# Retaliatory tariffs **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 24, 2025, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322 "2025-01-24T04:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 30
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/581 "2025-04-09T20:16:33Z")
DJT stock went up nearly 22% today. Odd timing. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/582 "2025-04-09T20:27:47Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > [@Horatius](#): > > > > The profit margin on the item obviously has to be less than that original cost, since materials, labor and shipping have to cost _something_ > > Sorry, but this is not how tariffs work either. If you ship a good that costs $100 to the USA, of which, let’s say, $50 are due to the materials used, $40 are labor, and $10 are benefit\*, if you then slap a 125% tariff on that good, it will then cost $225 to the American consumer (the original $100 plus $125 in tariffs), or just $215 if the producer decides to forgo their $10 benefit (but why should they?). Uhm, yes? You just said the same thing I just did, in more words. The only way this works is if the profit is a stupidly high percentage of the original sale price, pre-tariff. In your example, if Labor and Materials only cost $10, so the profit was $90, I could, in theory, drop my profit to $40, making the pre-tariff sale price $50. Adding 125% tariff adds $62.50 to the final cost, making it $112.50 to the end consumer. So both sides still lose out, but the buyer just not by as much. But any realistic profit margin would be wiped out by this. There just isn’t enough wiggle room to both stay solvent, and keep the price anywhere close to the original, pre-tariff price. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/583 "2025-04-09T20:54:14Z")
> [@This\_Just\_In\_2](#): > > As a Canadian living with 24/7 US tariff talk for months now - I have to wonder what kind of twilight zone I’m stuck in I don’t think they’ve even said what’s happening with Canada and Mexico… You were left out of liberation day, so who knows if you’re in the 10% gang. God what a shitshow. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/584 "2025-04-09T20:58:55Z")
Canada will (rolls dice) NOT be subject to the ten percent tariff. > **[Canada will not be subject to new 10% tariff, says ambassador to U.S.](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/2c74378c75ce69f3bd05148883e9aa787edbcaa15de44e8517335ccc76bfb73e/MSWJTTXU6VHF5JZQCE6P7FNMCQ/)** > > Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, said United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told her ‘we remain exempt from this levy’ ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/585 "2025-04-09T21:01:03Z")
For today. Until some other crazy idea flits into Trump’s head tomorrow, because someone in Canada says something “nasty” to him. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/586 "2025-04-09T21:03:26Z")
So great leader has had his temper tantrum and showed the world what kind of a shit show he could do if he felt like it. Now he is showing who his real target is, China. This shit isn’t over yet. It’s just the opening round of the next four years. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/587 "2025-04-09T21:20:43Z")
This round is far from over. 10% tariffs on everyone is still extreme, and essentially breaking off trade with China is next level. The market bounce is because of the people waiting to buy on the dip; I don’t think it’s a sober reflection of pricing in where that leaves us. Also on China, pretty awful to see how Trump et al were trying to blame this mess on them, but not surprising. The gaslighting has got underway. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/588 "2025-04-09T21:23:51Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Canada will (rolls dice) NOT be subject to the ten percent tariff. > > [Canada will not be subject to new 10% tariff, says ambassador to U.S. - The Globe and Mail](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/2c74378c75ce69f3bd05148883e9aa787edbcaa15de44e8517335ccc76bfb73e/MSWJTTXU6VHF5JZQCE6P7FNMCQ/) The whole situation is now so utterly confused and unstable that both White House officials and Trump himself issued contradictory statements today on the impact on Canada and Mexico. Tomorrow it will probably all be different again. The Orange Buffoon literally has no idea what he’s doing from one moment to the next. ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/589 "2025-04-09T21:41:23Z")
I have to kind of feel bad for Americans - their liberation barely lasted a week. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/590 "2025-04-09T21:46:34Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Canada will (rolls dice) NOT be subject to the ten percent tariff. But is still subject to the tariffs put on Canada and Mexico before “liberation day”. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/591 "2025-04-09T21:59:40Z")
