The trade war is back on

[CdnFox]

Just now, eyeball said:

Dominate is what Trump wants and is threatening to do, with force.

 

it's not what he said and that's what we're discussing. 

And no he doesn't want to 'dominate by force'.  He does want things he considers critical to his country's wellbeing.  I disagree with both his assessment of that and certainly his approach but its pretty clear he just wants to be top dog, he doesn't want to run the kennel. 

[eyeball]

18 minutes ago, CdnFox said:

it's not what he said and that's what we're discussing.

It is precisely what he's said. You're simply being contrary for the sake of not wanting to concede the point.

[CdnFox]

2 minutes ago, eyeball said:

It is precisely what he's said. You're simply being contrary for the sake of not wanting to concede the point.

No. It is precisely not what he said.

Sorry kiddo but dominate and dominant are two very very different words.

I know, I know. Orange man bad and if you have to lie to make him sound better than that is absolutely acceptable to the left. But if we're talking truths in facts then what I said was correct. And everything else he said prior to and after that in that whole conversation highlighted that. He wants to be the top dog. He doesn't want to run the cattle

That's okay. I'm sure you'll find something else to lie about that will be just as entertaining

[eyeball]

3 minutes ago, CdnFox said:

Sorry kiddo but dominate and dominant are two very very different words.

Not in the context of annexation or trade war. You'd have to be some kind of truly dedicated Newspeak propagandist to think otherwise. 

[CdnFox]

6 minutes ago, eyeball said:

Not in the context of annexation or trade war.

They are absolutely so in contact with what his statement was.

I know, I know. orange man bad so truth irrelevant reeeeeeeeeeee! 

[Gaétan]

Trump wants to introduce tariffs just to get people talking about him on TV

[CdnFox]

29 minutes ago, Gaétan said:

Trump wants to introduce tariffs just to get people talking about him on TV

I feel like people mentioned him from time to time BEFORE the tariffs,    I'm not sure that was his concern

[CrakHoBarbie]

On 3/4/2025 at 4:13 AM, Michael Hardner said:

maybe boycott Dylan and load up on some Joni...

Or Joan....

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjiq8Wc6LqMAxXWIUQIHR-fEvgQ6soFegUIABDbAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DIrVD0bP_ybg&usg=AOvVaw1avhUW6R6Y7DV9LpxST40T&opi=89978449

[Michael Hardner]

7 hours ago, CrakHoBarbie said:

Or Joan....

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjiq8Wc6LqMAxXWIUQIHR-fEvgQ6soFegUIABDbAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DIrVD0bP_ybg&usg=AOvVaw1avhUW6R6Y7DV9LpxST40T&opi=89978449

American. Must boycott.

[SpankyMcFarland]

At least we’re not alone now. Trump has made the fateful decision to take on the rest of the world and for the moment we’re all singing from the same songbook. 

The US tech industry must be worried. In most markets, they’ve wiped out advertisers and local media while providing very little local work or income and have accentuated polarization and alienation among young people. What’s not to dislike for foreign governments? Many of them must be thinking about digital services taxes at the moment, if only to pay for the damage these arrogant, unaccountable foreigners are wreaking. 

[CrakHoBarbie]

2 hours ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

At least we’re not alone now. Trump has made the fateful decision to take on the rest of the world and for the moment we’re all singing from the same songbook. 

The US tech industry must be worried. In most markets, they’ve wiped out advertisers and local media while providing very little local work or income and have accentuated polarization and alienation among young people. What’s not to dislike for foreign governments? Many of them must be thinking about digital services taxes at the moment, if only to pay for the damage these arrogant, unaccountable foreigners are wreaking. 

The only Americans not worried are the maga cultists. Like toddlers, they don't have enough knowledge to be able to sense the danger.

But everyone else....

I was worried when donald got elected a second time.

But even I never forsaw the enormity of the clusterf__k that donalds st_pidity has unleashed upon us in such a short amount of time.

[SpankyMcFarland]

On 4/2/2025 at 11:55 AM, Gaétan said:

Trump wants to introduce tariffs just to get people talking about him on TV

He’s had this daft idea most of his life. 

[CdnFox]

2 hours ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

He’s had this daft idea most of his life. 

??

Not disagreeing with you but what are you basing that on?

[SpankyMcFarland]

3 hours ago, CdnFox said:

??

Not disagreeing with you but what are you basing that on?

He has publicly supported tariffs since the Eighties at the latest. Back then Japan was a major focus of his ire:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/trump-tariff-history-1.7469877

Here’s some info from several articles:

‘Three decades before President Trump’s trade agenda jolted the world, he laid out his vision in full-page newspaper advertisements foreshadowing what was to come,’ writes Jacob M. Schlesinger of The New York Times in ‘Trump Forged His Ideas on Trade in the 1980s—and Never Deviated.’

• “Japan and other nations have been taking advantage of the United States” for years, wrote the New York real-estate developer, in the typewritten letter addressed “To The American People,” his signature affixed to the bottom.’
•  
• “ ‘Tax’ these wealthy nations, not America. End our huge deficits, reduce our taxes…” the September 1987 ads demanded.’
•  
• “Let’s not let our great country be laughed at anymore.”

