Now That I Have Your Attention

47 65 Comments

Telegraph- Trump announces 50pc tariffs on EU

“The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with,” he wrote.

“Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50pc tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States.”

65 Replies to “Now That I Have Your Attention”

  1. “There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States.”

    What about commodities or natural resources that aren’t available in the US? Ones that feed US manufacturing?

        1. “Bauxite”

          Bauxite is the only commercial ore of aluminium, and 96 percent of bauxite consumed in the US is used to produce aluminum (metallurgical grade).[2] However, since 1981, none of the bauxite mined in the US was used to make metallic aluminium. US bauxite is instead used for abrasives, high-temperature refractory materials, and as a high-strength proppant for hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells.

        2. Bauxite comes from Africa, not Europe. It is refined in Quebec because there’s a big hydro dam next to the refinery. Aluminum is refined by electrolysis.

          There’s no aluminum refining in Africa because A) no reliable power and B) nobody is dumb enough to build a thing there that they can’t move. Anything permanent in Africa gets “Nationalized.” Meaning stolen.

          1. Most of the imported bauxite to the US comes from Jamaica and China. The biggest reserves are in Australia, however. Bauxite may become a bargaining chip for one of those countries in the future as the US makes an effort to “re-industrialize domestically” (IOW, produce its own aluminum once again). Currently 60% of the aluminum entering the US market comes from (drum roll) Canada.

            So, I’m going to ask again. What commodities or natural resources does the EU have that can be used as a negotiating point?

        3. The main cost input into making aluminum is electricity. This is why Iceland and Canada are big producers of aluminum. Cheap electricity. The US can’t make aluminum at competitive prices because the energy input is too expensive.

      2. From Canada, northern-grown spruce-pine-fir (stronger than southern-grown lumber, and thus better for framing), uranium, potash, numerous agricultural products that grow best in northern climes, bituman oil, coffee crisps.

        But apart from this, the US does not have the capability to produce all the goods its citizens desire. The range of products is simply too great. And even if they did, it would take many years to develop that capability. In the mean time, consumers must either do without or pay higher prices.

        1. Many years….as in 4 with Trump and 8 under Vance? They should be able to make a dent if they stick with the program.

          RNrn

          1. The idea that the US can produce internally all of the goods that its industries and consumers might wish at reasonable prices is dreaming in technicolor. It can’t be done, and the attempt would greatly lower America’s standard of living.

            When Trump was talking about making America great again, did he mean the Great Depression?

          2. Yeah, yeah, KM … 1929 … Smoot Hawley. Good Lord. It’s nearly 100 years later and you pretend as if economics and globalism are the same as then. You people are blithering idiots.

          3. Kenji responds in his usual manner to opinions he doesn’t want to hear.

        2. All the resources we need in the USA are available in the USA.

          The problem is, yes, it will take some time to develop them, and in the meantime another wacko government can be elected and shut it all down again in favor of of cheap highly polluting overseas resources (just not here).

          We’re our own worst enemy.

          1. Go back and read the list I gave from Canada alone. Where, for example, is the US going to get potash (potassium fertilizer)? Their reserves are paltry.

            And outside of Canada, where is the US going to get bananas and coffee and fresh produce in winter? Yes, they can in theory produce more of these things on their own, but only at great expense.

        3. KM.- You may have noticed, if you paid attention in school that there is a large, irrigated valley running 2/3 the length of California, and large areas in Arizona and Florida, that grow winter vegetables. Some of that ag production sometimes reaches Canada!

          As for the rest of your arguments, DJT has not argued for complete US self-sufficiency, just secure supply for the US of critical goods.

          2. As for the rest of your arguments, DJT has not argued for complete US self-sufficiency, just secure supply for the US of critical goods.

            If that were true, Trump would impose tariffs solely on those critical goods rather than all goods from the EU.

          3. Pssst … KM … the global warming enthusiasts are always telling us to only eat fruit that is in-season, and locally-sourced. I have actually tried to do that in my own life as I really don’t like eating Mexican poo with my vegetables or fruits … and now Mexico is even sending weevils with their avocados. F-em. Don’t need the imported fruits and vegetables from Brazil. They can EAT IT.

