# 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:** 35
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/681 "2025-04-14T22:47:09Z")
[![](https://images.spot.im/image/upload/q_70,fl_lossy,dpr_3,h_100,w_69,c_scale/v200/30ce7414-e5d8-437c-b02e-ba32d2392394) ](https://images.spot.im/image/upload/q_70,fl_lossy,dpr_3,h_100,w_69,c_scale/v200/30ce7414-e5d8-437c-b02e-ba32d2392394) ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/682 "2025-04-14T23:21:17Z")
Schrodinger’s Tariffs: You don’t know how much you’ll pay until you open the box. ---
**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 14, 2025, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/683 "2025-04-14T23:22:50Z")
Maybe Schrödinger explains why Trump “generously” reduced the amounts by half. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/684 "2025-04-14T23:23:32Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > what’s not debatable is that this is clearly a concerted effort, aimed at undermining American confidence and throwing US politics into further turmoil. Yes indeed it is: [Trump tariffs on China backfires? TikTok flooded with videos of luxury brands’ Chinese manufacturing - World News | The Financial Express](https://www.financialexpress.com/world-news/trump-tariffs-on-china-backfires-tiktok-flooded-with-videos-of-luxury-brands-chinese-manufacturing/3809085/) ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/685 "2025-04-14T23:27:37Z")
This is not going to end well for the idiot in charge: Industry does not keep a lot of rare earth minerals on hand: > China produces over 90 per cent of some of the world’s most critical rare earth minerals such as yttrium, dysprosium and terbium, and the new export restrictions sever their supply lines to users around the globe. > > Industry experts are concerned that if the export halt lasts longer than two months, it could deplete existing stockpiles of these minerals built up by customers. > [China halts critical rare earth mineral exports as Trump teases new tariffs | The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/trade-war-china-rare-earth-export-b2732710.html) Magnets are also a critical component of a lot of production: > China also restricted exports of its magnets, which account for 90% of the global production. > > Rare earth magnets currently make up a tiny share of China’s overall exports, so the controls would have a relatively smaller impact to China than its prominent trade partners. [China suspends rare earth, magnet exports – report - MINING.COM](https://www.mining.com/china-suspends-rare-earth-magnet-exports-report/) ---
**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 22, 2025, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/686 "2025-04-22T11:00:28Z")
US imposes tariffs of 3,521% (yes, that’s a comma, not a dot) on imports of solar panels from south east Asia: > **[US sets tariffs of up to 3,521% on South East Asia solar panels](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ygdv47vlzo)** > > Several Chinese solar companies with factories across the region could face steep new tariffs. ---
**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 22, 2025, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/687 "2025-04-22T11:41:53Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > US imposes tariffs of 3,521% (yes, that’s a comma, not a dot) on imports of solar panels “See?!? We TOLD YOU ‘Green energy’ didn’t make economic sense!” ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/688 "2025-04-22T13:13:45Z")
This will pay for that “Golden Dome” missile shield in no time. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2025, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/689 "2025-04-30T17:31:26Z")
Trump’s second favourite set of wheels (after Cadillac One) is a golf cart. Why his golf carts are _assembled_ in the United States, their components come from China, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, Turkey, and Europe. How long until He decides that golf cart parts won’t be tariffed? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2025, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/690 "2025-04-30T17:49:59Z")
But I thought China, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, Turkey, and Europe were to pay the tariffs, so where’s the problem? His disastrous putting apart. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/691 "2025-05-08T18:11:42Z")
So there was a tariff deal announced today between the UK and the USA. I’m not smart enough to figure out the details, but on surface it looked like the Brits got the better end of the deal. Can somebody here prove me right or wrong? And I just read that we have a trade surplus with the UK, so likely this agreement won’t mean shit to our bottom line. But, again, I’m not smart enough to figure that out. ---
**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:** [May 8, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/692 "2025-05-08T19:49:42Z")
Per [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-britain-expected-announce-tariff-deal-thursday-2025-05-08/): > U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday announced a limited bilateral trade deal that leaves in place Trump’s 10% tariffs on British exports, modestly expands agricultural access for both countries and lowers prohibitive U.S. duties on British car exports. You’d probably need to dig into the import/export breakdowns by product between the two countries but my take would be that it’s largely just rolling back the Trade War on the top-line items. It’s sort of like USMCA. You screw things up, get things back to where they were before you got involved, and claim victory. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/693 "2025-05-12T23:32:54Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > It’s sort of like USMCA. You screw things up, get things back to where they were before you got involved, and claim victory. The proposed deals with the UK and China are objectively WORSE than the situation pre-Trump. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2025, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/694 "2025-05-12T23:51:40Z")
While I’m expecting that the courts will take down the tariffs, I’d expect that Trump would eventually start lopping off tariffs if it looked like they’re preventing him from maintaining power. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2025, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/695 "2025-05-12T23:52:56Z")
Why would courts do that? There is no law by which they could. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2025, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/696 "2025-05-12T23:55:09Z")
The executive does not and should not have power to set tariffs in the constitution. It’s only the some 1970s law that says the president can do it in emergencies. Courts just need to rule that this clearly isn’t what’s going on, and boom, they’ve stripped Trump of his power to lay tariffs. Now, whether that would actually do anything is another question. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2025, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/697 "2025-05-13T00:03:34Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Why would courts do that? There is no law by which they could. > **[The Tariffs Imposed by President Trump Are Unconstitutional](https://reason.com/volokh/2025/04/30/the-tariffs-imposed-by-president-trump-are-unconstitutional/)** > > President Trump has raised or lowered tariffs/taxes, or he has threatened other nations that he will do so, on an almost daily basis since Inauguration ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/698 "2025-05-13T00:49:28Z")
That’s an opinion (you should be very wary of a piece that literally tries to make a point by citing a definition from a 1755 dictionary) but it’s abundantly clear Congress’s decision to just let the executive do this is now the law. And they could take it back from him whenever they wanted to. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/699 "2025-05-13T16:25:17Z")
I have no illusion that the Supreme Court could go the other direction. But, legal arguments being legal arguments, the judges are probably not entirely uninfluenced by the stock market and inflation, themselves, and there does need to be some point at which deference becomes a little too stretched. If you can drop habeas corpus because of the Clear and Apparent National Emergency that the President’s favored baseball team might lose, and we need to arrest the best guy on the opposing team in a hurry, then there’s basically no habeas corpus. National Emergencies do need to be actual emergencies. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322/700 "2025-05-13T16:37:30Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > If you can drop habeas corpus because of the Clear and Apparent National Emergency that the President’s favored baseball team might lose, and we need to arrest the best guy on the opposing team in a hurry, then there’s basically no habeas corpus. National Emergencies do need to be actual emergencies. I mean, obviously I agree. WRT tariffs, the problem is that it’s Congress’s job to do something, but they won’t. They don’t seem to really care. A Constitution isn’t really what’s written. A Constitution is a common agreement that what’s written matters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322.md?page=34) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retaliatory-tariffs/1013322.md?page=36)