Category: Trade

“I Am The Destroyer Of Countries”

It appears that our leader (I use the term loosely) that it is his right too destroy countries that deems unworthy.

He proved just what a complete idiot he is and his lack of knowledge of the Constitution…..this after SCOTUS slipped him a mickey on his dumbass tariffs.

Reacting to a U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling his tariffs policy unconstitutional, U.S. President Donald Trump launched into an unhinged rant on Friday confirming that he considers himself above the law as any tinpot authoritarian leader would.

The court ruled 6-3 that the U.S. Constitution makes clear that only Congress can levy tariffs, which are really taxes, on the U.S. population. Thus Trump’s extensive tariffs, imposed since January 2025, are illegal and American consumers and companies are due a refund of around $200 billion, the court said.

The ruling unleashed Trump in full psychotic mode, railing against justices as “fools and lapdogs;” the plaintiffs in the lawsuit the court ruled on as “sleazebags, major sleazebags” serving an unnamed foreign power and he announced a new 10 percent worldwide tariff “over and above our normal tariffs already being charged” in defiance of the court.

Trump argues he is still allowed to impose tariffs over the heads of Congress by the authority of the 1974 Trade Act. That act allows a president to unilaterally impose tariffs of up to 15 percent (hence the new 10 percent measures), but only for 150 days, after which Congress must continue them.

However, Friday’s ruling means he must vacate the existing tariffs, which he is so far refusing to do.

Trump tries to justify his existing tariffs as having been imposed under an emergency act. But the court struck that down, arguing in essence there is no economic or national security emergency in the United States today.

In his madness, Trump furiously claimed he had authority to impose embargoes and “destroy countries” but the Supreme Court dared rule he couldn’t even put a single dollar tariff on a nation’s imports. He exclaimed:

“I am allowed to cut off any and all trade or business with that same country. In other words, I can destroy the trade, I can destroy the country. I’m even allowed to impose a foreign country-destroying embargo. I can embargo, I can do anything I want, but I can’t charge one dollar because that’s not what it says, and that’s not the way it even reads. I can do anything I want to do to them, but I can’t charge any money. So I’m allowed to destroy the country, but I can’t charge them a little fee.

Think of that. How ridiculous is that? I’m allowed to embargo them, I’m allowed to tell them you can’t do business in the United States anymore, ‘we want you out of here,’ but I want to charge them $10. I can’t do that.

It’s incorrect, their decision is incorrect. But it doesn’t matter because we have very powerful alternatives … .”

In fact, Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution asserts Congress has the authority to “lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises,” and to regulate commerce with foreign nations.  Embargoes, such as those on Cuba, North Korea and Iran, are imposed by Congress, not the White House (unless there is an emergency).

Trump: ‘I Can Destroy Countries’

This arrogant twat needs to be chopped down a peg or two….he clearly thinks he is an absolute ruler…..time for him learn differently.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Let’s Look At The Tariffs (Again)

I still do not know how any person breathing can think that these tariffs are a good thing…..brain damage is the best I can come up with……

According to Donny the US has raised billions in tariff cash….The U.S. collected $195 billion in tariff revenue in the 2025 fiscal year, which ended in September. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget noted that the total was a 150 percent increase from 2024.

Let’s look at what these tariffs are doing for the average person…..

The Trump administration’s tariffs are on track to cost the typical household an average of $2,400 per year, according to the Yale Budget Lab. Moreover, the typical small business that imports products already faced more than $90,000 in tariff costs from April 2025 to July 2025 alone; they are also reporting revenue losses of about 13 percent, which will annualize to $100,000 if tariff costs continue to mount at this rate. These costs are only the beginning of the toll that Trump’s turbulence will take on businesses and consumers in the months to come.

…

Businesses and consumers crave predictability. From frequent and inconsistent announcements on tariff policy to trying to politicize historically independent institutions such as the Federal Reserve and the BLS, the Trump administration has made turbulence and uncertainty the drivers of its economic agenda. This chaos is imposing real costs across the economy, and it will threaten the nation’s long-term economic growth if the administration does not change course soon.

All that cash that has been raised is basically being paid by the American consumer in higher prices.

It is that simple.

WE cannot cover tariffs without writing about what the economy as a whole is doing under these restrictive policies….

