patrick.net

AD says

I wonder if China can control Vietnam and other countries during this 90 days pause on tariffs.

There was a big meeting between Xi and Vietnam a week or so ago about standing up to the American Colonialist-Imperialist Tariffs together.

Vietnam basically yeah, yeah, whatever to Xi and then imposed sweeping controls on Country of Origin labelling.

There was also a massive crackdown in Malaysia when whistleblowers sent authorities video of a warehouse relabeling Chinese construction materials as Malaysian.

Vietnamese and Malaysian manufacturers are forcing their governments to stop Chinese fraudulent COO labeling to save their own ass against Trump retaliation.

We can just do things, and they have 2nd and 3rd order impacts!

.

I remember as a kid that Converse low top sneakers went from around $14 in 1978. That is about $75 today. They were made in the USA and were very rugged. They lasted at least 2 years from a lot of wear and tear.

Converse stopped manufacturing in the USA in 2001 when it went bankrupt. Now its primarily made in Vietnam.

.

China stops publishing economic numbers: unemployment claims, land sales numbers, land transaction values, and youth unemployment numbers. Some of this started some years ago.

China about to bend the knee but pretend to be tough at "Serendipity" Switzerland meeting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcwD7h79qOg

AmericanKulak says

China stops publishing economic numbers

China middle and working class extensively invest in residential real estate like condos than investing in stocks like through retirement plans.

But how can you even trust the Chicom economic statistics before COVID and after COVID , as well as especially now ?

.

AD says

AmericanKulak says

China stops publishing economic numbers

China middle and working class extensively invest in residential real estate like condos than investing in stocks like through retirement plans.

But how can you even trust the Chicom economic statistics before COVID and after COVID , as well as especially now ?

.

Correct.

And what happens when the Chinese people, whose only relatively safe investment/storehouse of wealth is housing, do when the economy slows and many try to dump their ghost city extra apartments all at once?

China is on the brink of political and social collapse. Thanks to Clinton, they have ICBM tech - reliability is the question, but they can certainly take out a few US cities. Trump meeting with Xi to give the slopes a face-saving solution?

stereotomy says

China is on the brink of political and social collapse.

I read that about 16% of China's exports are to the USA, and that only accounts for about 3% of its GDP.

About 23% of Vietnam's GDP is from exports to the USA.

But China is showing a willingness to negotiate with the Trump administration.

.

Just ran across this:

"China exports to Hong Kong, China worth US$ 297,538 million, with a partner share of 8.28 percent."

What? Hong Kong is in China.

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/mission-possible-monday-may-12-2025

Tariffs, some reaching as high as 150%, will be dialed back to 10% across the board. China agreed to drop its tariffs and remove its “non-tariff countermeasures.” That last is code for unofficial punishments like regulatory harassment, slowed customs clearance, or just pretending the call went straight to voice mail.

More and more details coming out. Hopefully the de minimus rules stay in place.

The deal means “reciprocal” tariffs between both countries will be cut from 125% to 10%. The U.S.′ 20% duties on Chinese imports relating to fentanyl will remain in place, meaning total tariffs on China stand at 30%.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/12/us-and-china-agree-to-slash-tariffs-for-90-days.html

We can do things.

https://www.binance.com/ru-KZ/square/post/05-13-2025-u-s-federal-government-reports-record-budget-surplus-in-april-24183815513369

U.S. Federal Government Reports Record Budget Surplus in April

According to BlockBeats, the U.S. Treasury Department's latest data reveals a federal budget surplus of $258 billion in April, marking the second-largest surplus on record and a 23% increase from the previous year. This surplus is primarily attributed to robust tax revenue during the tax season and record-breaking import tariff income. Total tariffs in April amounted to $16 billion, an increase of approximately $9 billion compared to the same period last year, significantly surpassing the previous record of $9.6 billion set two years ago. On average, tariffs contributed over $500 million daily to the U.S. Treasury.

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/duly-processed-saturday-may-17-2025

Whoopsies! Sorry, experts. This week, Politico ran a story headlined, “Tariffs have little impact on prices, defying forecasts.” Unexpectedly!




On Tuesday, the Labor Department reported that prices only rose at an annualized rate of 2.3 percent, the smallest increase since 2020— before the pandemic. And that was in spite of tariffs. It’s almost like Trump’s tariffs have had the opposite effect the experts sagely predicted.

An honest media would call the experts to account, and require them to explain why they were wrong. But Politico’s story lavishly applied the passive voice (“prices were expected to climb”), obscuring who was wrong, generously giving unreliable experts a pass. Oh well.

we need tariffs to go way higher, this 10% surrender isn’t cutting it. inflation is very visible still.

Fortwaye says

we need tariffs to go way higher, this 10% surrender isn’t cutting it. inflation is very visible still.

Agree, it has to be enough to stop slave labor. We should be making 90% of essentials and have the ability to make a 100% of defense down to the component level.

Hotwheels cost each about 60 cents ($5 in today's dollars) when first made in 1968

El Segundo , California was where Hot Wheels were made from 1968 to around 1977, then production shifted to Hong Kong, and then to China :-/

Like I said growing up in 1970s and 1980s , it was not impossible for working and middle class to buy nice things made in the USA like I remember Converse low top sneakers costing around $14 in 1978, and they seemed to last forever. Things were pricey like Commodore 64 and Coleco Mr Quarterback but not out of reach.



.

Also as far as my previous post, you could get a lot of second hand items like electronics from local thrift stores such as a TV or a Commodore 64 back in 1984 for around $80 (around $200 in today's dollars) and it lasted for a very long time as far as learning to program Basic and playing games or logging into a bulletin board system.