“The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO. Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!)” “Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!” DT – Monday morning pearls of wisdom.
– US stocks opened lower Monday as markets around the world tumbled over concerns about how President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs might upend the global economy and stymie US economic growth.
Markets opened in bear market territory – a decline of 20% from a recent peak – after a historic rout in Asia and massive losses in Europe.
President Donald Trump’s decision to impose sweeping tariffs on trading partners could derail the global move toward green energy, aimed at preventing the worst impacts of climate change.
The tariffs will likely make key green technologies more expensive and could also force governments to divert resources from addressing the climate crisis into propping up their economies. –
ENTER THE DRAGON: – “Yesterday, China issued Retaliatory Tariffs of 34%, on top of their already record setting Tariffs, Non-Monetary Tariffs, Illegal Subsidization of companies, and massive long term Currency Manipulation, despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional Tariffs, above and beyond their already existing long term Tariff abuse of our Nation, will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs, over and above those initially set,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Therefore, if China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” he went on.
“Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated! Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
If his latest threat of an additional 50% went into effect, Chinese goods arriving in the US would effectively be subject to tariffs of 104% – CNN
ECONOMIC NUCLEAR WINTER: – Wealthy business leaders are turning on US President Donald Trump over his plan to impose a colossal set of tariffs on America’s trading partners, as losses mount on stock markets around the world.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who endorsed Trump’s 2024 presidential bid, warned Sunday that going ahead with the new tariffs was tantamount to launching an “economic nuclear war.”
In a post on X, Ackman said “business investment will grind to a halt, (and) consumers will close their wallets” if the new levies do indeed come into force. “We will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate,” he added in the post, which was viewed 10.6 million times.
Unless Trump changes tack, “we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down,” the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management warned.
“What CEO and what board of directors will be comfortable making large, long-term economic commitments in our country in the middle of an economic nuclear war?” he said, adding that “the president is losing the confidence of business leaders around the globe.”
Other billionaires and wealthy business leaders have also openly criticized Trump’s tariff agenda in recent days as fear over its economic fallout gripped markets. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, warned Monday that the tariffs threatened to raise prices, drive the global economy into a downturn and weaken America’s standing in the world.
“The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession,” Dimon said in an annual letter to shareholders. “Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth.”
ECONOMIC MALPRACTICE: Even Elon Musk — the world’s richest man and top Trump acolyte — said Sunday that he hoped for a “zero-tariff situation” between Europe and the US. In an interview with Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini via video link, Musk said he wanted to see an effective “free-trade zone” created between Europe and North America.
Echoing Ackman, Simon MacAdam, deputy chief global economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said businesses were likely to hold off making investments due, in large part, to the “sheer uncertainty” of Trump’s tariff policy.
“If you’re a mid-sized or even a large-cap company, you’re going to be very hesitant about what to do,” he said.
“If those tariffs are going to be negotiated back down again in a few months’ time, then you’d be wasting your time investing potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in new plants… in the US,” he told CNN.
In his post, Ackman said the new tariffs were “massive” and “disproportionate,” saying: “This is not what we voted for.” He called for a 90-day “time out” in which Trump could negotiate with trading partners to “resolve unfair asymmetric tariffs deals.”
But investors are clearly not convinced by the wisdom of Trump’s plan. Stock markets in Asia and Europe plunged Monday and futures pointed to another bad day for US stocks, following Trump’s tariffs announcement last Wednesday.
But the president’s willingness to pursue this course has many economists deeply worried.
“If President Trump carries through on this, this is economic malpractice on a grand scale — something we haven’t seen in half a century,” Greg Mankiw, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers for President George W. Bush, told Tapper.
“I don’t know what the endgame is going to be,” Mankiw continued, “but if he persists in this, the outcome is going to be very ugly.”
ADDING INSULT TO INJURY: – China on Tuesday slammed US Vice President JD Vance for referring to the Chinese people as “peasants” in an interview that has drawn widespread ire and ridicule on China’s internet – and comparisons with Vance’s own self-proclaimed “hillbilly” background.
Speaking to Fox News last Thursday, Vance defended President Donald Trump’s market-hammering tariffs and railed against the “globalist economy.”
“What has the globalist economy gotten the United States of America? And the answer is, fundamentally, it’s based on two principles – incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make for us,” Vance told news show “Fox & Friends.”
“To make it a little more crystal clear, we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”
Asked about Vance’s comments at a regular news briefing Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said: “It’s both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks.”
MISTAKE UPON MISTAKE: China’s Commerce Ministry says it “firmly opposes” the additional 50% tariffs on Chinese imports threatened by President Donald Trump on Monday, calling it “a mistake upon a mistake.”
“If the United States implements the escalating tariff measures, China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests,” the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
It denounced Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” as “completely unfounded” and “typical unilateral bullying.”
“The US threat to escalate tariffs is a mistake on top of a mistake, which once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this. If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end,” the ministry said.
Reiterating that there are no winners in a trade war, the ministry emphasized that “pressure and threats are not the right way to engage with China.”
“We urge the US to immediately correct its erroneous practices, cancel all unilateral tariff measures against China, stop suppressing China in the economic and trade sphere, and resolve differences properly through equal dialogue based on mutual respect,” the statement added.
SPINE OF STEEL: “Countries like China, who have chosen to retaliate and try to double down on their mistreatment of American workers, are making a mistake,” Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. “President Trump has a spine of steel, and he will not break.”
America has confirmed that 104% tariffs will go into effect because China is standing their ground. – CNN
UPDATE: 10/4 – Goods coming from China to the United States are now subject to at least a 145% tariff, the White House clarified today.
The 125% “reciprocal” tariff President Donald Trump announced on China yesterday comes on top of the 20% tariff that had already been in place. It hadn’t been clear yesterday if the tariffs were additive. The White House said Thursday they are.
Trump has tied that 20% tariff to illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the US, which he’s accused China of playing a role in.
Additionally, Trump also hiked the tariffs on goods less than $800 coming from China to 120% as of May 2.
DON’T BE A PANICAN. 🙈🙉🙊🐒
Apr 07, 2025 11:35:21 am
Holy Incongruence shared a post.
SWAMP THING: The Senate passed Trump’s massive tax bill on Saturday, which will add up to $7tn over the next 10 years. Rand Paul and another GOP Senator voted against the tax cuts, but it wasn’t enough to stop its passage. They are using very dodgy math to reconcile the books and are forcing it through Congress. The House is the only remaining stumbling block. This is happening at the exact same time as the global economy is reeling from Trump’s radical tariffs. The vast majority of the GOP support Trump’s handling of the economy even though he has filed for bankruptcy on six occasions.
DETACHED FROM REALITY: – For his part, the president returned to familiar patterns as anxious Americans watched their retirement accounts plummet, spending each of the past four days at one of his South Florida golf properties.
As protesters assembled to demonstrate against Trump’s tariff policies across the country — including in West Palm Beach — the White House offered an official statement announcing that the president won a golf tournament at his club Saturday.
“The President won his second round matchup of the Senior Club Championship today in Jupiter, FL, and advances to the Championship Round tomorrow,” the statement said. By Betsy Klein, CNN.
Updated Apr 07, 2025 12:22:34 am
Apr 06, 2025 3:52:17 pm