Deploying the same methodology that Republicans used to track cost increases under former President Joe Biden, JEC Democrats found that the average US family is spending roughly $700 more per month on basic items since Trump took office in January, pledging to bring prices “way down.”

“While President Trump claimed that he would bring down prices, the reality is that Americans have seen their costs soar even higher since he took office,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), the JEC’s ranking member. “As families across the country spend more to pay their bills and put food on the table, Democrats and Republicans should be working together to lower costs. Instead, President Trump is pushing ahead with reckless tariffs that continue to fuel inflation and drive prices up even higher.”

In some states—including Alaska, California, and Colorado—average families are spending over $1,000 more per month to maintain their living standards as costs continue to rise, in part due to Trump’s erratic tariff regime.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/inflation-under-donald-trump

So the economy sucks and job growth sucks as well and those were a couple of the selling points on tariffs that would improve the economy.

But yet Uncle Don tells the American  people that he has solved the inflation problem.

President Donald Trump announced in September that, despite ample evidence to the contrary, “We have almost no inflation anymore.”

The president explained that he has “already solved inflation” for America, and that is evidenced by the fact that “costs are down.” GOBankingRates breaks down the reality of the situation and what that means for your wallet.

The data (and the everyday costs they reflect) tell a different story. As reported by CNN, the annual inflation rate is at its highest level (2.9%) since January 2025, and that consumer prices continue to raise.

What does that mean for you? Essentially, it means that you’ll continue paying more at checkout for the time being.

https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/economy/trump-says-solved-inflation-what-it-means-for-you/

So far there has been no good news on the tariffs front…..and yet there are those that continue to believe that they will improve their station in life…..and that just illustrates how ignorant the American people are on the subject of tariffs and the economy.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Was There A Successful Slave Revolt In US?

These days there is a war in education and especially history…..the current mad man in the White House is actively trying to rewrite history in support of his lame ass “America First” agenda.

So since I do like my history I want to keep actual facts flowing for as long as I can….who knows if I can continue…..

This portion is about the most successful slave revolt in thew US….known as the Creole Mutiny…

The Creole Mutiny/Creole Rebellion (1841) was an insurrection aboard the brig Creole on 7 November 1841 during which 19 enslaved men (of the 135 men, women, and children held as slaves on board), led by Madison Washington, took the ship by force. The Creole had been sailing from Virginia to the slave markets in New Orleans, but, after its seizure by Washington and his men, it was redirected to the British territory of the Bahamas, where, since Britain had by this time abolished slavery, they were set free.

The Creole Mutiny/Creole Rebellion is considered the most successful slave revolt in US history, but it has been overshadowed by the more widely known Amistad Seizure of 1839 and the famous court case that followed. The Amistad Seizure was the direct inspiration for the Creole Mutiny, as it is well-established that Madison Washington knew the details of that event and was a great admirer of the Amistad rebel leader Sengbe Pieh (better known as Joseph Cinque). Since he already had the paradigm of the Amistad Seizure in mind prior to the Creole setting sail for New Orleans, it is thought that Washington planned his insurrection while still confined in the Virginia slave pens, chose the men he knew he could trust, and, when the right moment presented itself, was prepared to strike.

Although the US government petitioned for the return of the 130 slaves (five decided to remain on board and were later sold as slaves in New Orleans), they were considered free by the British government and established themselves in the Bahamas and Jamaica.

Years later, the United Kingdom financially compensated the United States for the slaves, but this did nothing to quell the outrage of the US government and pro-slavery factions in 1841 who saw the success of the Creole Mutiny – which had depended significantly on Britain upholding their anti-slavery laws – as a direct threat to the institution of slavery in the USA. Like the Amistad Seizure and John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry (1859), the Creole Mutiny further increased tensions between the slave states and free states in the years leading up to the American Civil War.

https://www.worldhistory.org/Creole_Mutiny/

Some things should never be forgotten no matter how much Donny hates them….and we all should know our history not some jacked up bullshit from a bunch of white supremacists.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

Tariffs–Blowing Smoke

Since January there has been daily updates on the tariffs that Donny has imposed on the world….it is a Duncan yo-yo….up and down….a pause and then strong condemnation and then another pause….I see China got another pause in tariffs….where are all those countries scrambling to do a deal?

To me it is more about stock manipulation and the markets than it is about punishing whoever has offended Little Donny….

But you decide….

