Potus ???

[GarethM]

7 minutes ago, Steven P said:

 

It is fine, inventions are good - the UK profited more than any - but both countries have fallen behind by not keeping up and other countries have taken what was invented and done better and cheaper. Not being dismissive that any country can make what it needs but in a global economy, with easy access to information, the cheapest will win out. Which in my car example above, is Japan

And how do you change that decline, by building it in country instead of being a call centre and making energy cheap and plentiful.

 

My tractor was built in Doncaster, now they're made in Italy. You trying to tell me the Italians work for less than us ?.

[sime42]

I don't think anyone is objecting to Trump's desire to bring more of the US manufacturing back onshore Gareth. That's an admirable goal after all, though it's never going to be entirely achievable. 

 

What people are objecting to is the way in which he is trying, and failing, to go about it. (I intentionally say Trump, and not the American people, because I suspect that the majority are now starting to realise the colossal mistake that it is turning out to be. (Despite the fact that he was democratically elected.)) With hindsight I believe it will be far from Liberation Day.

 

If you actually took the time to understand how the tariffs were calculated, you'd realise that it's more or less economic nonsense. The global market turmoil that's now unfolding is clearly a reflection of that. Read that FT article, they're hardly a left wing student publication are they? With one fell sweep Mr Trump has hit some of the poorest countries in the world with yet more economic hardship, and simultaneously plunged the rest of the world into a cluster**************** of as yet unknown magnitude. Welcome to the global trade war. And guess what? The poor middle Americans that he's meant to serve will be effected as badly, if not worse than the rest of us.

 

I'm bemused that anyone would still seek to defend all the actions of the potus.

 

 

 

[GarethM]

All tariffs are quid pro quo.

 

They reduce their tariff and so will trump, it's a game of chicken and generally speaking why we got off quite lightly at 10%.

 

Simplistically, make them either zero or like for like with most countries that play fair, maybe not china as they government subsidised metal for example.

 

Everyone else it becomes free market and the consumer decides how much they actually buy.

 

Use the chicken or cars for example, if we have access and it's a fair market. But we don't buying it, nobody can say waaah that's not fair.

[Stubby]

How are the penguins going to deal with it I wonder ?

[Haironyourchest]

Probably the end of globalisation. End of the unipolar world order. The real Great Reset. Beginning of the end of the EU. We will all Build Back Better in due course, after some hard times. Hard times make for strong men. Men, prepare to get strong 💪

 

 

 

[GarethM]

6 minutes ago, Big J said:

It's not a quid pro quo at all. The figures that Trump is using are pure fantasy and seem to be loosely based on the trade deficit the US has with any given country.

Take the EU. Trump claims that they charge 39% tarriffs. The EU Commission puts it at 1%, the WTO puts it at 4.8%. Andrew Kenningham, Chief Europe Economist at Capital Economics puts it at 3%.Any one of the three figures is wildly different to 39%.

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/04/03/fact-check-are-donald-trumps-tariffs-on-the-eu-really-reciprocal

So if it's soooooo made up why do you care from your Swedish wood spoiling fjord ?.

 

Is it going to effect/affect you one bit ?.

 

All I hear, is another excuse to have your doom mongering tds fix. Whilst having a who's TDs is worse leaderboard.

[GarethM]

1 minute ago, Big J said:

 

A lot of uneducated racism there. Sweden doesn't have fjords, for a start.

Yes, it will affect me potentially. One of the two sawmills I work at exports 40% of it's production to North America (I'm not sure how much is Canada and how much is the USA, but I imagine it's at least an even split). 

So if 20% of the production of the mill is subject to 20% tarriffs, it will affect me and my coworkers.

Actually it does have a fjord with your northern neighbours and yes I've know people that have been, they also have a lot of lakes and it can't be racist as your British.

 

And may I suggest you speak to anyone in Sweden, they make my insistence of the greatness of British engineering look tame and I've worked with a lot of them over the years.

 

Well it's merica 1st, plain and simples.

[Mesterh]

3 hours ago, Stubby said:

How are the penguins going to deal with it I wonder ?

I'm not sure, but they look, pissed.

 

[GarethM]

3 minutes ago, Mesterh said:

I'm not sure, but they look, pissed.

 

Everyone knows Guinness is liquidised penguins and the white stuff floats to the top

[GarethM]

23 minutes ago, Big J said:

What you're referring to as fjords would be in Böhuslän, and to say they are fjords is a bit like going to the Cotswolds and declaring them mountains. 

Regardless, your statement about the tariffs not affecting me or my community was patently incorrect. 

 

And I believe that this policy of Trump's will very quickly collapse as every strata of American society turns on him as prices sky-rocket and the value of their pension pots collapses. 

And what if they don't turn on him ?.

 

And what if America actually begins to prosper again, wellllllllllll ?.

 

And before you wear your pearls out, what I wrote was a question so get off your soapbox before you get a nosebleed.

Edited April 4 by GarethM