That is true mate. This approach by Trump though will not reverse much of that in my opinion. It will make the countries that have plenty have more, and those trying to emerge slump back. Global inequality drives many of the things we dont like in society. This seems to me to be a case of making that situation worse. Trump is bring simplistic business deal negotiation tactics to a complex political world. I cant see any positives whatsoever personally.
The "tariffs charged to the US" column on his charts are complete and utter rubbish, its all about trade imbalances and nothing to do with reciprocal taxes. They have taken the deficit for an individual country and divided it by the imported goods to get that . The bloke is an absolute grifter. This is an example from CNBC For instance, the U.S. claims that China charges a tariff of 67%. The U.S. ran a deficit of $295.4 billion with China in 2024, while imported goods were worth $438.9 billion, according to official data. When you divide $295.4 billion by $438.9 billion, the result is 67%! The same math checks out for Vietnam. We need to focus our trade elsewhere
You may be right mate....we've no crystal ball. My thinking was that if it forces countries to trade more locally,regionally with each other and to resist overtures from the US,it may be a longer term benefit in evening things out a little?
Agree...there's been no joined up thinking by him.For example,Lesotho is one of the countries hit by the highest tariffs.....it mainly exports diamonds to the US,which doesn't produce any diamonds itself,so how is that helping protect US industry? As someone said over on the jokes thread, the only person Trump ever hired who was actually qualified for the job was Stormy Daniels.
I dunno if it was globalisation itself. There’s probably nothing wrong with countries specialising in what they’re good at. You’d hope it would lead to better overall outcomes for all. The issue comes when companies - and governments - do nothing to help people transition into that new world. Extraction of wealth would happen in either scenario I’d guess. Globalisation just coincided with corporations getting better (or more brazen) at it.
We could be seeing the dismantling of the last 100 years world order. The UN is based in New York,the IMF and the World Bank are based in Washington DC.The world currency is dollars.......oil is priced in dollars,as is gold. If you live in a country with a low economic outlook, US dollar is king....it'll buy you anything. The US population is less than 350m. If the Govts.of China,India,Japan,UK and the EU start to understand what they need to do, and believe they can turn this tariff upheaval to their advantage, Trump may have commited a US hari-kari.
Good point there mate. The US have been in a privileged position for decades and part of that was on the back of the unwritten agreement that there were no barriers for using the dollar*. It would take something seismic for the position to alter and Trump is unwittingly (surely?) trying to bring that about. The UK was in this position for a long time until global economics turned against it. * Excuse my rudimentary understanding! I wonder if there is a reason that the US would benefit from the dollar no longer being the reserve currency.
I don't think they would benefit mate,more the reverse. Imagine if countries decided not to export goods to the US,but to their agreed partners in trade,and to use the Euro,for example,as their currency of choice. And then,to not send envoys to the UN,but,to,let's say New Delhi.A new UN. Let's say the IMF was disbanded and a new Fund set up in eg Geneva,and a World Bank transferred to,say,Tokyo. The US has ruled the world since the end of the second world war........I think that's about to change....the world has had enough!
The dollar would plummet and the US inflation rate would shoot up, with all the trauma that goes with it.
And the Manhattan banks would all rapidly shift their business HQ elsewhere.....they've no loyalty to Trump.....Tel Aviv would be the most likely destination for most,but Euroland,Rupeeland,Yenland and Yuanland would also have appeal.
Absolutely , they could clean up here , get trade with disenchanted countries and for a double whammy be able to push their influence on them
He's come out with his 3 word slogan already... Trust In Trump What's that word where you only employ thick yes people who don't dare advise you on anything ... He's now trying to sell his Trump Gold cards while on air force one... says they'll be on sale in about 2 weeks.
I have for the first time, watched Reeves, good grief, I would probably be banned if I said what I thought about her. Does she have pictures of Thatcher on her walls?
Time to boycott US goods. I know me alone means nowt but I’ve cancelled Amazon prime and will look for items on there and buy them elsewhere and I’ll go local not Starbucks etc. People talking about China etc - not sure if they’re any worse than the US and let’s be honest that isn’t just a Trump thing. Look at their support for Israel. We’re marginally better there. I truthfully think they’ve had the ****test hand after Brexit’s undisputed economic self harm and the corrupt Tories but this lot are also puppets for the rich. I’ll not be voting Labour in May but definitely not Reform PLC as I don’t ever want to pay for my parent’s health appointments. If we think disability benefit cuts and elderly benefits are bad wait for Reform. Not decided yet but either Green or Lib Dems for me. Still struggling with Lib Dem’s hypocrisy in government.