Donald Trump’s words and actions rarely align perfectly. If you watch carefully, what he doesn’t say can be just as telling as what he does.

“Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods,” he told the nation ahead of his re-election. The US president declared that 2 April would “forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn”, only to pause tariffs a week later.

He promised peace in Ukraine on day one of his presidency, only to later clarify this was “said in jest”; and he has claimed very few people can beat him at golf, only for footage from Scotland to raise questions over just how honest that round might be.

As a real estate mogul, reality TV star and political campaigner, Trump learned to bend narrative to his will, even if it meant straying from reality.

As president, this often leaves a gap between what he says and what he does. In many cases, the administration’s actions are more important to follow than the firehose of words.

If you were, say, a US business buying coffee from Brazil, you might have rushed to import it last week after Trump insisted 1 August was the cast-iron deadline for new tariffs. “It stands strong, and will not be extended,” he wrote on Wednesday – hours before signing an executive order that said new steep tariffs on the country would come into force on 8 August, after all.

And if you’re a US consumer, you might reasonably ask how inflation can be “dead”, as the White House has claimed, if you’re still shelling out more on groceries each month.

The president has an awful lot to say about tariffs. They will, he argues, raise “trillions” of dollars for the US federal government; eliminate trade deficits with other countries; and even punish Brazil for putting his ally the former president Jair Bolsonaro on trial for allegedly seeking to seize power after losing the 2022 presidential election. The list goes on.

But what about what the president doesn’t say?

And if you’re a US consumer, you might reasonably ask how inflation can be “dead”, as the White House has claimed, if you’re still shelling out more on groceries each month.

The president has an awful lot to say about tariffs. They will, he argues, raise “trillions” of dollars for the US federal government; eliminate trade deficits with other countries; and even punish Brazil for putting his ally the former president Jair Bolsonaro on trial for allegedly seeking to seize power after losing the 2022 presidential election. The list goes on.

But what about what the president doesn’t say?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/05/donald-trump-tariffs

Donny has struck a few trade deals….nothing like what was promised but give him credit for the deals he has concluded….like with Japn and the UK….

By its own reckoning, the Trump administration has now inked “the largest trade deal in American history”—twice. On July 22, it announced a deal with Japan, with the promise of $550 billion in direct investment in the United States. Shortly after came the European Union trade deal, which the administration hailed as “historic structural reforms.”

All this fanfare over record-breaking trade deals brings to mind the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which, in its time, was on track to be the globe’s largest free trade pact before President Donald Trump abandoned it in 2017. TPP partners represented 40 percent of all U.S. trade, and unlike today’s skeletal agreements, we had the details. In fact, we had 30 chapters of them, covering everything from intellectual property to tariffs to e-commerce.

In contrast, the Japan deal that Trump claims to have struck is more puzzle than promise. The White House fact sheet on the new deal claims, “Japan will invest $550 billion directed by the United States to rebuild and expand core American industries,” and that 90 percent of the return from investment would go to the United States. However, this language veers in a different direction from the Japanese cabinet release, which says “Japan will enable government-affiliated financial institutions to provide up to $550 billion in capital contributions, loans, and loan guarantees.” Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Brad Setser has called the investment pledge “vaporware.”

The E.U. deal is, if anything, even thinner on details, with European negotiators rushing to clarify it was only a preliminary framework—political, provisional, and definitely not legally binding.

It didn’t have to be this way. The Trump administration claims its tariffs are drawing countries to the table for tough negotiations. Yet in 2016, TPP partners were already there, ready to sign an agreement that closely reflected U.S. trade standards and practices, having overcome significant domestic hurdles. The TPP’s multilateral negotiating framework actually provided an efficient mechanism for participating countries to modernize their existing bilateral free trade agreements, and it augmented less comprehensive pacts like NAFTA and the Korea-U.S. agreement (KORUS).

https://reason.com/2025/08/07/the-art-of-the-empty-trade-deal/

It is all smoke and mirrors and the faithful eat it up as somehow a breakthrough in trade….

So far I have not seen the ‘breakthrough’…..yes these sanctions has brought in some cash but at what price?

You as the consumer is paying the price….can you get that through that tiny mind?

After 6+ months the only thing he has accomplished was stealing more of your hard earned cash….congrats!  You asked for it, you got it!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Tariffs To The Left….Tariffs To The Right

Since our boy Donny has taken office he has imposed tariffs on most of the world….from an island populated by penguins to the nation of China, which has tariffs already of about 145%….all because Donny wants to punish China for its one sided trade with the US.

