Unfortunately, tariffs on some cars will raise the prices on all cars. As demand shifts to non-tariffed cars, sellers will be able to demand higher prices for them. Maybe not as big a markup as tariffed cars will see, but sellers aren't just going to let consumers take the benefit all for themselves.
Agree. We know why imports will be higher but even the domestic makers will raise their price for greed and union demands. Meanwhile I still won’t buy domestic crap. Besides trucks and vettes (not a vette man but you it does deliver good bang for your buck in performance) it’s a mistake to buy domestic.
So this ties with something that I have been pondering. I wonder how these tariffs factor into the tax cut extension math. A tariff is essentially another form of a sales tax. So, when Navarro boasts that this will raise $600B in revenue, the government is essentially trading a tax cut for the wealthy (by extending the 2017 tax cuts) for a tax increase on everyone. Of course, these tariffs might not stick for long, but by then the tax cuts may already have been passed (with some probably pointing to the tariffs as offsetting a bit of the impact on the deficit).
Buying domestic isn't that domestic. I found out that 1/2 of my Chevy Colorado's parts are manufactured overseas and in Canada. So, these "American" made cars will go up in price as well.
We have a real world example of this. In Trump's first term, he implemented tariffs on washing machines. And sure enough, even non-tariffed washing machines had price increases that matched the tariffed ones. It just turned into a straight price increase across the board. And on top of that dryers (which weren't even tariffed) had corresponding price increases as well. Once the tariffs were finally lifted when Biden was president, prices fell almost immediately. This is just a stupid tax on imports that will boost the profit margins of non-tariffed suppliers at everyone else's expense. They already announced the auto parts tariffs on Mexico and Canada but Canada in particular is going to be almost impossible to enforce because today the US has no mechanism to actually certify whether a part is Canadian or American. The US government has been lumping American and Canadian parts as a category since the 60s and all labeling continues to reflect the bundling of American and Canadian parts. There's also the problem of what counts as an auto part as there is no definition for this today. There's already a carveout in the auto tariff announcement that Mexican and Canadian imports will continue to be tariff free until the Department of Commerce and CBP come up with a way to actually enforce this.
Even if Ford, Chevrolet and Chrysler had 100% of their production in the US, tariffs would still cause a price increase for a few reasons: Increased production in the US would necessitate higher labor costs. UAW members aren't going to take a pay cut to the levels of Mexican workers. Arbitrary 25% increases on foreign cars gives American manufacturers 24% of price increases to play with. Demand will go up for their product and they'll charge accordingly.
I wonder if I will still be able to get my province tax back at the duty free when I visit Canada, which is about 6 times a year.
If I were implementing tariffs, I would do it across the board so not to appear to be targeting any one specific nation. I also would blanket tariffs at a much lower number than 20%. Maybe 5%.
I don't know --- the idea of "Liberation Day" and in the past Trump wanting military parades, with tanks driving parade routes and soldiers marching lock step - it makes me very uncomfortable. It seems very nationalist - and not consistent with the type of nationalism we see historically in the USA, at least not in over 100 years.
This is stupid. Russia is corrupt from the lowest levels, all the way up to the top and that is why they do not have better trade partners. Even then, they are lead by a nationalist that is not hospitable for trade. This whole obsession that it seems Trump and his advisors have with Russia is very bizarre. I can understand wanting to strengthen or cultivate trade ties for a number of reasons, but the choice of Russia is doesn't seem smart. They would have been better forging stronger ties with India or Vietnam - both have better prospects than Russia. Couple that with alienating the rest of Europe and I am puzzled.
Nook the stock market is tanking. Hes complete destroyed the economy in months. His approval will collapse in the coming months. Minorities will flock once they realize the "trump is a businessman" persona disappears. Facists can't afford bad economies
I think it is foolish to assume that MAGA will get crushed in the midterms as of March 31, 2025. MAGA has complete domination over social media, they have stronger support from young people than any Republicans since the 1950's. MAGA has a very charismatic leader in Trump - they have lots of money and money sources, and they have shown the ability and willingness to modify their voter group when needed. I am very concerned about the impact of the tariffs being discussed - but until the actual numbers show a recession, I am not counting on the Republicans losing in the midterms.