        4. KM … you obviously know nothing about the lumber industry … or how framing actually works, do you? 1. The strongest lumber on the market is “manufactured lumber” … literally made from the shaving and scraps of cheap ass wood. 2. The nature of framing is the use of repetitive members deriving their design strength from working together -not individually. High design values not needed. 3. Western Douglas Fir-Larch is used throughout most of the Western US for framing lumber … sourced primarily in Oregon and CA. 4. Hem-Fir is also used … although the Japanese tend to buy up all of the Hemlock to use it for their exposed timber frame homes, and all shoji and amado panels … because it is a very stable, almost pure white wood.

          But you’re right Sitka Spruce still makes the very best guitar faces. So there’s that

          https://www.martinguitar.com/blog-categories/from-the-factory/blog-072623-saving-spruce-trees.html

          1. Engineered studs are between two (laminated strand) to four (laminated veneer) times the cost of traditional studs, so while their use is growing, traditional lumber is still used for about 80% of framing.

            That’s what tariffs do. They raise costs. It runs directly counter to Trump’s campaign promise to bring down inflation on “day one”.

          2. The majority of Americans will pay a little more in order to repatriate manufacturing … of all types … and those solid middle class jobs to America.

            And BTW … unfortunately… I started a major remodel/rebuild of my home in 2020. And I paid at least a 300% increase in lumber costs (along with every other building material) …because COVID supply chain or something. At one point in time I had to buy 2x4x8ft framing sticks for > $11.00 ea. Yeah it’s $3.82 per today.

            But I somehow survived. Juggled the budget, extended the building period, etc. I paid that massive COVID tariff for NOTHING. Because governments were shutting down “non-essential” businesses and shutting down commerce. I would have GLADLY paid that tariff … if it actually went toward rebuilding American middle class industry and manufacturing. I say, bring it on! Rebuild America’s middle class.

          3. Americans aren’t going to just be paying more for studs. They’ll be paying more for many goods. i think you’ll find most are not as enthusiastic as you about i, especially since many Trump supporters voted for LOWER prices.

        5. A U T A R C H Y.
          Yes, autarchy — self sufficiency — necessarily results in a lower level of prosperity; BUT, despite my adult-life-long devotion to libertarianism/Austrian economics, I now find myself wondering if this is necessarily a bad outcome.

        6. “Go back and read the list I gave from Canada alone. Where, for example, is the US going to get potash (potassium fertilizer)? Their reserves are paltry.”

          ————————————
          The US has significant potash reserves, estimated to be 220 million metric tons. Potash, a crucial fertilizer, is primarily sourced from New Mexico, according to the US Geological Survey. The US is also a major potash consumer, with consumption per capita reaching 41 pounds in 2024, a significant increase from the previous year.
          ————————————-

          Your TDS affliction has left you with the maturity level of a 14-year-old. You and AllanS are an embarrassment to the rest of us.

          Potash, bauxite, lithium, oil…the US has more than enough resources to tide them over in an emergency. The fact that they *choose* to use more imported (as with oil for a few decades) than domestic supply is more of a long-term strategy than of scarcity.

          (and yes, I know about the different types of crude oil…since I don’t have a raging case of TDS like you I am free to get my information from *all* sources, not just CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NYT, WaPo, etc…)

          This latest tariff will serve the intended purpose. Francisco’s thread title is bang-on.

    2. ““There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States.”

      What about commodities or natural resources that aren’t available in the US? Ones that feed US manufacturing?”

      What part of a “product” being “built or manufactured” do you not understand?

      1. What part of “manufactured goods isn’t 100% of trade” do you not understand?

        Trade is much more complex.

        1. Yes, such as the EU tariffing the shit out of CA wines? Wine’s not “manufactured” … is it?

        2. Enlighten us, O sage. What non-manufactured resource comes to the USA from Europe that can’t be sourced cheaper/easier elsewhere?

          Cheese? Wine? Hookers?

          By the way, European manufacturing has been hollowed out and moved to China the same as ours. With the exception of some extremely high-end machine tools and windmill parts, things like that, everything has gone to Asia. Only the die hard Germans are still hanging on.

    3. I was going to ask you the same question, gym.
      btw… still waiting for your proof of the claim that AllanS and UnReal is one and the same…
      …or are you Lois Lane?

