.

You really believe trumps going to do that to business and for workers?

Hope not sealy but trumps the kind of ah that'll cut off his nose to spite his face

No he won’t. He’s giving workers lip service same as he did people who want gun reform

 

[JoeB131]

As someone who does purchasing in manufacturing environments, this is the dumbest thing Trump has done yet.

Raw aluminum or steel is only part of the cost of an item. The others are labor, machine set up, processing and transportation.

While foreign aluminum or steel machined parts are cheaper because of the labor costs, they're more expensive because of the transportation costs and time delays.

So what Trump has done is make raw material more expensive in this country. Steel and Aluminum makers in this country won't find a reason to be more competitive in their pricing, but manufacturers of machined parts will be more competitive if they make the machined parts or finished goods in Mexico or China.

 

[eddiew37]

Which in no way challenges my point.


We are never going to be able to fix our trade balance, if the rest of the world is able to just take advantage of US with no push back.


Their national governments would be remiss in their own responsibility to their own citizens, if they did NOT take advantage of a fool with his money, ie US.

I’m not going to say we have some trade imbalances but there’s a right way to fix them and a wrong way. Consequences.

You would need to first point out the specific flaw and then explain how you’re gonna fix it. Trump wants to do what? Sounds like he’s not that bright. Are we going to tariff the shoe industry and help those workers?

The flaw, imo, is hidden in the details of a million pages of trade laws and regulations and subsidizes that effectively fixes the trade "game" against US.

It is a broad problem and Trump is addressing it with a broad solution.


These other nations, they didn't accidentally build trade barriers. They know what they need to do to fix it.


This is on them.


Or they can blow up world trade and see how they like that.

You really believe trumps going to do that to business and for workers?

Hope not sealy but trumps the kind of ah that'll cut off his nose to spite his face

No he won’t. He’s giving workers lip service same as he did people who want gun reform

he does speak out of both sides of his mouth,,,,,,"""We'll see"""

 

[Hutch Starskey]

Or, your dependence on manufacturing jobs has fucked you.

Manufacturing is a part of any healthy, large economy.


Our trade "partners" have fucked up our manufacturing sector.


Trade is supposed to be mutually beneficial. If it is not, why do it?

Manufacturing is a part of any healthy, large economy.

Sure, just not in the historic way you're imagining. People are increasingly less needed for production.

It's time to stop being dependent on the local plant for your well being and time for individuals to be flexible and self sufficient.

Germany has TWICE the level of manufacturing employment we have.


Is it because they use antiquated manual labor production techniques?

Germany has TWICE the level of manufacturing employment we have.

So what? What's your point?

It's proof that our current shit manufacturing employment is NOT a result of the level of automation technology.

It's not proof of anything, dope.
Our economy is magnitudes larger and more diverse than Germany and is at full employment.

Stop waiting for the local plant to take care of you and take care of yourself.

 

[bripat9643]

The cost increase will be about $0.0001 per can.

You're such a dope.

Costs go up for everything for everyone. Even businesses. If everything a business buys costs more, prices will have to rise as well, dope. It's not just cans. Its everything.

Costs will go up by a trivial amount, moron. They don't multiply like rabbits. The material component of most manufactured items constitutes a small percentage of the cost. The bulk of costs is labor and capital investment.

Even if the cost of the completed product is double the price increase of steel, that's still only 1% for a washing machine, and it's probably less for most other products.

I don't support tariffs, but the hyperventilating over this one is pure politics.

Why don't you shut up boy. Electrolux has suspended their plan to set up a factory in the US because of the expected high cost of steel. You know more than they do? You are a bad joke.

No, I don't know anymore than they do. I'm just not a political correct establishment douchebag like them.

You just sound like Bernie Sanders. They are business people who do not want to put money into a losing proposition. Nothing politically correct about that.

I've already shown that the price increase woud be infitesimal, so the claim about losing money is horseshit.

 

[Hutch Starskey]

You're such a dope.

Costs go up for everything for everyone. Even businesses. If everything a business buys costs more, prices will have to rise as well, dope. It's not just cans. Its everything.

