Economy Trump's April 2nd Tariffs

[lowlife]

Think about redneck stereotype ....that's the working class right there and the left has been talking non stop shit about them while saying thats who they serve for a while now. They live in fly over country , they drive trucks and shoot guns, they love the flag and america , they get called toxic and privileged . The political elite (both sides) hate working class people ....but I have hope that the dnc might realize they need them if they want to win again .

The Republicans past Trump don't have a lock on trumpa coalition and everything will be up for grabs again. Let's see what the democrats are offering.

The working class isn't just rednecks, not by a long shot.

 

[Jeffy37]

As a non partisan person I'm not trying to defend this. It does seem bad but we will all see how it ends up. It seems like I'm trying to defend this. I'm more of a wait to see what happens person instead of getting worried

 

[Rod1]

Maybe in the circle of "car is just a tool to get me from place a to b" people. They are highly desired in the car enthusiast crowd, but the cars are taced out of the market or blocked due to "regulations". It's not just American cars affected, Europe is blocking Japanese cars too, look at Suzuki Jimny and Mitsubishi cars.

By that logic Americans are blocking pharmaceutics sales due to "regulations" too, and pharmaceutics are a much larger market to crack than European regulations.

 

[44nutman]

Well the best way to make sure there’s not a spooky scary trans person hiding under your bed is to not be able to afford a bed, I guess.
Damn you Righties and your 4D chess.

Trump is tanking the market so nobody can afford a sex change.
69D chess.

 

[Cartiac]

In the case of China is simply out of spite, they also import way less and thus they are hurt less.

In the case of others like Mexico, they haven't levied tariffs and in the case of the EU they are going to study which things they can tariff without hurting themselves, also they are going to look at the American political landscape and levy tariffs based on which States are likely to suffer most and thus create a political issue for the GOP.

For example there is about zero chance Mexico levies tariffs on US gas and oil, which are the top imports from the US, but they will likely tariff some American agriculture products.


with the big difference is that America tariffed the entire world, while the response will most likely result in tariffing only America and other countries will try to look for alliances to stop relying on the US.

For example China can look to buy more food from Brazil and Argentina to off-set American products.

Sounds perfectly reasonable, I don't see how any of that is bad for the US, it sounds like the US is finally playing the same game the rest of the world has been playing forever. The biggest difference being other countries just won't be raking in the profits off unbalanced trade with the US as they have previously.

 

[Islam Imamate]

Think about redneck stereotype ....that's the working class right there and the left has been talking non stop shit about them while saying thats who they serve for a while now. They live in fly over country , they drive trucks and shoot guns, they love the flag and america , they get called toxic and privileged . The political elite (both sides) hate working class people ....but I have hope that the dnc might realize they need them if they want to win again .

The Republicans past Trump don't have a lock on trumpa coalition and everything will be up for grabs again. Let's see what the democrats are offering.

To be honest from this it seems that you care more about the cultural issues than anything economic. No the redneck stereotype is not the working class, if anything those people are more often middle class suburbanites which is why they can afford gas-guzzling trucks and a bunch of guns they don't need. They are culturally polarized against the Dems and vote GOP but they're not "working class" in the sense of being on the lower income quintiles.

Poor people in inner cities are much closer to the idea of a "working class" in that they often work jobs that don't offer full employment and don't come with 401ks so they truly depend on their labor to generate wealth. But in the minds of the Trump populist movement those aren't the people they're thinking about when they say "working class", they're thinking about the middle class guy driving a lifted F250 who commutes from the suburbs into the city. In other words its more about cultural signaling than anything else.

 

[Xanzito]

You’re late, that was already posted and we’ve already mocked the shit out of you guys for it—both because that flies in the face of the explanation that it was to bring back manufacturing jobs and factories and now all of a sudden it isn’t, and also because the EU’s tariffs on us were only like 1.6% (aside from cars, which was only 10% and they don’t import many of those anyhow).

We really didn’t need to tank the global economy to try and get Europe from 1.6% to 0 did we? Art of the Deal, I guess.

Sorry, it's hard to follow a hundred pages of you libs crying. It's fun for a while, but becomes boring fast. It's as you guys read from the same script

 

[Rod1]

Sounds perfectly reasonable, I don't see how any of that is bad for the US,

There is nothing bad? buddy have you looked at the markets recently?

it sounds like the US is finally playing the same game the rest of the world has been playing forever.

What?

The biggest difference being other countries just won't be raking in the profits off unbalanced trade with the US as they have previously.

Trade surplus aren't "profits".

