Yes, he is a moron.

[The Barbarian]

President Trump on Thursday said he has decided to impose punishing tariffs on imported steel and aluminum in a major escalation of his trade offensive, disappointing Republican congressional leaders and inviting retaliation by U.S. trading partners.

Speaking at the White House, the president said he has decided on tariffs of 25 percent for foreign-made steel and 10 percent for aluminum.

“We’ll be imposing tariffs on steel imports and tariffs on aluminum imports,” the president said. “…You will have protection for the first time in a long while, and you’re going to regrow your industries.”

Investors appeared shaken by the news. The Dow Jones industrial average fell around 586 points, a loss of 2 percent, in early-afternoon trading before closing the day down 420 points.

The announcement capped an on-again, off-again episode, with the president initially expected to announce the trade action on Thursday morning only to cancel amid fierce pushback from opponents. Trump acted following a determination by the Commerce Department earlier this month that rising import volumes threatened U.S. national security.

The president’s move, relying upon a little-used provision of U.S. trade law, is expected to trigger immediate legal challenges by U.S. trading partners at the World Trade Organization and invite retaliation against American exports.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-and-aluminum-imports/?utm_term=.568e33b7b669

 

[The Barbarian]

March 1, 2018 5:10 pm
Stock Market Embraces Trump’s Tariffs by Plummeting 550 Points
Virtually everyone hates this no good, very bad idea.
...
wise person once said, of working in the White House: “It’s worse than you can imagine. An idiot surrounded by clowns . . . I am in a constant state of shock and horror.” Whether or not that description can be attributed to Gary Cohn or is simply “representative” of his views, we may never know, but it’s obviously a good summation of what life is like inside the capsizing Carnival cruise ship that is the West Wing, particularly over the last 24 hours.

To recap, on Wednesday night, The Washington Post reported that Donald Trump was expected to announce major tariffs on aluminum and steel on Thursday, a development that apparently caught administration officials completely off guard. Though Trump has been itching to start a trade war since he announced his candidacy for president, virtually all of his advisers, outside the truly (deleted) insane ones, strongly advised against such punitive measures, as they could ultimately hurt many U.S. allies and provoke retaliation by U.S. trading partners, among other terrible consequences. During a June meeting with his Cabinet to discuss the issue, a whopping 22 people were said to be against Trump’s wishes, to the three who weren’t: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, then-senior adviser Steve Bannon, and Trump himself. Unhappy that more people weren’t on his side, Trump reportedly screamed, “I want tariffs. And I want someone to bring me some tariffs!”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/201...races-trumps-tariffs-by-plummeting-550-points

 

[The Barbarian]

It’s not often that American presidents publicly praise international trade wars, which is probably why this overnight tweet from Donald Trump was seen as important across the globe.

“When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!”

It’s important to understand that Donald Trump lacks any kind of meaningful understanding of what trade deficits are and what they mean. Trade wars are not, in fact, “good,” and this president’s economic illiteracy remains a serious national threat.

But for me, the two most important words in the presidential missive were actually the last two: “It’s easy!”

As a candidate for the nation’s highest office, despite lacking any experience in government or public service, Donald Trump repeatedly assured voters that every challenge has a simple solution, and the only reason policymakers hadn’t yet implemented these easy solutions is that the nation is run by idiots. Elect Trump, he said, and he’d “make possible every dream you’ve ever dreamed.”

Implicit in the promise was the belief in child-like simplicity. ISIS? Trump would bomb the terrorists, they’d die, and that would be that. Corruption? He’d “drain the swamp.” Health care? He’d cover everyone, offering better insurance for less money.

If you had a complex problem, Trump had an easy solution that could fit on a bumper sticker. After all, “it’s easy.”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-two-most-dangerous-words-trumps-vocabulary-its-easy

 

[john w]

March 1, 2018 5:10 pm
Stock Market Embraces Trump’s Tariffs by Plummeting 550 Points

Seen it before.....Bad news sells...Dishonest media, press.....


" Plummeting?" Right. A 2% drop,i.e., 550 points, is " Plummeting!!"


IBM is "plummeting" today, off $3/share, to $150, from $153!!!!!!! Sell!!!! Trump did it!!!!!!! The market is crashing!!!!!

