patrick.net

External Revenue Service!

Bezos is trying to conflate Personal Liberties with National Economic Policy in the WaPo now.

But I was told US consumers - not Chinese manufacturers - would be the ones paying for the tariffs!

Chinese manufacturers that planned to cut prices to help customers absorb the initial tariff bump are now contending with potentially higher duties for their clients. Those already operating on razor-thin profit margins could be squeezed even further.

Trump’s new tariff proposal adds more urgency to plans among Chinese manufacturers to shift production outside the country, especially to Southeast Asia. Making and shipping goods from other countries means U.S. importers can avoid paying the higher duties on Chinese products—that is, unless Trump targets those countries, too.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/the-tariff-pain-is-getting-real-for-chinese-companies/ar-AA1zZgRq

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/far-away-tuesday-march-4-2025-c-and

This morning, the Times began a rolling “breaking news” story headlined, “Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China snap into effect.” Shares of German automakers with Mexican manufacturing plants tumbled in early trading this morning, as huge tariffs against China, Canada, and Mexico came into effect. And European stock markets plummeted.

Right after midnight last night, as the President has long promised, the Trump Administration slapped a whopping 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico. It also added another +10% tariff to all imports from China, doubling the existing 10% tariff on Chinese goods that kicked in last month.

China, the only one of the three to act, immediately announced counter-tariffs and sued the U.S. in the World Trade Organization.

Welcome to the economic war. In its tariffs story, the Wall Street Journal described the new taxes as ‘historic,’ both in scale and speed, explaining that even the storied and amusingly named Smoot-Hawley tariffs of 1930 were eased in more gradually.

(It’s even fun to say Smoot-Hawley. Try it.)

Trump’s well described plan is to disrupt the status quo, and force both American and foreign companies to repatriate manufacturing back to the United States. Plan for short-term disruptions. You might want to stock up on toilet paper again.

The media is waiting for us to rebel against the Terrible Orange Man because of rising consumer good prices. They’ll be waiting a long time. We lived through the pandemic’s totally useless and unnecessary supply-chain crisis. We’ll get through this without breaking a sweat.

Trump is not leaving prices to chance. He’s juiced domestic oil production, opened federal forests for timber harvesting, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week announced a new “Affordability Czar.” Also, energy products (oil, gas, and electricity) were exempted from all tariffs.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are still obsessing over eggs. Prepare for scads of stories comparing pre- and post-tariff prices.

“On the subject of the Tariff, I support a careful and strategic approach. A Tariff that fosters domestic industry, protects national defense, and ensures economic independence—especially in times of war—is essential. The hardships of the last war should serve as a lasting lesson: without self-sufficiency, our nation is vulnerable. No true patriot should be willing to jeopardize our security by relying solely on foreign commerce, which could be easily disrupted in conflict.

“Providence has blessed us with abundant resources—minerals, fertile land, and a climate suited for key materials like hemp and wool. To secure our independence, we must protect our own industries, ensuring a stable supply of vital goods. Beyond defense, the Tariff should also serve to fairly distribute labor and revenue while addressing our national debt, which I view not as a blessing, but a danger to republican liberty, fostering a privileged class at the expense of the people.

“American agriculture suffers from a lack of markets beyond cotton. By diverting surplus labor into manufacturing, we can strengthen our domestic economy and create new demand for our farmers’ goods. Instead of enriching British merchants and sustaining European laborers, we should prioritize our own. Without this shift, we risk impoverishing ourselves under a system that benefits foreign economies at our expense.

“Thus, I believe a well-structured Tariff is necessary—to pay off our debt, strengthen national defense, and ensure economic stability. These principles, which I hold deeply, are not for sale in exchange for any political office. I speak openly, without concealment, as I would despise myself if I sought public confidence through deception.”

- Andrew Jackson

https://x.com/carter_squared/status/1896786462848250116

OkDOGEisAmountingToSomething says

Fucking circus.

Now, Donnie, go promise gates of hell to Hamas again, LOL.

Clown world.

It's all our fault for...

you don't need tariffs...You just need the threat of tariffs by someone like TRUMP who you know will enforce them. That is usually enough to achieve what you want.