 

[avenue94]

Well I was thinking maybe they would notice the fake populism of the right resonating and come back with an actual genuine version of it that actually helps people.

I was thinking that perhaps after being abandoned by the working class they might do something to court those people and bring them back

I was also thinking that after being out of power for a while they would start throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks and come back with some new ideas or a renewed passion to fight.

Yeah, and they're going to see a vote like yours, which the only logical conclusion would be we need to move to the right more and avoid hot button left issues. That's why I said your logic makes no sense.

Throw me in with my rifle and my 29 and I will rest in peace.

Textbook single issue voter.

 

[MMA IAN]

Do i ask or try to say other men on here are broke? Nope. But some want to chime in. I wonder who is wrong?

Dw bro anyone seriously trying to mock wealth is miserable themselves

Kamala Harris was objectively a better person and more fit for the job than Trump, not that its a high bar.

You already conceded it's a popularity contest so what does it matter if she was objectively better if she wasn't popular

GOP wasn't able to read the room and develop popular alternatives to Trump either,

Again, if Trump was the most popular candidate why would they replace him

Because starting a trade war was a super popular policy?

With his base it was because it was sold as a tough approach to people who are sick of a soft approach

You already conceded that elections are not about policy but about popularity.

Bruh I'm the one that said they're a popularity contest, you conceded they are and I said you accordingly need  popular policies. It's still about policy, but popular policy. I know democrat supporters are allergic to the word but I have faith in you.

I don't really get this POV, obviously Dems tried to win the election and in the end it was quite close.

It's like if a prosecutor has a slam dunk case against a repeat violent offender who's accused of another violent crime and there's plenty of evidence to convict. The trial drags on for 4 years. The prosecutor clearly has dementia or alzheimers but the DA denies it and let's him keep making a fool of himself. Meanwhile the defense is charismatic and saying all the right things for many people. Then 3mths before the end of the trial the DA says whoopsie the prosecutors actually braindead, swaps him out for his junior clerk who is extremely unlikeable and she fumbles the case resulting in a close but split jury giving a not guilty as they werent convinced beyond reasonable doubt due to the poor prosecution and the violent offender goes free.

2mths later the violent offender puts someone in hospital

Wouldn't you agree the DA bears part responsibility for not handling the case better when it was obvious to everyone in the court room it was being mismanaged?

 

[Gutter Chris]

Yeah, and they're going to see a vote like yours, which the only logical conclusion would be we need to move to the right more and avoid hot button left issues. That's why I said your logic makes no sense.

Textbook single issue voter.

I've already said 10000000 times I'm a 2 issue voter

 

[BFoe]

Sorry, it's hard to follow a hundred pages of you libs crying. It's fun for a while, but becomes boring fast. It's as you guys read from the same script

Says the dude who posted the literal exact same post from the exact same crappy Libs of Tik Tok account as some other dude.

Great job fucking the global economy sideways to get the EU to drop from 1.6% tariffs to 0, you must be incredibly proud.

 

[curryjunkie]

Maybe in the circle of "car is just a tool to get me from place a to b" people. They are highly desired in the car enthusiast crowd, but the cars are taced out of the market or blocked due to "regulations". It's not just American cars affected, Europe is blocking Japanese cars too, look at Suzuki Jimny and Mitsubishi cars.

nope, the "car enthusiast crowd" whoever the fuck that is , dont clamour for american cars, jimny failed some safety standard so was withdrawn, mitsubishis are available to buy, the vast majority of europeans have no interest in american cars, theyve been trying to crack the market for years, and failed every time. too juicy, too big, poor build quality.

 

[Islam Imamate]

It's like if a prosecutor has a slam dunk case against a repeat violent offender who's accused of another violent crime and there's plenty of evidence to convict. The trial drags on for 4 years. The prosecutor clearly has dementia or alzheimers but the DA denies it and let's him keep making a fool of himself. Meanwhile the defense is charismatic and saying all the right things for many people. Then 3mths before the end of the trial the DA says whoopsie the prosecutors actually braindead, swaps him out for his junior clerk who is extremely unlikeable and she fumbles the case resulting in a close but split jury giving a not guilty as they werent convinced beyond reasonable doubt due to the poor prosecution and the violent offender goes free.

2mths later the violent offender puts someone in hospital

Wouldn't you agree the DA bears part responsibility for not handling the case better when it was obvious to everyone in the court room it was being mismanaged?