‘Asked in a recent Wall Street Journal interview about the origin of his views on trade, Mr. Trump said, “I just hate to see our country taken advantage of. I would see cars, you know, pour in from Japan by the millions.”

• ‘In the interview, Mr. Trump called Japan “interchangeable with China, interchangeable with other countries. But it’s all the same thing.”

‘Shortly after the 1987 publication of Mr. Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal,” he applied his world view in speeches and television interviews to a raging trade debate as Japan flooded the U.S. with inexpensive, high-quality autos and electronics.’

• ‘He continued gaining attention, and the book became a best seller.’

'He followed his newspaper ads—they ran in the New York Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe—and a brief flirtation with the 1988 presidential campaign with appearances on talk shows, telling hosts such as Larry King and Oprah Winfrey:’

• “I do get tired of seeing the country ripped off.” He told Diane Sawyer in 1989 he would impose a 15% to 20% tariff on Japanese imports, adding: “I’m not afraid of a trade war.”
•  
• ‘He complained specifically about the persistent trade deficit with Japan costing the U.S. money, as well as Japanese “import quotas and tariffs to protect their own interest,” as he put it in his 1990 book “Trump: Surviving at the Top.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 10:43 PM by SpankyMcFarland

[SpankyMcFarland]

All political leaders ask whether a policy that’s good for the country is also good for them. Generally, a popular and effective policy will bring more influence and the possibility of re-election as well as more abstract benefits like serving the nation and entering the history books. But what of a policy that’s clearly bad for the country, both unpopular and damaging? How long would they persist with that if they made personal gains from it? I’d say most would find another course fairly briskly. Here’s where America may be with Trump. His tariffs may be dreadful for the economy and America’s geopolitical position but will mean that large numbers of wealthy, powerful people will come to him cap in hand looking for exemptions for their company or their country. That’s basically his dream situation. Great rivers of money and flattery will flow. Hard to let go of that for the sake of cheaper groceries. 

[CdnFox]

2 hours ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

He has publicly supported tariffs since the Eighties at the latest. Back then Japan was a major focus of his ire:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/trump-tariff-history-1.7469877

Here’s some info from several articles:

 

‘Three decades before President Trump’s trade agenda jolted the world, he laid out his vision in full-page newspaper advertisements foreshadowing what was to come,’ writes Jacob M. Schlesinger of The New York Times in ‘Trump Forged His Ideas on Trade in the 1980s—and Never Deviated.’

• “Japan and other nations have been taking advantage of the United States” for years, wrote the New York real-estate developer, in the typewritten letter addressed “To The American People,” his signature affixed to the bottom.’
•  
• “ ‘Tax’ these wealthy nations, not America. End our huge deficits, reduce our taxes…” the September 1987 ads demanded.’
•  
• “Let’s not let our great country be laughed at anymore.”

‘Asked in a recent Wall Street Journal interview about the origin of his views on trade, Mr. Trump said, “I just hate to see our country taken advantage of. I would see cars, you know, pour in from Japan by the millions.”

• ‘In the interview, Mr. Trump called Japan “interchangeable with China, interchangeable with other countries. But it’s all the same thing.”

‘Shortly after the 1987 publication of Mr. Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal,” he applied his world view in speeches and television interviews to a raging trade debate as Japan flooded the U.S. with inexpensive, high-quality autos and electronics.’

• ‘He continued gaining attention, and the book became a best seller.’

'He followed his newspaper ads—they ran in the New York Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe—and a brief flirtation with the 1988 presidential campaign with appearances on talk shows, telling hosts such as Larry King and Oprah Winfrey:’

• “I do get tired of seeing the country ripped off.” He told Diane Sawyer in 1989 he would impose a 15% to 20% tariff on Japanese imports, adding: “I’m not afraid of a trade war.”
•  
• ‘He complained specifically about the persistent trade deficit with Japan costing the U.S. money, as well as Japanese “import quotas and tariffs to protect their own interest,” as he put it in his 1990 book “Trump: Surviving at the Top.”

 

Meh....  i can see where you were going but i think him talking 2 times about a specific country and a specific industry does not constitute picking a trade war with the whole world and wanting to all his life   at best you can say he's had feelings in the past that america is being taken advantage of in trade by some countries. (or one at least). 

And to be clear there's nothing daft about tariffs in general.  We've always had tariffs. The us has always had tariffs. Most countries have tariffs. 

What's new is this insane wide spread blanket tariff policy against everyone including penguins. 

[Legato]

On 4/1/2025 at 10:24 PM, eyeball said:

It is precisely what he's said. You're simply being contrary for the sake of not wanting to concede the point.

Is that what your Dominatrix told you?

[SpankyMcFarland]

1 hour ago, CdnFox said:

Meh....  i can see where you were going but i think him talking 2 times about a specific country and a specific industry does not constitute picking a trade war with the whole world and wanting to all his life   at best you can say he's had feelings in the past that america is being taken advantage of in trade by some countries. (or one at least). 

And to be clear there's nothing daft about tariffs in general.  We've always had tariffs. The us has always had tariffs. Most countries have tariffs. 