Misc says

In Canada the government with its controlled media, whipped up Canadians into an anti-American frenzy.

according to the same media..Can you imagine the media saying that they tried and failed? As long as you keep believing the lying media, one will never know the truth.

... Annnnnnnd...Trump slaps a 25% tariff on imported cars and light trucks.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/trump-announces-25-tariffs-on-imported-cars-ratcheting-up-global-trade-war/ar-AA1BIYcs

Excited to see Massie's multiple spending bills for when the CR expires.

Misc says

... Annnnnnnd...Trump slaps a 25% tariff on imported cars and light trucks.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/trump-announces-25-tariffs-on-imported-cars-ratcheting-up-global-trade-war/ar-AA1BIYcs

So beautiful friends, so wonderful.

Looks like tariffs on auto parts go into effect in first part of May.

"New tariffs will be applied not just to foreign-made cars but also to car parts, including engines and transmissions. The tariffs on car parts are set to take effect “no later than May 3,” according to the text of the proclamation Trump signed.

Parts coming from Canada and Mexico that comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will be exempt from the tariffs until US Customs and Border Protections has a system in place to apply tariffs to non-US parts, according to a fact sheet published by the White House on Wednesday."

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/adjusting-imports-of-automobiles-and-autombile-parts-into-the-united-states/

Fuck 'em in the ass, Trump! Fuck em hard!

This tariff should have been implemented in the 70's.

zzyzzx says

This tariff should have been implemented in the 70's.

Oh, no. Do you remember the fall apart quality of cars that came out of Detroit in the 1970s? At that time, we needed competition to increase the quality of cars.

HeadSet says

, no. Do you remember the fall apart quality of cars that came out of Detroit in the 1970s? At that time, we needed competition to increase the quality of cars

And we would have gotten it. Foreign car manufacturers would have set up shop twenty years before they actually did.

DeportLibtards says

DeportLibtards says

Foreign car manufacturers would have set up shop twenty years before they actually did.

Good point.

DeportLibtards says

Actually, cars are the UK's biggest export to the US, not just North America. Not sure how price sensitive the British cars are since they are prestige brands like Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Land Rover.

HeadSet says

Actually, cars are the UK's biggest export to the US, not just North America. Not sure how price sensitive the British cars are since they are prestige brands like Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Land Rover.

%100k Land Rovers getting hit with 25% tariff is $125k. Hits the well off, not Joe Kia.

So much for tariffs impacting the little guy the most.

I wish Chines will put reciprocal tariffs on US beef. The only chance makes US beef cheaper for US consumers.

https://lippincott.substack.com/p/america-needs-tariffs

Mossad was able to infiltrate the manufacturing process and implant tiny explosives in these devices, turning each pager into a mini IED. Because Hezbollah has no organic communications manufacturing prowess, it lacked the expertise to check the devices for penetration. Even if they had opened up the pagers, it isn’t clear their technical “experts” would have been able to identify the problem.

Free trade was Hezbollah’s undoing. Their faith in foreigners was rewarded with death and destruction. Their dependency on others was their weakness. Free trade is maximally efficient until your trading partner wants to kill you. Then it isn’t. You can only have free trade with someone you trust. Trust, it turns out, is hard to come by.

Patrick says

https://lippincott.substack.com/p/america-needs-tariffs

Mossad was able to infiltrate the manufacturing process and implant tiny explosives in these devices, turning each pager into a mini IED. Because Hezbollah has no organic communications manufacturing prowess, it lacked the expertise to check the devices for penetration. Even if they had opened up the pagers, it isn’t clear their technical “experts” would have been able to identify the problem.

Free trade was Hezbollah’s undoing. Their faith in foreigners was rewarded with death and destruction. Their dependency on others was their weakness. Free trade is maximally efficient until your trading partner wants to kill you. Then it isn’t. You can only have free trade with someone you trust. Trust, it turns out, is hard to come by.

Yo @Patrick ! Your fav cell phone sales girl is back!

DeportLibtards says

HeadSet says

Actually, cars are the UK's biggest export to the US, not just North America. Not sure how price sensitive the British cars are since they are prestige brands like Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Land Rover.