      1. He is Spartacus. And he posts here for the same reason I do: past a certain point in life, flatulence becomes uncontrollable.

  2. Good luck selling Boeings and other high tech in Europe. Trump is going to spend 4 years fighting like a dog to bring manufacturing to the US and no matter how hard he tries he won’t move the trade deficit one iota. The only effect pissing off the whole world will have is raising prices.

  3. Insanity. This is far more likely to induce mutal poverty than make America great again. Corporations are getting whiplash trying to follow the on-again off-again announcements, and have no idea how this will play out. This is not an environment conducive to long-term investing, where some degree of certainty and predictability is needed.

    https://youtu.be/Mj6N-WBPrVw

    1. Corporations have been giving the US consumer whiplash for 50-years … by boning us up the ass. Their turn! BTW … speaking of Corporations committing hara-Kiri … check out Target Corp. yeah … I don’t give them many more years of survival. Somehow the 0.03% of LGBTQueers couldn’t keep them alive … while the rest of us normies have shunned their WOKE bullshit … including their recent price hikes … blamed on Trump’s tariffs that hadn’t even been collected yet. F-the Corporations. They’re shit to work for anyway.

      1. Fine. Screw over the corporations. But there won’t be much of an economy left.

        1. Unjustified inflation and shrinkflation practiced by multinational corporations have put me off their products. So now I only buy deep price cut sales … or go without. Lots of other products, foods, etc. to consume. Yes … I use my consumer power to fight back. And no … I couldn’t care less if those corporations go out of business … because in a truly FREE market … with equitable or ZERO tariffs … a competitor will take their place.

          2. Weird how making America great again seems to entail a lot of consumer hardship. It’s getting difficult to see the point of it.

            And also weird how historic progressive talking points are becoming right-wing talking points.

            Strange times.

          3. Consumer hardship KM? Did you miss my post where I explained how the government’s FORCED COVID closure of “non-essential” business and products caused massive 300% inflation of building materials? How the GOVERNMENT’S COVID edicts spawned massive inflation across the entire economy?

            As I recall … you cheered every government fascist imposition of mandates to “stop the spread” of COVID. Where was your concern for the consumer then?

            Psssst … inflation is coming wayyy down in my town. Esp. gas and food … the two things needed MOST … by MOST people. Yeah … call me a “Progressive” SMH

          4. Consumer hardship would be the decreased selection and increased prices, which you have admitted to at least in part. You can’t impose a massive tax like that and expect prices to remain the same.

    2. The one place we know no long term investing is happening is Canada. Why? Workforce, no, that’s ok. Power, ok if we change course away from fruitcake power like wind and solar, and get back to thermal. Geography, no that’s great. One reason. Overbearing, too expensive, too intrusive government(s). The greatest enemy Canada has is not Trump, nor China, it is Canadians and the leviathan government(s) they have allowed to grow, or more aptly to metastasize, feeding like the parasites they have become, until the host cannot support them.

  4. https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-wants-europe-to-buy-more-us-farm-goods/
    excerpts:
    If Trump wants Europeans to eat more American food, he’ll have to convince them to swallow something even tougher: U.S. food safety standards.
    Europeans might buy American software, movies and weapons, but they aren’t keen on U.S. beef pumped with hormones, chlorine-washed chicken or genetically modified corn.
    The main reason?
    Brussels’ precautionary principle — a regulatory approach that requires proof a product is safe before it can be sold.
    The U.S., by contrast, operates on a risk-based system, where anything not proven harmful is fair game.

    Pesticides are another flash point. Today, over 70 different pesticides banned in the EU as toxic to human health and the environment remain widespread in U.S. grain and fruit farming. That includes chlorpyrifos, an insecticide linked to brain damage in children, and paraquat, a weedkiller associated with a higher long-term risk of Parkinson’s disease. As a result, Brussels imposes residue limits that frequently force U.S. growers to create separate, EU-compliant supply chains.

    1. US food? American guys have big moobs, fat asses, and are all needy, plus they are all gay or trans. Growth hormones used in cattle are sex hormones and I’m guessing they are effing up the species. Europeans don’t want that shit. That’s why Canada doesn’t need their poison dairy products.