Charlatans....Every last one of them.


My mistake... I thought the topic of the thread was about me.

 

[Grosnick Marowbe]

Hey, Barb, I see you're still up to your old schemes and scams, because of your intense hatred of the President.

 

[glorydaz]

Hey, Barb, I see you're still up to your old schemes and scams, because of your intense hatred of the President.

And Trump has them running around like chickens with their heads cut off. :chuckle:

 

[The Barbarian]

Hey, Barb, I see you're still up to your old schemes and scams, because of your intense hatred of the President.

You think I made him do something stupid again? How so?

 

[glorydaz]

You think I made him do something stupid again? How so?

Barb, you think everything he does is stupid. That sorta takes away any desire to hear what you have to say...the cat is already out of the bag where you're concerned.

 

[Grosnick Marowbe]

You think I made him do something stupid again? How so?

You keep your ear to close to CNN and their ilk. Their "Propaganda" has 'warped' your ability to discern between truth and untruth.

 

[The Barbarian]

Barb, you think everything he does is stupid.

If you think so, you haven't been paying attention. I pointed out that he was smart to have bombed Assad when he used chemical weapons on rebels, for example. I just mention it when he does something stupid like initiate a trade war. It's going to cut jobs and hurt America. It always does. I'm just mentioning the facts.

That sorta takes away any desire to hear what you have to say...

You can like it, or not like it. Nothing changes. It was stupid. His own advisors told him it was stupid. It's going to be most damaging for the people who support him. He doesn't care.

the cat is already out of the bag where you're concerned.

I honestly didn't think he was that dumb. It's not just liberals and moderates who are angry with him over this. The Koch brothers are angry about it. For the same reason everyone else is.

GOP senators blast Trump's tariffs announcement
Republican senators are not too happy with the White House right now.
After President Donald Trump said Thursday that his administration will impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports next week, GOP senators spoke out about their fear of retaliation from other countries and the lack of communication from the White House.
Sen. Ben Sasse, who's been a frequent critic Trump, slammed the tariffs decision as something Americans would expect from a "leftist administration," not a Republican commander in chief.
"Let's be clear: The President is proposing a massive tax increase on American families. Protectionism is weak, not strong," he said in a statement. "You'd expect a policy this bad from a leftist administration, not a supposedly Republican one."

Sen. Pat Roberts, who is the chair of the Senate agriculture committee, also blasted the decision for the tariffs and warned of retaliation.
"They've already done this on washing machines and solar panels and the sorghum producer, one of the rare crops where we were making a profit, got targeted by China," he said. "Every time you do this, you get a retaliation. And agriculture is the number one target. I think this is terribly counterproductive for the (agriculture) economy and I'm not very happy."
When asked why Trump made the decision Roberts and other senators made the case to him, Roberts responded: "Good question."
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said the tariffs would be a "huge job-killing tax hike."
"While I am sympathetic to the issues facing domestic steel manufacturers, there must be a better way to address the steel industries concerns, and I hope Congress and the executive branch can identify an alternative solution before these tariffs are finalized next week," he said in a statement.
Even members of Senate leadership who are working with the White House on other measures expressed their concerns about Trump's plans for trade.
"My reaction is I'm going to study exactly what the President did," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, who is the second ranking Republican in the chamber, told reporters. "But (I'm) obviously concerned about retaliation and unintended consequences."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/01/politics/tariffs-white-house-republicans-congress-reaction/index.html

 

[drbrumley]

When Donald Trump says that he's going to impose tariffs on China, what he's really saying is "I'm raising taxes on YOU America!"

WE are the ones who are taxed, not China.

The U.S. has no taxing authority over other nations.

But they can (and do) clobber us with taxes, on just about every move we make.

Keep in mind that Trump wants to clobber us with gas taxes too!

The whole "Beating China" schtick is a very deceptive (yet nefariously clever) way to get Americans to cheer higher taxes ON THEMSELVES!

RP

 

[drbrumley]

Peter Schiff
9 hrs ·
Trump has it backwards. A trade war will be good for America's trading partners, who have been "losing" for on trade years. They send Americans real goods, and all they get in return are paper dollars. America's free ride on the global gravy train was bound to end eventually, but a trade war risks accelerating the day of reckoning.