%100k Land Rovers getting hit with 25% tariff is $125k. Hits the well off, not Joe Kia.

So much for tariffs impacting the little guy the most.

don’t buy land rovers ever. those cars are trash that needs constant expensive repairs.

DeportLibtards says

Yo Patrick ! Your fav cell phone sales girl is back!

I wish she'd jump up and down a bit more.

DeportLibtards says

The stupidity of Globaloney


A. The US can grow pears
B. Argentina isn't so far below the US in development there's enough savings
C. Pack them in Miami, Tampa, Galveston, Baltimore, Savannah, Philly, Newark, or NOLA and save big while creating US jobs and making the tax base bigger.

Broaden the taxbase! Not by taxing workers more, but by bringing companies back to the US to pay property and corporate taxes here.

Hold your horses there, pardner!

Congress is just going to spend this and another $900 billion more.

https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/the-cost-of-a-german-car-in-europe

The Cost of a German Car in Europe v. US

Same Mercedes model costs $38,000 more in Austria than in the US

A car enthusiast friend in Vienna called me today to make fun of all the hysterical talk in Europe about President Trump’s alleged outrageous affront to free trade by imposing tariffs on the importation of European products.

“Do you know how much a new Mercedes CLE 450 costs in Vienna?” he asked.

“I don’t know—90,000 Euro?” I guessed.

“Good guess. 95,000 Euro,” he replied.

“And in the US?”

“$70,000 dollars,” I again guessed.

“No, $67,500” he said.

In other words, a new Mercedes Benz made a few hundred miles from Vienna in the same EU zone costs $38,000 more than it does in the United States. The reason is because the E.U. levies a 20% Value Added Tax and several other taxes onto the sale of cars. One result of this is that the United States if by far the largest market for German cars. Los Angeles is the largest market in the world for Porsches. ...

At least with respect to the auto industry, it is perfectly silly for the Europeans to claim that Trump’s tariffs are some sort of unfair, punitive, jingoistic action. Even with the new tariffs, American taxes on cars will still be lower than what they are in Europe.

I don't understand what the fuck VAT has to do with anything. It's applied to all goods - domestic and imported. What does it have to do with us? What is the endgame here: make them drop VAT on their domestic goods or only on our impored? We don't treat domestic and imported goods differently when collecting a sales tax, do we?

VAT is a red herring.

RWSGFY says

I don't understand what the fuck VAT has to do with anything. It's applied to all goods - domestic and imported. What does it have to do with us? What is the endgame here: make them drop VAT on their domestic goods or only on our impored? We don't treat domestic and imported goods differently when collecting a sales tax, do we?

VAT is a red herring.

Agreed, VAT has zero to do with tariffs since it applies to all products, domestic and foreign

RWSGFY says

I don't understand what the fuck VAT has to do with anything. It's applied to all goods - domestic and imported.

mell says

Agreed, VAT has zero to do with tariffs since it applies to all products, domestic and foreign

VAT rates are applied AFTER the tariffs and many other fees are already added into the taxable base cost. Americans can't formulate this in their minds because taxes in the US...especially income taxes but also most gas and most sales taxes are only applied additionally to the original taxable cost, not to an accumulated one.

So say a product that is imported to, say Germany, is valued at €10,000. Then imagine it gets hit with a 25% tariff. Then that forms the base for the VAT calculation of another 25% (Germany's highest and average VAT rate).

So, €10,000 + €2,500 (25% tariff) = €12,500
THEN VAT: €12,500 + €3,125 (25% VAT on €12,500) = €15,625.

Oh, and GUESS WHAT the additional local sales tax, if any, gets levied on? That's right...the new €15,625 base cost, not the €10,000 imported cost.

So if Trump can get the Eloi fucks to abolish their tariffs, THEN the lalala land of 'VATs apply to both domestic & imported' you two actually believe it is might actually come to be.

DeportLibtards says

VAT rates are applied AFTER the tariffs are.

And? It's their internal business. Whether they have VAT or not does not change how our goods compete on their market. Tariffs do.