Remember about a month and a half ago when Donald Trump claimed China had called his top negotiators and a trade deal was on its way? I remember thinking you’d have to have less than 2 pints of creamy brain pâté inside your cranium to actually wager your money based on something Donald Trump said….
Category: TradeWar
Irate at China, Trump had to be talked off his crazy ledge by advisers and 'multiple CEOs'
This is what happens when you make a septic spleen president of the United States. Donald Trump was reportedly so enraged at China after the country announced $75 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods back in August that he wanted to double existing tariffs on the country. He also appears to have been surprised by China’s move,…
Trump in a Panic on All Fronts
Trump has been counting on four things to get him re-elected: The economy Winning the trade war he started with China Building the wall he promised his base Russian hacking and GOP voter suppression Right now he's panicking on all 4. The economy is heading toward a recession. Trump and his echo chamber are denying…
Trump says he has 'second thoughts' about trade war — may not know what 'second thoughts' means
At a G7 breakfast meeting, Donald Trump appeared to show a moment of reflection and introspection with regard to his trade policy. Wait, that can’t be right. Roll tape. REPORTER: Any second thoughts on escalating the trade war with China? TRUMP: Yeah, sure. Why not? REPORTER: Second thoughts? Yes? TRUMP: Might as well. Might as well….
U.S. Steel laying off hundreds of workers in Michigan
Donald Trump likes to pretend that the American steel industry is one of the few domestic industries that hasn’t been vigorously wedgied by his tariff regime. Not only has he claimed his tariffs have singlehandedly revived the industry … x In one year Tariffs have rebuilt our Steel Industry – it is booming! We placed a…
'He's rattled': Paranoid Trump broods about possible recession
You can tell when Donald Trump is upset about something — his lies and non sequiturs become far more feral, frequent, and surreal. Meanwhile, we all sit back and observe with a mixture of contempt, amusement, and horror — like watching a chimpanzee in a room with several boxes scattered around try to get the banana…
In one of his dumbest tweets yet, Trump again shows he knows zero about the economy
How did this wee-brained little man ever graduate from high school, much less Wharton? Betraying his profound ignorance of how the global economy works, Trump tweeted this bland bit of folderol today: x The United States is now, by far, the Biggest, Strongest and Most Powerful Economy in the World, it is not even close!…
Trump's ag secretary calls farmers 'whiners' after listening to their complaints about trade war
So if your administration’s policies had screwed one of your boss’s key constituencies sideways, do you think you might hold off on insulting them to their faces? Well, not if you’re part of this administration, which has an uncanny knack for always making things worse. At a listening session last week in Minnesota, Secretary of…
North Dakota farmer: Trump 'took away all of our markets'
As the trade war limps along exactly as you’d expect a policy launched by a failed casino owner would, real people are taking it on the chin. One of those folks is a farmer from a reliably red state that voted for Trump by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Yahoo! Finance: “This trade thing is what’s…
Trump admits trade war could drag on past 2020 election
Donald Trump said today that he believes China may seek to delay trade negotiations until after the 2020 election in the hope that the country could negotiate with another president a sane person. Reuters: “I don’t think personally China would sign a deal if I had a 2% chance of losing the election,” Trump told reporters…
Trucking activity has dropped off big-league, possibly signaling an economic slowdown
Trucking and shipping are the lifeblood of our economy, just as lard and cheap Christmas fudge are the lifeblood of Donald J. Trump. When any of these slow or clot up, the patient is about to faint. Well, look out, and grab onto your doubloons. As the Fed considers whether to begin cutting rates or…
Trump tariffs 'could result in a Bible shortage'
Well, that’s karma — or whatever the Christian equivalent of karma is. Eternal perdition? Because that’s what they’ve given us … So now this is happening: Because they elected Donald Trump, white evangelical Christians could soon be facing a severe Bible shortage. Trump is still threatening a 25 percent tariff on $300 billion of Chinese goods,…
Polls say Michigan voters hate Trump's trade policies … a lot
Winning Michigan is vital to Donald Trump’s hopes in 2020. In fact, the Midwest as a whole is key to his reelection strategy. So it’s notable that his quixotic, high-profile tariffs have been a gut-punch to farmers and autoworkers in Michigan and across the region. We often assume members of Trump’s base are too thick…
Charles M. Blow wonders if Lindsey Graham is being blackmailed; it's a fair question
Like almost every Republican who doesn’t look and act like a golem made of stale circus peanuts, primal shame, and nougat, Lindsey Graham was once a vocal opponent of tariffs and a fierce defender of free trade. Now? He agrees with Donald Trump that we should burn down our relationship with our biggest trading partner because…
Wall Street analysts: Trump's Mexico tariffs will undermine China trade negotiations
Trump’s decision to slap new tariffs on Mexico until Mexico stops airdropping Mexicans onto American strawberry fields and dairy farms will have serious unintended consequences, according to several Wall Street analysts. That is, it’s made the entire world aware of something bankers, building contractors, and Trump University graduates have known for years or even decades: Donald…