Consumers are started to see prices increase as these tariffs start taking effect.  But just how badly is these policies hurting the Chinese economy?

China’s economy has shown strong growth in the first half of 2025, growing by 5.3 percent despite ongoing trade tensions with the United States. The growth rate has exceeded Beijing’s targets, showing the resilience of the world’s second-largest economy.

According to The Washington Post, the impressive economic performance comes as Chinese manufacturers have increased their exports during a temporary pause in the trade war. This surge in exports has been a key factor in supporting China’s economic growth, as both customers and producers took advantage of the trade war ceasefire.

Trump’s decision to increase tariffs to 145 percent in April has proven ineffective in slowing China’s economic progress, while American consumers face significantly higher prices on everyday goods due to these tariff policies. The Chinese economy has defied Washington’s expectations, weathering the trade war better than many U.S. officials had predicted.

Following the May truce that helped ease trade tensions, negotiators from both countries are now working to transform the temporary agreement into a permanent trade deal, though Trump has already made significant concessions to China in previous negotiations. The deadline for these negotiations has been set for mid-August.

https://wegotthiscovered.com/news/trumps-145-tariffs-prove-useless-as-chinas-booming-economy-defies-washingtons-dire-predictions/

So these extreme tariffs are hurting nobody but the consumer….was that the plan all along?

What Donny and his ‘expert’ panel of morons overlooked is China is a member of the BRICS and as such have a built in trading partners.

BRICS is short for the countries that make up the economic bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and some say South Africa.

I have said all along since the very beginning that these tariffs are not going to save anything on the contrary it will cost the consumer heavily in an economy that does not need more pressure of the consumer.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Butt Licker To The Rescue

Just days ago the US Court of International Trade put a whammy on Donny’s dreams of harsh tariffs on the world…..and yesterday a Trumpite came to the rescue.

President Trump’s tariffs were reinstated by a federal appeals court ruling on Thursday. The court’s ruling came after a second federal court found that an emergency powers law does not give Trump authority to enact tariffs, and that most of the ones he’s already ordered after invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act are unlawful.

  • US District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled that the law does not permit the president to “unilaterally impose, revoke, pause, reinstate, and adjust tariffs to reorder the global economy,” the Hill reports. The US Court of International Trade reached the same conclusion on Wednesday.
  • The appeals court didn’t rule on the merits of the tariffs or the trade court’s ruling, but granted an emergency request to hold up the ruling, allowing Trump to keep collecting the tariffs while the issue is being decided in the courts, per the AP.
  • The Justice Department asked two sets of judges to let the Trump administration proceed with its tariffs, per the New York Times. If need be, administration officials had said they’d ask the Supreme Court on Friday for emergency relief, per the Washington Post.
  • After the 33-page ruling by Contreras, who was appointed by Barack Obama, for the DC District Court, the government filed another appeal. His ruling gave the government 14 days to appeal before it took effect, meaning the tariffs are still in place for now.
  • White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that there are “other legal authorities” Trump could use to impose tariffs, per the Guardian, and that he “is willing to use those.” She criticized what she called “a troubling and dangerous trend of unelected judges inserting themselves into the presidential decision-making process.”
  • The Guardian notes that only three of the 11 judges who granted the stay were appointed by Republican presidents. After the ruling, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro blasted the 12 states that sued as elitist Democratic coastal states, though Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota aren’t on either coast and the first two voted for Trump last year.

A loyal visitor to IST asked if this could be settled by the Supreme Court…..and I answered that I did not know for sure….and now the answer is yes if could be settled by SCOTUS.

SCOTUS has been in Trump’s corner for many of its rulings….so the pathetic tariff question will be answered by a pack of political hacks.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Yo-Yo Trade Policies

One day there are up the next they are down…..is it to give his, being Trump, Fat Cat buddies a chance to make more money?

It appears so to me.

Donny’s newest threat was against Apple…..

President Trump’s latest tariff threat is directed at Apple—he is threatening a 25% penalty unless the company starts making iPhones in the US, reports NBC News. Most are currently made in China, though CNBC notes that the company has been recently moving some production to India.

