President Trump declared a national emergency today, in order to apply substantial tariffs to all imports. The rationale for the national emergency is provided in the fact sheet provided along with the
executive order: "Large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits have led to the hollowing out of our manufacturing base; resulted in a lack of incentive to increase advanced domestic manufacturing capacity; undermined critical supply chains; and rendered our defense-industrial base dependent on foreign adversaries."
The order applies tariffs of 10% on all goods, regardless of the source country, with the exception of certain goods from Mexico and Canada. It applies higher tariffs on countries with whom we have trade deficits. For example, if we send less to Country A than they send to us, in terms of dollar value, then the tariff is higher for Country A. Tariffs will also be reciprocal depending on tariffs that a nation charges American products: If India charges 30% tariffs on an item, then the US will charge 30% for the same items coming from India. These will take place on April 9.
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| Trump Gone Wild Everything's about to get more expensive for consumers in the United States. |
Articles exempt from the reciprocal tariffs will still have, at a minimum, the 10% tariff on all goods. These include steel, aluminum, copper, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and other items.
All of this is in addition to any previous tariffs already announced.
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| Calculation of foreign tariffs Trump is imposing based on US trade deficits is truly a wonder of mathematics created by idiots. |
Most economists agree on the side effects of tariffs on the price of consumer goods. Tariffs are a round-about way to place a hefty tax on consumers within the country without directly raising taxes on them. Trump has convinced his followers that other countries will pay the tariffs, and they have accepted what he's told them. As the prices on cheaper foreign-made items rise, consumers may find American-made products more attractive, but the price will still be higher. At that point, if the demand for US-made products rise, without an immediate increase in supply, the price of US goods goes up leaving the foreign-made goods as the cheaper products on the market, even if they're 10% or more expensive. In short, tariffs raise prices, period. And there's no guarantee that American incomes will rise—in fact, they probably won't rise. Americans will just be poorer. Another potential side effect is that the world will simply stop ordering so many US products, and a new world order may form, which leaves the United States out of the loop.
With that said, nobody knows with certainty what will happen, and time will tell.
April 3, 2025
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| When China responded to Trump's universal tariffs with 34% tariffs against all US products, Trump went to Truth Social and pretended China is the kind of country that makes irrational, panicked decisions. This is because Trump—and I mean this—is an idiot. |
April 8, 2025
Trump updated his 34% tariff on China to 84%. This is in addition to an already-placed 20% tariff. So, his tariff on Chinese products is now 104%. I've spent some time using Google Translate to see what the Chinese government is saying, and it appears they're pretty excited about the opportunity to embrace the nations of the world who are now looking toward them for world economic leadership.
April 9, 2025
Trump announced that all tariffs except for China will now be 10% after the US Treasury bond market nearly collapsed. However, he raised tariffs on China to 125%.
April 10, 2025
Trump raised tariffs on China to 145%.
What Is a Tariff and Why Are They Important?
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