Credit Trump for the irony of the year in a pair of comments on Truth Social.
Comments of the Day
- CHINA SHOULD OPEN UP ITS MARKET TO USA — WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR THEM!!! CLOSED MARKETS DON’T WORK ANYMORE!!!
- 80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.
Irony of the Year
CLOSED MARKETS DON’T WORK ANYMORE!!!
No one has tried harder than Trump to make the US an island.
He wants production here, massive tariffs to stop imports, tariffs to balance the budget, and now he says an “80 percent tariff on China seems right”.
Nearly as Stupid
An 80 percent tariff is nearly as stupid as a 145 percent tariff because most trade with China would still stop. Trade might stop at 50 percent.
And it is US consumers who pay that tariff, not China.
Open Market
The US had a beautifully, nearly open market with Canada and Mexico until Trump came along and ruined it.
Reader: “Tariffs are reciprocal. All Canada has to do is to lower the tariffs they charge the US to what they want the US to charge them.”
Me: USMCA IS reciprocal right now. In extremely minor instances where it isn’t, TRUMP negotiated the deal.
Please read over and over Cheese Was a “Key Achievement” of Trump’s USMCA Trade Agreement
The above post contains over a dozen instances in which Trump bragged what a great deal.
It was such a great deal that Trump thanked Mexico and Canada. Notably USMCA is “Good for everybody – Farmers, Manufacturers, Energy, Unions – tremendous support. Importantly, we will finally end our Country’s worst Trade Deal, NAFTA!”
Good deal or not (and I think it was a very good deal for the US), the fact of the matter is Trump has no legitimate right to unilaterally break a deal ratified by the Senate 89-10.
Total Trade (Imports and Exports)
- Mexico: 1.423 Trillion
- Canada: 762 Billion
- China: 583 Billion
Canada Fact Check
Yesterday, I did a Fact Check on Trump’s Claim “We Don’t Do Much Business with Canada”
“We don’t do much business with Canada from our standpoint, they do a lot of business with us.”
Canada is the second largest US trading partner after Mexico.
And the US exports more to Canada than any other nation in the world. Indeed, the US exports more to Canada than the entirety of the EU!
And Trump still does not understand who pays tariffs.
Today, Trump lectures the world on “open markets” what a hoot.
Read the full article here