> [@This\_Just\_In\_2](#): > > I have to kind of feel bad for Americans - their liberation barely lasted a week. Not even a Scaramucci! But I’m not sure what we were liberated from, unless it was the high prices of stocks. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/592 "2025-04-09T22:14:08Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Every country is on 10% for 90 days (but probably until Trump is convinced/forced to drop them further). Unless you’re Canada. In which case there is no 10%, but there is a 25% tariff on cars, or maybe there isn’t. And a tariff on the steel and aluminum the USA cannot do without. At this point it is near certain that even US CBP personnel cannot be expected to flawlessly figure out what tariffs are being charged, and who can blame them? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/593 "2025-04-09T22:41:55Z")
So that was market manipulation and insider trading. Someone specifically posted MTG’s trade logs on reddit and she made an unusual investment in SPY right before the tariffs were announced that instantly gained massively and no doubt plenty of others in Trump’s inner circles did the same. This is the most brazen, open instance of insider trading the US market has ever seen - he threatened the economic world order as a pump and dump (or, I guess, a dump and pump). The world is not going to invest in US markets with blatant corruption like this, and without that foreign investment the US financial system is massively weakened. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/594 "2025-04-09T22:53:31Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > > [@This\_Just\_In\_2](#): > > > > I have to kind of feel bad for Americans - their liberation barely lasted a week. > > Not even a Scaramucci! But I’m not sure what we were liberated from, unless it was the high prices of stocks. Affordable\* cars, electronics, groceries … \* For certain values of “affordable” ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/595 "2025-04-09T22:55:38Z")
I hope the SEC and DOJ investigate! Let me know when you stop laughing… ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/596 "2025-04-10T00:23:47Z")
News is now reporting Trump will consider exempting some US companies from the Tariffs. We are bearing witness to a speed run where the US becomes the most corruptible banana republic on the planet. When asked how he would determine which companies might receive such an exemption, Trump responded, “Instinctively.” “You almost can’t take a pencil to paper. It’s really more of an instinct than anything else,” Trump added. “Some companies, through no fault of their own, they happen to be in an industry that is more affected by these things than others. You have to be able to show a little flexibility, and I’m able to do that.” ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/597 "2025-04-10T01:02:26Z")
So Trump just TRUTH’s something out of his face-hole and the market goes up and down. But it’s not manipulation. And there’s a plan. Uh huh. > **[Here’s the Moment Trump’s Trade Rep. Learned the Tariffs Were Paused](https://newrepublic.com/post/193830/donald-trump-tariff-pause-trade-representative-learned)** > > Jamieson Greer was testifying in the House when he heard the news. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/598 "2025-04-10T01:58:17Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > So, he’s going to have one-on-one negotiations with 75 different countries, to discuss and resolve all the issues around “Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs”, and he’s going to do that all in 90 days? 1.2 days per country, assuming he works every weekend. > > When is he going to find time to cheat at golf? Okay, I suppose he could squeeze in a round on the day he’s yelling at the penguins about their unfair trade practices, but that’s about it. Nonsense. He’ll have his minions, headed by Navarro, do all that scutwork. He’ll just slash his big manly signature on the deal paperwork when it’s finished. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/599 "2025-04-10T03:49:39Z")
From my read through the news of the day, it looked like with the way that bonds were headed, it looked likely that there’d be a sufficiently large recession that tax revenues would drop and - given all other craziness from the White House - the US government wouldn’t be viewed as solvent in the near future. As such, it seems likely that Congress was - behind the scenes - starting the process towards cancelling the Presidential tariff power. Been those two things, I think that Trump decided that he needed to back down. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/600 "2025-04-10T04:04:50Z")
I do think something like that was likely because Trump truly believes in his stupid ass tariffs ideas and has for decades. That’s why I bet he wasn’t going to give them up so easily. But I’m sure once he decided to turn everything around, he did tell all his cronies to buy 5 minutes before he made the announcement, which has to be the biggest case of market manipulation/insider trading in history. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322.md?page=29) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322.md?page=31)