The Trump Presidency 2.0

[Twin Tiers Living 558]

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Nathan Hooven is a disabled Air Force veteran who voted for Donald Trump in November. Barely three months later, he’s now unemployed and says he feels betrayed by the president’s dramatic downsizing of the federal government that cost him his job.

“I think a lot of other veterans voted the same way, and we have been betrayed,” said Hooven, who was fired in February from a Virginia medical facility for veterans. “I feel like my life and the lives of so many like me, so many that have sacrificed so much for this country, are being destroyed.”

The mass firing of federal employees since Trump took office in January is pushing out veterans who make up 30% of the nation’s federal workforce. The exact number of veterans who have lost their job is unknown, although House Democrats last month estimated that it was potentially in the thousands.

 

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[Twin Tiers Living 558]

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President Trump is giving a one-month exemption to U.S. automakers from the round of tariffs that took effect on March 4, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday. 

The announcement comes after Mr. Trump spoke with leaders of the so-called Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram — on Wednesday, Leavitt said.

Mr. Trump's imposition of 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico, as well as an additional tariff of 10% on Chinese imports, were expected to hit the auto industry hard because many vehicle parts and components are imported from those countries to manufacture cars in the U.S.

 

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[Twin Tiers Living 558]

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TORONTO (AP) — Ontario's premier, the leader of Canada’s most populous province, announced that effective Monday it is charging 25% more for electricity to 1.5 million American homes and businesses in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war.

Ontario provides electricity to Minnesota, New York and Michigan.

“I will not hesitate to increase this charge. If the United States escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said at a news conference in Toronto.

"Believe me when I say I do not want to do this. I feel terrible for the American people who didn't start this trade war. It’s one person who is responsible, it’s President Trump.”

Ford said Ontario’s tariff would remain in place despite the one-month reprieve from Trump, noting a one-month pause means nothing but more uncertainty. Quebec is also considering taking similar measures with electricity exports to the U.S.

 

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[Chris 3,628]

Things are going well I see:

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will double his planned tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25% to 50% for Canada, escalating a trade war with the United States’ northern neighbor.

Trump said on social media that the increase of the tariffs set to take effect on Wednesday is a response to the price increases that the provincial government of Ontario put on electricity sold to the United States.

“I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD,” Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social.

 

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NEW YORK (AP) — Most U.S. stocks are falling Tuesday following President Donald Trump’s latest escalation in his trade war, pulling Wall Street 9% below its record set just a month ago. 

The S&P 500 was down 0.6% in midday trading after Trump said he would raise tariffs on steel and aluminum coming from Canada, doubling their planned increase to 50%. The president said it was a response to moves Canada made after Trump began threatening tariffs on one of the country’s most important business partners.

 

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[Adam 589]

8 hours ago, Chris said:

Things are going well I see:

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and all the while, his sheep keep repeating that Canada has 200 to 500 percent tariffs on our goods....except its only a half truth. most imports are either duty free or minimally taxed until they hit a quota. only then do the high tariffs kick in. those quotas ensure that their own farmers/producers are not priced out of their markets while still allowing for imports

[Chris 3,628]

It's not even worth putting the latest update to the news on here anymore, it's so back and forth. So here's a headline from now, for now:

I never realized making America great would involve so much bipolar policy and economic whiplash. 

[MsKreed 1,690]

27 minutes ago, Chris said:

It's not even worth putting the latest update to the news on here anymore, it's so back and forth. So here's a headline from now, for now:

I wasn't sure we even needed a standalone "Trump Tariff" topic.  I figured it sort of falls under the pinned "Trump 2.0".

I get the point that some ongoing stuff deserves its own conversation, like the Economy or DOGE, but  too threads many all over the place tend to get messy to follow. When the the same subject matter is covered in multiple places, I don't want to dig up and repeat my responses all over the place. 

I see so people on FB doing that cut/paste nonsense and find it completely obnoxious. 

 

And along those lines, may I suggest that you could 'pin' the "DOGEsizing The Federal Government Superthread" topic and merge the local SS Office discussion onto that?  

 

[Chris 3,628]

15 minutes ago, MsKreed said:

I wasn't sure we even needed a standalone "Trump Tariff" topic.  I figured it sort of falls under the pinned "Trump 2.0".

I get the point that some ongoing stuff deserves its own conversation, like the Economy or DOGE, but  too threads many all over the place tend to get messy to follow. When the the same subject matter is covered in multiple places, I don't want to dig up and repeat my responses all over the place. 

I see so people on FB doing that cut/paste nonsense and find it completely obnoxious. 

And along those lines, may I suggest that you could 'pin' the "DOGEsizing The Federal Government Superthread" topic and merge the local SS Office discussion onto that?  

 

Honestly, sometimes I lose track of what is or isn't on here. I curate this stuff, sometimes the night before or early in the morning and then post it when I get home, trying to do so quickly so I can move on to other things. 

I'll condense a bunch of it now. 

 

 

[MsKreed 1,690]

As for the tariff discussion....I have difficulty swallowing the fear-mongering that the “costs” of tariffs will be directly transferred to consumers.

