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Trump Tariffs Poised to Sink the Economy [1]

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Date: 2025-04-29

Donald Trump has now been at work for 100 days. While this is typically the honeymoon period in which a president can get Congress to go along with their agenda, Trump is in a much bigger rush than Congress can accommodate.

He is going it alone for the most part, relying on executive orders to upend America. While he has delegated the destruction of government institutions that protect Americans to Elon Musk and his DOGE entourage, he has taken a sledge hammer to the US economy personally.

The result is a lot of news being churned out about tariffs. And Republican Senators like Arkansas’s John Boozman gushing about Trump’s “Bold Agenda”. Wall Street has been gyrating on “news about tariffs”. They are yet to respond the the actual economic results of tariffs.

Just appearing in the headlines are news of shipping from China to the US being cut by 35% by next week. And, warnings to truckers are emerging not to take hauls to the West Coast because they will have to head back home with an empty truck, as no shipping is heading east.

If this was not telling enough as to what is in store for American retailers, their employees, and shoppers, check out the UPS announcement that they are laying off 20,000 employees because of expected reduced deliveries.

I hope it is OK to say that, as Trump’s White House just denounced a tactic that Amazon floated, including a separate line item in prices to show the amount that was due to tariffs. Amazon backed down quickly claiming it was just an idea. Telling Americans how much The Wild Man’s tariffs are actually costing them may be “illegal” in Trump’s mind.

If you want a daily measure of how retail is going, just check Amazon Vine and see how many items are offered. In the last few weeks, it has declined from about 110,000 items to about 52,000 now. Warehouses that were stocked up on tariff announcements are now emptying out, soon to be followed by retail shelves going empty.

While Trump supporters in Red States are overjoyed at his accomplishments in general, they are a bit anxious about the economy. It will be interesting to see how their elation holds up as store shelves empty.

Trump’s tariff war is against all of America’s traditional allies and neutral parties, sparing only Russia, North Korea, and Belarus. Wonder why? Hint, they are not democracies governed by the will of the people and the rule of law. He is making a statement as to who he considers his personal friends among nations, those he most admires.

Now, while competitors like China are involved in one tariff war, the US is involved in 189 tariff wars. No wonder Trump is looking tired. Of course, he claims to have negotiated 200 trade treaties. This is really getting far out there as there are only 192 countries in the world. In such a rush, maybe he lost track and negotiated some of the treaties twice. Or, maybe, he is totally bull shitting, otherwise known as lying his ass off.

Economists estimate that trade agreements by teams of knowledgeable and skilled negotiators typically take about five years to complete and get approved by the involved countries. Three years to craft a trade deal is considered excellent work. Trade deals involve expert knowledge of supply chains and alternatives.

Now Trump has to either back down while lying that he got big concessions from all the other countries in the world and by himself cancel all his tariffs. OR stick with his absurd claims about how tariffs will make America rich because they are paid by exporting countries not US citizen buyers, keep the tariffs, and watch the US economy tank completely.

China and Japan are both refusing to talk until Trump cancels his tariffs. Other countries are following suit.

Major countries have over 180 trade partners they can count on. The USA now has 189 ex-trade partners that can no longer trust us. Not to worry though, we can count on Russia, Belarus, and North Korea, thanks to Trump’s skill at writing love letters to despots.

What on earth can Trump be thinking you might ask. Judging by his actions, his only goal is to be in the good graces of those he admires most, some of the most brutal and unscrupulous dictators on the planet. Trump’s hero and the object of his affection, Putin, is the winner here and the American people are the losers. Trump himself is the fool.

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