Sure in that hypothetical I'd blame the DA's office to an extent but I don't think its a good analogy. For one the defense wasn't really saying the right things irl, Trump ran on the worst economic platform in roughly a century. For some reason his voters didn't care or didn't believe him when he said one of his top priorities was starting a global trade war.

I also don't think Kamala ran a bad campaign. She only had ~100 days of campaigning while Trump has had like nine years of on and off campaigning so it was already an uphill battle and in the end the election was fairly close with the popular vote differential being ~1.5%. Clinton in losing to Trump ran up a bigger popular vote win than Trump did in skating by Harris.

If you wanted to make the analogy fit better you'd add in media coverage that was heavily favorable to the defense and tilted against the prosecution. I know it comes off as a cop out but I really do think the media environment was just not good for the Dems this cycle. Rogan has the largest podcast and he had Trump on the week before and endorsed him the day before the election. Obviously that's not going to be decisive on its own but its things like that working agaisnt Harris. I haven't yet watched that episode of JRE but I doubt Rogan asked Trump about tariffs at length despite that being his signature economic policy, it just wasn't something the media was interested in hence so many people being surprised that Trump did the thing he talked over and over again about doing

 

[Rod1]

Again, if Trump was the most popular candidate why would they replace him

Because a lot of people in the GOP are capitalists and don't want the far left policies of Trump in place.

With his base it was because it was sold as a tough approach to people who are sick of a soft approach

And their base being this stupid isn't to blame for Trump? you got to blame Democrats for what Trump and the people that put him in power did?

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Tariffs will make sneakers, jeans and almost everything Americans wear cost more, trade groups warn​

BY ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
Updated 1:21 AM BRT, April 6, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Sending children back to school in new sneakers, jeans and T-shirts is likely to cost U.S. families significantly more this fall if the bespoke tariffs President Donald Trump put on leading exporters take effect as planned, American industry groups warn.

About 97% of the clothes and shoes purchased in the U.S. are imported, predominantly from Asia, the American Apparel & Footwear Association said, citing its most recent data. Walmart, Gap Inc., Lululemon and Nike are a few of the companies that have a majority of their clothing made in Asian countries.

Those same garment-making hubs took a big hit under the president’s plan to punish individual countries for trade imbalances. For all Chinese goods, that meant tariffs of at least 54%. He set the import tax rates for Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia at 46% and 49%, and products from Bangladesh and Indonesia at 37% and 32%.

Working with foreign factories has kept labor costs down for U.S. companies in the fashion trade, but neither they nor their overseas suppliers are likely to absorb new costs that high. India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka also got slapped with high tariffs so aren’t immediate sourcing alternatives.

“If these tariffs are allowed to persist, ultimately it’s going to make its way to the consumer,” said Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association.

Another trade group, Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, provided estimates of the price increases that could be in store for shoes, noting 99% of the pairs sold in the U.S. are imports. Work boots made in China that now retail for $77 would go up to $115, while customers would pay $220 for running shoes made in Vietnam currently priced at $155, the group said.

FDRA President Matt Priest predicted lower-income families and the places they shop would feel the impact most. He said a pair of Chinese-made children’s shoes that cost $26 today will likely carry a $41 price tag by the back-to-school shopping season, according to his group’s calculations.

Preparing for a moving target​

The tariffs on the top producers of not only finished fashion but many of the materials used to make footwear and apparel shocked U.S. retailers and brands. Before Trump’s first term, U.S. companies had started to diversify away from China in response to trade tensions as well as human rights and environmental concerns.

They accelerated the pace when he ordered tariffs on Chinese goods in 2018, shifting more production to other countries in Asia. Lululemon said in its latest annual filing that 40% of its sportswear last year was manufactured in Vietnam, 17% in Cambodia, 11% in Sri Lanka, 11% in Indonesia and 7% in Bangladesh.

Nike, Levi-Strauss, Ralph Lauren, Gap. Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch and VF Corporation, which owns Vans, The North Face and Timberland, also reported a greatly reduced reliance on garment-makers and suppliers in China.

Shoe brand Steve Madden said in November it would reduce imports from China by as much as 45% this year due to Trump’s campaign pledge to impose a 60% tariff on all Chinese products. The brand said it already had spent several years developing a factory network in Cambodia, Vietnam, Mexico and Brazil.

Industry experts say reviving the American garment industry would be hugely expensive and take years if it were feasible. The number of people working in apparel manufacturing in January 2015 stood at 139,000 and had dwindled to 85,000 by January of this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sri Lanka employs four times as many despite having a population less than one-seventh the size of the U.S.

