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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowPresident Donald Trump is dismissing business concerns over the uncertainty caused by his planned tariffs on a range of American trading partners and the prospect of higher prices, and isn’t ruling out the possibility of a recession this year.
After imposing and then quickly pausing 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada that sent markets tumbling over concerns of a trade war, Trump said his plans for broader “reciprocal” tariffs will go into effect April 2, raising them to match what other countries assess.
“April 2nd, it becomes all reciprocal,” he said in a taped interview with Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “What they charge us, we charge them.”
Asked about the Atlanta Fed’s warning of an economic contraction in the first quarter of the year, Trump seemingly acknowledged that his plans could affect U.S. growth. Still, he claimed, it would ultimately be “great for us.”
When questioned whether he was expecting a recession in 2025, Trump responded: “I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big. We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing.” He then added, “It takes a little time. It takes a little time.”
On Wall Street, it was a tough week with wild swings dominated by worries about the economy and uncertainty about Trump’s tariffs.
Trump brushed aside concerns from businesses seeking stability as they make investment decisions. He said that “for years the globalists, the big globalists have been ripping off the United States” and that now, “all we’re doing is getting some of it back, and we’re going to treat our country fairly.”
“You know, the tariffs could go up as time goes by, and they may go up and, you know, I don’t know if it’s predictability,” the Republican president said.
Trump last week lifted the Mexico and Canada tariffs on American car manufacturers, and then virtually all imports to the U.S., but kept them on goods from China.
More tariffs are coming this week, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” that 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will take effect Wednesday. Lutnick said Trump’s threatened tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber though would wait until April.
“Will there be distortions? Of course,” Lutnick said. “Foreign goods may get a little more expensive. But American goods are going to get cheaper, and you’re going to be helping Americans by buying American.”
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“But American goods are going to get cheaper, and you’re going to be helping Americans by buying American.”
Yes, because American goods will be in higher demand and remain in short supply which means … the prices will go up. On top of how they’re going to be produced by a workforce that is higher paid, the cost of which will be passed on to consumers.
There might be desirable outcomes from tariffs, but cheaper American products will not be one of them. Unless we are going to implement price controls and tell private businesses where they are allowed to buy from and how much they’re allowed to charge consumers. Sounds … rather socialistic, though.
Facts.
He really doesn’t care and he’s never cared. He only cares about his own money and continuing to get more and more. It’s that simple.
So now that it’s obvious, he’s saying he will make things worse…and trust him, they’re going to get better.
Anyone who has ever had a family member who brings chaos (and loves it) knows that IT NEVER GETS BETTER until you push them out of your life.
Face it: grocery prices will continue to rise. Car prices will jump up. Housing construction will cost more.
Just shows how out of touch with reality he is. Yes, the other countries pay the tariffs, then pass the cost on to the consumers via higher prices. It shows how ignorant of economics he and his devoted followers are. Counting down to the mid-terms when we can replace our silent representatives who are blindly following the king with no clothes.
Almost correct. Tariffs are not paid by either the foreign country or foreign manufacturer. They are paid by the U.S. company that imports the product. Just like sales taxes are not paid by the companies who make the product but by the people who buy the product. Net result is the same . . . higher prices to consumers.
Nothing surprises me. I really still find it hard to believe Americans voted him back into office. Biden was not a good president, true, but American still had checks and balanced in place. Praying for our country and our allies (that they forgive us.)
From a YouGov poll in August, 2023:
Among those who are at least considering voting for Trump, 95% believe he “fights for people like me,” while 99% believe things were better under Trump.
Among those who plan to vote for Trump, 71% feel that what he tells them is true — higher than the results for friends and family (63%), conservative media figures (56%) or religious leaders (42%).
It’s a cult.
Insanity.
I think that product prices vs currency devaluation of a trading partners are big unknown. It appears that the countries getting tariffed at a higher rate have more devaluation of their currency. Prices will equalize because currency arbitrage of the US dollar versus other trading partners currencies.
Markets don’t agree with you. Since Jan. 20, dollar is devaluing or steady vs. yuan and Euro and yen and peso and Canadian dollar…all our major trading partners.
Russian Asset Number 1
Elon Musk’s supposedly “anti-woke” chatbot, Grok, keeps spewing outputs that are hilariously opposed to the billionaire’s views — including that President Trump is likely a Russian asset.
Responding to a prompt from Arizona Republic columnist EJ Montini, Musk’s “maximally truth-seeking” AI, which is built into X, said after an analysis that the probability of the president being in the pocket of Vladimir Putin is between 75 and 85 percent.
Where are all the Trump supporters who flooded the comments of every IBJ article late last year? Make this make sense please.
They are all sitting at home watching the FOX News channel and Newsmax, unaware of the chaos that exists around them.
Oh, I can offer the comment: “It was such a mess, this is all Biden’s fault, it will take us a couple years to straighten it all out. Things will get worse before they get better.”
Except that inflation was down, markets were up the last two years. Just since the election, though, markets are down and inflation is back up.
Democrats seem to clean up the economic messes Republicans leave them, then promptly get no credit for it.
True enough, Joe. The only balanced budgets in my adult lifetime were under Clinton, wrecked by W’s endless wars and his and 45’s tax cuts.
But Reagan worked with Democrats on the Social Security fix that I’ve been paying into my entire working life…only to face potential chainsaw cuts just as I become eligible to collect. This is because 45/47 lacks the awareness that it needs another bipartisan fix.
I don’t get it. I have Republican friends who are all worried about this yet voted for Trump. It’s not like this wasn’t a well publicized part of his plan all along. The same thing happened when Roe was overturned – they were all upset. I said you’ve been voting for this to happen your entire life. Some people are so politically ignorant and only consume the fake propaganda that the GOP is better for the economy.