Farmers are reportedly running out of patience with Trump and his trade war
I wouldn’t be so sure about farm country coming out in droves for Donald J. Trump in 2020. Many farmers wanted Trump to get tough on China, but the guy who mysteriously lost money running casinos surprisingly has no idea what he’s doing when it comes to complex trade agreements. And farmers are increasingly desperate and…
Tariff increases could cost U.S. households up to $800 on average
Donald Trump is fond of saying we lose billions of dollars to China each year because of our trade deficit with the country — a deficit that has (erp!) somehow hit a record high under Trump’s watch. Of course, that’s a little like saying my trade deficit with Trader Joe’s is unsustainable, so I’m gonna stop…
Dow futures plunge after Trump threatens more tariffs
Donald Trump, write this 100 times on your left moob: China does not pay our tariffs. China does not pay our tariffs. China does not pay our tariffs. x ….of additional goods sent to us by China remain untaxed, but will be shortly, at a rate of 25%. The Tariffs paid to the USA have…
Janet Yellen: Trump doesn't know squat about economics
In an interview today with Kai Ryssdal of Marketplace, former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen did not mince words when it came to Donald Trump’s (lack of) qualifications to be president. Yellen, who was famously too short to be DJT’s pick for Fed chair, stated point-blank that Trump has a poor grasp of economics —…
Chinese official LOLs as Trump and adviser argue about trade
Remember when Trump said the world was laughing at us? It wasn’t true then, but he has finally succeeded — singlehandedly — in Making Aliens Guffaw Again. Because Trump knows only what he sees on teevee, fast-food wrappers, and some of your more lowbrow cereal boxes, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Friday attempted to clarify…
Stock market dips on some worrying economic data, Trumpian unforced errors
So this happened today: Given the volatility in the stock market of late, today’s 300-point pratfall isn’t all that noteworthy. But what’s a bit more concerning is the likely reason. While investor jitters over Donald Trump’s inane economic policies have made the market vacillate over the past year like a Home Depot paint mixer, this latest move may…
Wisconsin lost a record number of dairy farms in 2018, and unsold cheese is piling up
Two reports today, one from The Wall Street Journal and another from NPR, point to the harmful impact Donald Trump is having on America’s Dairyland. First, NPR: Wisconsin lost 638 dairy farms in 2018, according to the latest data from the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. That's a 7.25 percent decline in the…
The Dow is off more than 1,000 points from this time last year
It’s important to remember that the stock market is not the economy. That said, for two straight years Donald Trump suggested that all he has to do is wave his magic mushroom and the Dow and other stock indices will dutifully respond with record-breaking results. But ever since Tariff Man — whose secret identity, Gnawed Haggis…
Dow drops nearly 800 points after Trump calls himself 'Tariff Man'
Early this morning, Donald Trump tweeted some homespun wisdom: The negotiations with China have already started. Unless extended, they will end 90 days from the date of our wonderful and very warm dinner with President Xi in Argentina. Bob Lighthizer will be working closely with Steve Mnuchin, Larry Kudlow, Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro….. —…
GM to slash 14,700 jobs, may close five factories
Smells like winning. From The Washington Post: General Motors will lay off 14,700 factory and white-collar workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure as it restructures to cut costs and focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles. The reduction includes 8,100 white-collar workers, some of whom will take buyouts and…
China gives preliminary approval to 16 Ivanka Trump trademarks
Openly. Corrupt. From The Washington Post: Ivanka Trump-branded semiconductors and voting machines? In China? That’s an odd, if remote, possibility after Chinese trademark regulators awarded preliminary approval for 16 trademark applications from the president’s daughter and White House senior adviser, online Chinese government filings show. The approvals by Beijing on Oct. 13 were notable for…
Ford loses $1 billion due to Trump's idiotic tariffs, plans layoffs
Donald Trump is illiterate in nearly every conceivable way, and economics is no exception. If you wanted to enact a policy that nearly every credible economist in the world thinks is a bad idea, your choices basically boil down to starting a trade war with the whole world and defaulting on our debt payments. Donald…
Closed for business: Trump's policies have slammed the door on foreign investment in U.S.
I used to think a million monkeys banging on typewriters could come up with better economic policies than Donald Trump. Then I figured one monkey with a stylus and a can of Play-Doh could do the job. Now I think if a monkey ate a box of typewriter ribbons, waited a couple of days, and then…
A few observations on Trump “supporters.”
Just to be specific, when I refer to Trump's “supporters” in the title, I'm not talking about the drooling morons who roll around on the floor at Trump rallies, speaking in “Trump tongues.” I'm talking about the more normal, “tired of the status quo,” voters who pulled a lever for Trump thinking they might actually…
China warns Trump's trade war could permanently harm American farmers
This is what happens when you get into a perpetual nut-kicking contest with everyone on the planet. Every other country gets to take a shot on goal eventually, while you’re stuck playing defense. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has no appreciation for the vulnerable spot he’s put us in. For all the attention he’s suddenly paid to the rest…