Along with lacking a skilled and willing workforce, the U.S. does not have domestic sources for the more than 70 materials that go into making a typical shoe, the Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America said in written comments to Trump’s trade representative.

Shoe companies would need to find or set up factories to make cotton laces, eyelets, textile uppers and other components to make finished footwear in the U.S. on a large scale, the group wrote.

“These materials simply do not exist here, and many of these materials have never existed in the U.S,” the organization said.

Price increases may come as a shock​

The expected barrage of apparel price increases would follow three decades of stability. Clothes cost U.S. consumers essentially the same in 2024 as they did in 1994, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Economists and industry analysts have attributed the trend to free trade agreements, offshoring to foreign countries where workers are paid much less and heated competition for shoppers among discount retailers and fast-fashion brands like H&M, Zara and Forever 21.

But customers unaccustomed to inflation in the apparel sector and coming off several years of steep rise in the costs of groceries and housing may be extra sensitive to any big jumps in clothing prices. Priest, of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, said he has observed shoppers pulling back on buying shoes since Trump’s return to the White House.

“They’re nervous,” he said. “They’ve obviously been playing the long game as it relates to inflation for a number of years now. And they just don’t have the endurance to absorb higher prices, particularly as they’re inflicted by the U.S. government.”

Winners and losers in a garment trade war​

According to a report by British bank Barclays published Friday, the winners in the tariff wars are retailers that have at least one of these attributes: big negotiating power with their suppliers, a strong brand name and limited sourcing in Asia.

In clothing and footwear, that includes off-price retailers Burlington, Ross Stores Inc. and TJX Companies, which operates T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, as well as Ralph Lauren and Dick’s Sporting Goods, according to the report.

The companies in for a tougher time are those with limited negotiating power, limited pricing power and high product exposure in Asia, a list including Gap Inc., Urban Outfitters and American Eagle Outfitters, according to the report.

Secondhand clothing resale site ThredUp cheered a related action Trump took with his latest round of tariffs: eliminating a widely used tax exemption that has allowed millions of low-cost goods — most of them originating in China — to enter the U.S. every day duty-free.

“This policy change will increase the cost of cheaply produced, disposable clothing imported from China, directly impacting the business model that fuels overproduction and environmental degradation,” ThredUp said.

Several industry analysts and economists said they think tariffs will end up being a consumer sales tax that widens the yawning gap between America’s wealthiest residents and those in the middle and lower end of the income spectrum.

“So where will the U.S. be buying its apparel now that the tariff rates on Bangladesh, Vietnam and China are astronomical?” Mary E. Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said of the schedule set to take effect Wednesday. “Will the new ‘Golden Age’ involve knitting our own knickers as well as snapping together our cellphones?”

https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-clothing-shoes-china-vietnam-8eb3c697da9541ca849f6ed52d7279b2

 

[avenue94]

I've already said 10000000 times I'm a 2 issue voter

You voted for almost no gain on issue 1 in favor oof the complete loss of issue 2. You're lying to yourself if you're trying to portray that as two issue voting.

Claiming the democrats are out to get your guns makes no sense given the composition of Congress, let alone the courts. Or states.

 

[44nutman]

Sorry, it's hard to follow a hundred pages of you libs crying. It's fun for a while, but becomes boring fast. It's as you guys read from the same script

Lol crying, we are making fun of dumbass Trump voters.
Everyone said Trump would tank the stock market and he fucking tanked the stock market.
Some of us money a ton of money betting against Trumps stock market, because we are the sort of people who don't think gold sneakers, bibles, meme coin rug pulls and Trump Camel Toe NFT's are solid investment. I just followed Warren Buffets lead who is not a 3rd generation trust fund baby who could not even make money owning a casino. Buffet knows how to make money and Trump only knows how to grift.

 

[Rod1]

It's like if a prosecutor has a slam dunk case against a repeat violent offender who's accused of another violent crime

Now imagine the violent offender said "Yes, i fucking did it, i tried to murder these people and if i was let go i would go and finish the job" and then the jury says "yeah i think this man is not going to kill anyone i vote not guilty".

 

[Cartiac]

There is nothing bad? buddy have you looked at the markets recently?


What?


Trade surplus aren't "profits".

So you literally just detailed how entire ROW is going to benefit from tariffs, and apparently the US is the only loser in all of this.

Have you looked at the Chinese market recently? How bout them all time lows. Have you looked at the European markets recently? How bout them 14 month lows. Yea they are just killing it over there while the US suffers. These countries cannot lose the largest economy in the world by far as a customer and make it up from somewhere else while the US can make anything ourselves without the need for suicide nets.