      1. Give me a break.
        Western society has grown fat on overconsumption of seed oils, and excess carbohydrates.
        As obesity and metabolic syndrome disease has progressed, so has the consumption of the above noted items.
        Quid Pro Quo.
        It isn’t meat, dairy, chicken, or animal fats causing Americas obesity. It’s simply highly processed, industrial food and fast foods.

    2. Yeah … because so many more American consumers are dying from more cancers and whatnot than all the kewl Europeans. Nonsense. The EU believes in the WHO’s junk science. Utter nonsense.

      OTOH … all that halal food being served in the EU … appears to cause an awful lot of “mental illness”

      1. Most OECD countries have enjoyed large gains in life expectancy over the past decades,
        thanks to improvements in living conditions, public health interventions and progress in medical care.
        Life expectancy at birth in the United States stands at almost 79 years,
        two years below the OECD average of 81 years.

        https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/health/

        1. You’ve not noticed the huge numbers of poor, uneducated, unhealthy people streaming across our borders, and being bred by baby-mommas looking for a government check? You’ve not noticed the HUGE numbers of high school dropouts in all our “urban” school districts? Too dumb to eat right, exercise, and NOT do crack

          You want to compare apples with apples … OK … go take the statistics after you correct for all those low-lifes (sorry) … and don’t forget to correct for all the young black and brown men who die from “gun violence” … aka gang banging. As those young deaths tend to skew the results.

          Life expectancies in NORMAL … rural and suburban communities are equal or greater than Europe.

          1. // Pharmaceutical goods
            Medicines were the most exported goods from the EU to the US in 2024,
            with almost €80bn drugs sold into the US market, according to Eurostat.
            Trump has complained that Ireland has “got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasp”.
            “We don’t make our own drugs, our own pharmaceuticals any more,” he said.
            “The drug companies are in Ireland and they are in lots of other places — China.” //
            https://archive.is/VsSDt Financial Times UK

            [They may have to go to Canada to get their Ozempic: or just get fatter]

  5. What makes anyone think that the outcome will be any different this time around as opposed to the previous threats of tariffs? The threats are typically made on a weekend when financial markets are closed. Once Monday rolls around, markets tank and Trump eventually reverses his position once various CEOs (quite rightly) read the riot act to him. These policy whipsaws are just sapping the economy.

    1. “Trump eventually reverses his position once various CEOs (quite rightly) read the riot act to him. ”

      Hilarious.

    2. Yeah, yeah … and Signalgate saved the Houthi’s from near complete destruction. TDS is a terminal affliction. Trump is a NEGOTIATOR… unlike all the panty-waist, wimps who went before him. All the Corporate shills and yes-men.

  6. Doubtful that Americans will end up as poor as Canadians because of these tariffs, it’s only Europe…

  8. Look at the clowns like KM et. al. whining about raw materials and agri that the US gets from Mexico and South America in a thread about tariffs on the EU.
    You’d be hard-pressed to find a more disingenuous gang of hacks.

    1. “Look at the clowns like KM et. al. whining about raw materials and agri that the US gets from Mexico and South America in a thread about tariffs on the EU.
      You’d be hard-pressed to find a more disingenuous gang of hacks.”

      Poster children for TDS.

      (with emphasis on ‘children’…)

  9. Kitimat has a large aluminum smelter using cheap hydro power. Bauxite comes from many sources depending on current price. As far as I know there is no source of bauxite in the US.

      1. The source and price of the bauxite are immaterial to the cost of aluminum. The final cost is mostly based on the price of electricity, which is why Iceland, with no bauxite, is a big producer of aluminum, and Jamaica, which has huge quantities of bauxite is not.

        1. Jimbo C: “As far as I know there is no source of bauxite in the US.”
          The US has bauxite, and power generation ability to make aluminium.

  10. Monday rolls around and guess what? Trump postpones the tariffs until July 9th. Art of the deal? What deal would that be? How many times does this have to happen before his supporters realize that there is no strategy at work here.

    1. “Monday rolls around and guess what? Trump postpones the tariffs until July 9th. Art of the deal? What deal would that be?”

      One that is clearly way above your head. Read one of his books for an insight into his strategy.

      ” How many times does this have to happen before his supporters realize that there is no strategy at work here.”

      How many time do you have to watch Trump get exactly what he wants before you realize that he is way, WAY smarter than you are?

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