  • “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social. “If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S. Thank your for your attention to this matter!”
  • EU, too: Trump also threatened to impose a 50% tariff on the European Union, one of the nation’s largest trading partners, per the Wall Street Journal. He faulted their “powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits” against US companies.
  • Markets: Dow futures were down more than 600 points on the combined threats. Apple shares fell about 3%.

Apple’s drop effected the entire market….

US stocks fell Friday after President Trump threatened 50% tariffs on the European Union that could begin in a little more than a week.

  • The Dow dropped 256.02 points, or 0.6%, to 41,603.07, off 2.5% for the week.
  • The S&P 500 declined 39.19 points, or 0.7%, to 5,802.82, finishing the week down 2.6%.
  • The Nasdaq fell 188.53 points, or 1%, to 18,737.21, down 2.5% for the week.

Trump threatened the tariffs before the US stock market opened, saying on his Truth Social platform that trade talks with the EU “were going nowhere” and that “straight 50%” tariffs could go into effect on June 1.

Stocks fell immediately in Europe, the AP reports. The US market also took a quick turn lower, and futures for US stock indexes tumbled after earlier suggesting only modest moves at the open of trading. The S&P 500 lost as much as 1.3% shortly after trading began, but it pared its loss as traders weighed whether Trump’s latest threats were just negotiating tactics aimed in hopes of getting a deal or something more. Apple dropped 3% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 after Trump went after the company specifically. He said he’s been pushing Apple to move production of iPhones to the US, and he warned a tariff “of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the US” if it doesn’t.

I have thought from the beginning that these tariffs were a game that Donny is playing and the more he employs these yo-yo economic policies the more I am convinced that these tariffs are put in place to benefit him sand his Fat Cat thugs…..those people that care NOTHING for this nation and its people as long as they can continue to play the system for their benefit.

Does anyone see this as ‘making America great again’?

If so please define why.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Our Early Tariff Wars

+++Note–this is going to be another short days for posting for I return to the doctor for blood letting, scans and consultation….in the last week I have been stuck so many times I am starting to feel like a pin cushion.  I will be checking when I can on IST using my phone so please bear with me for I may miss something.  Thanx for your time and understanding+++

You guys know me I do like to inject history into the conversation whenever I can….and what better subject for that injection than tariff wars?

Tariffs are nothing new, nothing Donny came up with on his own….nope they have been with us since the very beginning of this nation….

President Donald J. Trump claims that “tariffs are going to make our country rich.” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer counters that “Trump’s tariffs are going to raise prices on American families by as much as $1,200 a year.” Debate rages on amid American tariff measures and other nations’ counter-measures. This debate over who wins and who loses from tariffs is not new. It’s not even particularly populist. As it turns out, arguing about tariffs has a long American pedigree, dating back to the administration of the first president, George Washington.

There are three important lessons we can learn from this early American tariff debate. The first and most important lesson is that each system proposed in the 1790s, like all centralized systems of industrial policy and tariffs, allowed government to choose winners and losers. Second, at a time when some form of mercantilism was still the default position for nearly all Americans, there was still vigorous debate. And third, tariffs are fundamentally a moral issue.

Americans would like to believe that the most contentious moral and political issue in the United States before the Civil War was slavery. Sadly, it was not. Until 1857, slavery often took a backseat to questions that we tend to overlook today, things like the national bank, transportation infrastructure, and immigration. The most contentious issue in early America, however, was the tariff, especially a protective tariff designed not to raise revenue but to discourage foreign trade altogether.

Why did tariffs arouse such strong opinions? To answer this question, we need to look at the major tariff debates in the early American republic. The first such debate, between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans during the 1790s, set many of the terms for the later debates occasioned by Henry Clay’s “American System” during the populist Age of Jackson, as well as the high tariffs implemented by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.

What the tariff fight of the 1790s reveals is not the clash of free market liberalism vs. dirigisme—indeed, no one in the late 1700s promoted total free trade—but rather the clash of two different industrial policies, each of which wanted to grant the US Government coercive power over the marketplace.

Lessons from Early America’s Tariff Wars

You see nothing new.

In case you, my reader, would like to learn more about the early tariff wars then this may help.

A Brief History of Tariffs in the United States and the Dangers of their Use Today

Now hopefully you will have a better grasp on just what a tariff war is about and make a rational decision if they are good or bad.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those China Negotiations

If you will recall the prez slapped a tariff of 125% or was it 145%….any way he recently slacked off to a 80% tariff on goods coming in from China.