 

[drbrumley]

Peter Schiff
Yesterday at 1:02pm ·
What Trump is really doing is imposing taxes on American consumers and businesses that buy steel and aluminum, or any products that contain those metals. Not only will this raise prices for consumers, but it will make American industry less competitive globally. Steel and aluminum producers will benefit from higher prices and reduced competition, but companies like GM and Boeing will suffer as their products becomes less competitive with those of foreign producers with access to lower priced steel and aluminum.

 

[drbrumley]

Ron Paul
8 hrs ·
The President erroneously peddles the idea that "trade wars are good, and easy to win," and that "we" will "win big" by not trading anymore with other countries.
American pockets are about to be picked by a tiny group of special interests.
Government cannot make you rich (unless you're a special interest, which 99.9% of the public are not).
Government can, however, make you poorer.
Trade wars and protectionism are a time-tested means in bringing that about.

 

[The Barbarian]

I hope Schiff is wrong about how bad it's going to be. I worry that he might not be wrong.

 

[john w]

I hope Schiff is wrong about how bad it's going to be. I worry that he might not be wrong.

Hey, Babbs-Did you see that the NASDAQ sky-rocketed today, while the Dow plummeted 71 points?!!!!

 

[john w]

Peter Schiff
Yesterday at 1:02pm ·
What Trump is really doing is imposing taxes on American consumers and businesses that buy steel and aluminum, or any products that contain those metals. Not only will this raise prices for consumers, but it will make American industry less competitive globally. Steel and aluminum producers will benefit from higher prices and reduced competition, but companies like GM and Boeing will suffer as their products becomes less competitive with those of foreign producers with access to lower priced steel and aluminum.

Natty Light prices are sky rocketing!

 

[The Barbarian]

Natty Light prices are sky rocketing!

Well, let's take a look...

NASDAQ says...
Trump's New Tariffs In Focus
March 02, 2018, 10:28
The North American Free Trade Agreement would be immediately affected by these tariffs, as Canada is the biggest steel and aluminum importer to the U.S. in the world (16% steel, 43% aluminum). Currently, our closest ally and trading partner hopes to work out certain exemptions - or at least reassurances - regarding these purported tariffs, that they won't be held to such an extreme new standard. This is especially considering there's no secret who Trump's target of these tariffs really is: China.

Since the early days of his presidential campaign, Trump has said he'd get tough with China, who he claims has taken advantage of trade with the U.S. over decades of non-action from previous administrations. So these tariffs are clearly a way Trump sees to help neutralize Chinese interest on steel imports. Besides this, obviously import tariffs would help domestic steel makes, like Nucor NUE and U.S. Steel X greatly.

However, though the steel industry in this country hires roughly 140K workers, that's a drop in the bucket compared to the 6.5 million workforce engaged in steel usage. Chief among these is the automobile industry, which relies greatly on steel and aluminum products. Higher prices for these materials would lead to higher prices for cars and trucks, and this sort of chain reaction through the economy is precisely why the market is having a problem digesting this news.

Currently, the Dow is down another 200 points in today's pre-market, the Nasdaq is 80 points off its Thursday close and the S&P 500 down 20 points. It's unlikely this issue will enjoy a swift correction in normal trading hours, so as long as this remains the main pressure on stocks today, we expect to close in the red again to end the week.
https://www.nasdaq.com/article/trumps-new-tariffs-in-focus-cm929319

Skyrocketing....

Things picked up a little by closing on Friday, but not enough to cover losses...

President Trump's trade war threat drove the Dow lower for the second straight day.

The Dow fell as much as 391 points on Friday, but it recovered most of those losses and finished down 71. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both ended with modest gains after falling 1% earlier in the day.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/02/investing/stock-market-dow-today-trump-tariffs/index.html

 

[WizardofOz]

[MENTION=13925]Grosnick Marowbe[/MENTION] [MENTION=13955]glorydaz[/MENTION] [MENTION=1851]john w[/MENTION]

Are you going to argue that these tariffs are good economic policy?

 

[patrick jane]

@Grosnick Marowbe @glorydaz @john w

Are you going to argue that these tariffs are good economic policy?

In the long run. yes.