What's new is this insane wide spread blanket tariff policy against everyone including penguins. 

He’s been talking about it since the Eighties, took out ads on it and talked about it on TV, all as a private businessman. He also mentioned multiple countries back then apart from Japan. It appears in The Art of the Deal as well. So he has been carrying these ideas around for many decades. When he started with this preoccupation he had a more benign view of Canada. Obviously, now as president he has the chance to do it on a grand scale and make everybody come begging for mercy. It’s really one of his few fixed political beliefs in life. On most other things he has said whatever is expedient in the moment. 

Edited yesterday at 01:46 AM by SpankyMcFarland

[CdnFox]

2 hours ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

He’s been talking about it since the Eighties, took out ads on it and talked about it on TV, all as a private businessman. He also mentioned multiple countries back then apart from Japan. It appears in The Art of the Deal as well. So he has been carrying these ideas around for many decades. When he started with this preoccupation he had a more benign view of Canada. Obviously, now as president he has the chance to do it on a grand scale and make everybody come begging for mercy. It’s really one of his few fixed political beliefs in life. On most other things he has said whatever is expedient in the moment. 

I feel like you're stretching it, but I'll concede he's felt other countries are getting an 'unfair deal' with the us. 

[SpankyMcFarland]

Here’s an editorial from the decidedly conservative National Review: 

Quote

Believing that a country is in bad shape if it imports more goods than it exports — i.e., if it has a trade deficit — is, in most cases, a harmless error in reasoning. It’s the sort of thing that seems to make sense at first glance, but any halfway decent economics professor can train it out of students in one or two lectures.

 

Quote

Trump likes to frame his trade policy as “commonsense.” To treat allies worse than enemies and raise taxes on consumers and businesses at a time when the cost of living is a major concern is anything but commonsense. Trump’s mistaken beliefs about trade have been a constant since the 1980s, but now they have been combined with an enormous grant of power, and Americans will pay the price.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-strategic-folly-of-a-global-war-on-trade/

Edited 9 hours ago by SpankyMcFarland

[SpankyMcFarland]

And a great article in The Bulwark:

Quote

Understand this: There is no going back.

If, tomorrow, Donald Trump revoked his entire regime of tariffs, it would not matter. It might temporarily delay some economic pain, but the rest of the world now understands that it must move forward without America.

 

Quote

This realization may be painful for Americans. But we should know that the rest of the world understands us more clearly than we understand ourselves.

 

Quote

We have a deeply stupid government…

Quote

But also, we have the government we deserve.

The American age is over. And it ended because the American people were no longer worthy of it.

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-american-age-is-over

[CdnFox]

2 hours ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

And a great article in The Bulwark:

 

 

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-american-age-is-over

Yes yes yes, orange man bad.  There there. 

Frankly i still like him better than kamala as far as a leader goes 

Trump will be a pothole in the history of america's economics. There's no doubt things will change but we'll all adapt and get on with things. It's like covid - seemed like the biggest thing ever when it happened but financially it's completely in the rear view mirror and it's only been 5 years since it started. 

Hopefully he'll get his head out of his butt and change course.  If not then amerca (and possibly the world) will have a mild recession (we're about due anyway) and then we'll recover and trump will be gone. Probably impeached by the dems if they win about 15 seats in the midterms, which they will if the economy is trash. 

If he does smarten up then things will get better more quickly. 

It's pretty much that simple. This isn't the death of america 

[Gaétan]

I see that Trump is guided by God, the american companies abuse of workers from other countries since decades and Trump is punishing them and advise them to return to their country the United States.

[SpankyMcFarland]

16 minutes ago, CdnFox said:

If he does smarten up then things will get better more quickly. 

It's pretty much that simple. This isn't the death of america 

Not the death of America, no, but I can’t see how it will fully restore its reputation in the world. There’s such a thing as goodwill among free nations and that is in very short supply at the minute. There’s also no question that isolationism is not the self-destructive doctrine of one man alone but has infected many south of the border. 

Edited 7 hours ago by SpankyMcFarland

[CdnFox]

6 hours ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

Not the death of America, no, but I can’t see how it will fully restore its reputation in the world.

It depends a little. I will remind you that this is not the first time that the Americans have canceled trade agreements and behaved like buffoons with tariffs. I think it'll be a long time before anyone in the world trusts in the same way, but I would bet that 50 years from now nobody will even remember it happened.

Quote

There’s such a thing as goodwill among free nations and that is in very short supply at the minute. There’s also no question that isolationism is not the self-destructive doctrine of one man alone but has infected many south of the border. 

Sure, and it's hardly the first time. The Americans have gone through several isolationist phases. In fact they were pretty darn isolationist going into world war II till they got the snickerdoodles bombed out of them at pearl harbor and suddenly realized that being isolationist doesn't mean you're safe.

I don't think this is going to be a good time for them, I think they've made a mistake and that it will affect their economy for quite some time depending entirely on how long trump keeps this up. But unless it takes another radical turn this nonsense will probably be over within 2 or 3 years and five years after that people will remember that America is the largest economy in the world and they will want to sell it crap.

We'll see