 

I have a friend who’s been a successful homebuilder in MN for decades. A mutual friend on social media pointed to this claim by NBC News about tariffs on Canada/Mexico:

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The cost of lumber, drywall, appliances and other products used in a U.S. home is about to go up, and could increase builder costs anywhere from $7,500 to $10,000 per home, according to estimates.

She asked my homebuilder friend, “is this true that prices will rise to build a home because of the new tariffs?”

He gave a very insightful response that noted the “converse” impact that other policies are likely to have on homebuilding costs:

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It will, we had a lot of conversations about this at The National Association Of Homebuilders meetings last week in Las Vegas. In general and depending on where you are located in the country, only about 10% of materials used in a home are imported. About half of that from China, Canada and Mexico.

Unfortunately with our costs to build in the Midwest, that is probably only a 2% increase.

Regulations that are placed on our industry such as enhanced energy codes, that really don’t save much energy, add significantly more to the cost of a home on a regular basis.

Housing is becoming unaffordable, and this will be a small straw in the case of housing costs.

Scott Turner, the HUD secretary also spoke at our meetings regarding reducing regulations to reduce the cost of housing. Hopefully that will more than offset the cost of the tariffs.

This underscores my issue with the over-simplified mantra that “tariffs are a direct tax on consumers” that I constantly hear from the media 'experts'. The truth is that the impact of tariffs on consumer costs is not a 1:1 comparison/contrast of imported costs with tariffs against imported costs without tariffs.....it's a comparison/contrast of imported costs with tariffs against domestic costs without tariffs.

Let’s use “Canadian lumber” as an example.  

Under the current (non-tariff) model, we must assume that US builders are obtaining that Canadian lumber at a lower price than US lumber. But I’m very doubtful that US lumber prices are/were running at or above 25% more than the Canadian imports. In a multibillion-dollar industry, even a “modest” a 5-10% savings is more than enough to justify using imported  materials.

(Imagine if Home Depot prices are 5-10% less than Lowe's. Most people will run to Home Depot if they can save $250-500 on a $5,000 project.)

 

Let’s assume the high estimate and say that US lumber has been selling at a whopping 10% higher price than Canadian lumber. So, if Canadian lumber prices jump 25%....instead of incurring a 25% cost increase, those buyers have the option to buy US lumber at only a 10% increase. (Just as most consumers would return to Lowe's for the $5,000 price if Home Depot's price jumps to over $6,000)

Yes, that’s still an increase from the previous imported cost.....but not the full “direct” amount of the tariff. And that 10% increase is being reinvested into improving US economy/jobs.

Then (to my homebuilder friend’s point) we may also want to contemplate why US lumber is/was costing 10% more in the first place?

How many regulatory rules that make US lumber production so cost prohibitive can be eliminated to eventually make US costs competitive with Canada’s non-tariff prices? 

 

[Hal 609]

4 hours ago, MsKreed said:

Let’s assume the high estimate and say that US lumber has been selling at a whopping 10% higher price than Canadian lumber. So, if Canadian lumber prices jump 25%....instead of incurring a 25% cost increase, those buyers have the option to buy US lumber at only a 10% increase. (Just as most consumers would return to Lowe's for the $5,000 price if Home Depot's price jumps to over $6,000)

Yes, that’s still an increase from the previous imported cost.....but not the full “direct” amount of the tariff. And that 10% increase is being reinvested into improving US economy/jobs.

Then (to my homebuilder friend’s point) we may also want to contemplate why US lumber is/was costing 10% more in the first place?

How many regulatory rules that make US lumber production so cost prohibitive can be eliminated to eventually make US costs competitive with Canada’s non-tariff prices? 

Thank you MsKreed … those regulatory rules , I believe, could/should be trimmed back to adjust the price of lumber a good deal . But there are pockets to be filled and palms to be greased all along the road even to just the lumber store let alone the housing market . Lumber imported from Canada spiked ridiculously during the covid pandemic for the simple reason that the loaded trucks were stuck at the International terminals waiting for Health Officials to admit U.S drivers to switch out with their Canadian Counterparts what a Charlie Foxtrot that turned out to be ! Until Agreements were reached ( aka palms were greased ) FYI , this from my Cousins Truck driver husband . Well , that time period has passed and the cost of lumber , along with other products from here and abroad never dropped to pre covid prices . 
Point … oh point yeah . 
As you pointed out with your post , tariffs blamed for higher prices being passed on to the Consumer, meh , just another excuse pushed down the Supply line to get prices and profit margins up and keep them there as with during  covid . 

[Twin Tiers Living 558]

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The Trump administration is taking its fight to nullify birthright citizenship to the U.S. Supreme Court. To date, every court to have considered Trump's executive order, issued on day one of his administration, has blocked it. But he is persisting.

President Trump's contention that birthright citizenship is unconstitutional is widely considered a fringe view because the Supreme Court ruled to the contrary 127 years ago, and that decision has never been disturbed.

 

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