All the while we are told that there is massive negotiations going on to try and moderate these trade limitations.

News came out over the weekend that some progress in those negotiations is being made…..

“I’m happy to report that we made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Sunday in Switzerland. He didn’t go so far as to say an agreement was reached, though the White House did, putting the headline “US Announces China Trade Deal in Geneva” on a transcript of Bessent’s remarks on its website. No one provided information in support of that conclusion, but Bessent said details would be released Monday, NBC News reports.

Signs of a truce in the trade war sparked by President Trump’s tariffs would pump up the financial markets, per the New York Times, and reassure those fearing it will bring the global economy down. Later Sunday, per the AP, the Chinese delegation held a news conference in Geneva in which it described the weekend talks as “candid, in-depth and constructive dialogue.” The two sides agreed to “establishing a consultation mechanism” for more discussion on trade and economic issues, said Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Before Sunday’s round of talks began, Trump posted online that “great progress” was being made toward what he said could be a “total reset” on his tariffs, per the AP. Trump said Friday that the US might lower the tariffs on China from 145% to 80%, per the Washington Post. China has maintained it won’t make trade concessions in reaction to the tariffs. The two sides have not agreed on whose idea the negotiations were. Chinese officials say the US asked them to participate. American officials disputed that.

That is good news indeed….but is it?

This administration is noted for a whole bunch of misinformation…..is this to try and placate the markets or is it just wishful thinking?

As I was working on this post at 5 am news that the markets, the futures, jump almost a 1000 points….so I guess my previous questioned was answered.

I am hoping that some sort of deal can be made because without one Christmas is going to be really expensive this year.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

He Has A Trade Deal

Before I begin–I am sure that most people know there was white smoke at the Vatican and that means yes we have a pope, he will be Pope Leo XIV….and he is an (wait for it) American!

Just in case you are interested in the history of Pope Leos…..https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/08/europe/papal-leo-pope-cardinal-pontiff-intl

Moving on to important news.

I have been very critical of Donny and his tariff stuff and I would like to report that he has a new trade deal with the UK.

The US and the UK have struck a deal on trade after President Trump’s imposition of tariffs, the first of what could be dozens to follow, reports the Washington Post. Details are scant at the moment, but President Trump plans to address it at a 10am Eastern news conference. Even if this ends up being just the broad outline of an agreement, markets are happy with the precedent: Dow futures rose about 400 points early Thursday on the news, reports CNBC.

  • The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Because of our long time history and allegiance together, it is a great honor to have the United Kingdom as our FIRST announcement. Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!”
  • However, the Wall Street Journal doubts any deal struck in such a short time can be “comprehensive” and instead expects a narrowly focused pact. Trade attorney Timothy C. Brightbill tells the New York Times it’s probably “just an agreement to start the negotiations, identifying a framework of issues to be discussed in the coming months.”
  • The US imposed a 10% tariff on most goods imported from the UK, and the UK also is subject to Trump’s 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum. The UK has retaliated in turn, and the BBC predicts the deal might result in lower tariffs on US cars imported there. The UK might get a break on the steel and aluminum tariffs, but the baseline 10% tariff is likely to remain, per the Journal.

I am very pleased to see that there is now a deal with the UK.

The markets liked it so the openings were really positive….which is good (I guess) but I would like to know what this deal will do for us struggling peasants.

If possible I would like to see more deals follow suit…..so we can get our economy back to some sort of normalcy.

This is another look at the UK trade deal…..

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled the framework of a trade deal with the United Kingdom that was extremely light on details despite being billed as a “full and comprehensive agreement,” leading critics to describe the fanfare surrounding the announcement as a cynical photo op for both sides.

In a statement, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer touted the deal as “historic” while acknowledging that it is incomplete. Trump insisted the deal is “maxed out,” though he told reporters in the Oval Office that “the final details are being written up in the coming weeks.”

…

Melinda St. Louis, Global Trade Watch director at Public Citizen, said Thursday that “Trump may have enjoyed having his ego stroked by Starmer and [U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard] Lutnick fawning over him for ‘closing’ a deal—one that is obviously not actually done—but his con on American workers continues.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-uk-trade-deal-trump-starmer

So is this a good deal or just a stroke of ego said to get the focus off his failed attempts to control world trade?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”