Costs will go up by a trivial amount, moron. They don't multiply like rabbits. The material component of most manufactured items constitutes a small percentage of the cost. The bulk of costs is labor and capital investment.

Even if the cost of the completed product is double the price increase of steel, that's still only 1% for a washing machine, and it's probably less for most other products.

I don't support tariffs, but the hyperventilating over this one is pure politics.

Why don't you shut up boy. Electrolux has suspended their plan to set up a factory in the US because of the expected high cost of steel. You know more than they do? You are a bad joke.

No, I don't know anymore than they do. I'm just not a political correct establishment douchebag like them.

You just sound like Bernie Sanders. They are business people who do not want to put money into a losing proposition. Nothing politically correct about that.

I've already shown that the price increase woud be infitesimal, so the claim about losing money is horseshit.

The only thing you've shown is your ass.

 

[Camp]

You're such a dope.

Costs go up for everything for everyone. Even businesses. If everything a business buys costs more, prices will have to rise as well, dope. It's not just cans. Its everything.

Costs will go up by a trivial amount, moron. They don't multiply like rabbits. The material component of most manufactured items constitutes a small percentage of the cost. The bulk of costs is labor and capital investment.

Even if the cost of the completed product is double the price increase of steel, that's still only 1% for a washing machine, and it's probably less for most other products.

I don't support tariffs, but the hyperventilating over this one is pure politics.

Why don't you shut up boy. Electrolux has suspended their plan to set up a factory in the US because of the expected high cost of steel. You know more than they do? You are a bad joke.

No, I don't know anymore than they do. I'm just not a political correct establishment douchebag like them.

You just sound like Bernie Sanders. They are business people who do not want to put money into a losing proposition. Nothing politically correct about that.

I've already shown that the price increase woud be infitesimal, so the claim about losing money is horseshit.

Plenty of rich guys on news media programs are telling us how infinitesimal pennies on the six-pack of beer or $175 on a car or $50 on a refrigerator is infinitesimal and nothing to worry about. Of course, they are rich and what is affordable and not affordable is relevant to how much wealth you have.

 

[Indeependent]

We still have the highest standard of living in the world. Nothing was blown.

1. No we don't. We are number ten, by this count. Most of the ones ahead of US are in the EU trade bloc. Want to guess how many of them have a large trade surplus with US, at our expense?

2. AND that measurement is an average. It does not take into account the damage done to huge swaths of our nation over the last 50 years.

3. AND, if you look at the potential advances that should have been made by our middle class and working poor, over the last 50 years, if we had had decent policies, you see the real cost of our stupid policies.

Yes we do. Also the cost of living in the US is much lower in the US. Look at gas taxes in Europe. Plus the value added tax.

50 years ago Silicon Valley did not exist. Nor did Microsoft. The skills required in this economy is changing. You have no clue what you are talking about. It is if, or but. Are you using a crystal ball?

Skills?
Have you noticed that Silicon Valley is interested in cheap labor and not skills?
Because only Indians have skills.
If you're not an Indian, MS won't hire you.

Not only that, but once the Indian has a management position, he will NEVER hire anyone but more Indians, and only certain ones.

Racist much?

Towards who?
Actually, it's not the fault of the Indians, it's the fault of the greedy business owners and investors.
Good old White Man avarice and greed.
I know plenty of business owners and they have an insatiable hunger

 

[Indeependent]

As someone who does purchasing in manufacturing environments, this is the dumbest thing Trump has done yet.

Raw aluminum or steel is only part of the cost of an item. The others are labor, machine set up, processing and transportation.

While foreign aluminum or steel machined parts are cheaper because of the labor costs, they're more expensive because of the transportation costs and time delays.

So what Trump has done is make raw material more expensive in this country. Steel and Aluminum makers in this country won't find a reason to be more competitive in their pricing, but manufacturers of machined parts will be more competitive if they make the machined parts or finished goods in Mexico or China.

Because those living outside the US should be earning as little as possible!