I want to believe that the Trump Administration already knew this would happen. They had inside knowledge from existing talks or calls that if they publicly unveiled their Tariff plan, two things would happen: The Democrats would overreact, and scores of trading partners would line up to do a deal.
Sorry, I’m not that MAGA, but Trump 2.0 could have labeled their economic realignment a Blitzkrieg. Lightning fast and a few steps ahead of a reaction and a response, they knew they’d receive. USAID. The entire DOGE thing. Border security and deportation. Record TROs and injunctions that will force SCOTUS to act sooner than later. Retaliatory and reciprocal tariffs.
It’s almost scary, even if it wasn’t another trap.
Trump introduces tariffs. Then we get great economic news. Oil prices drop (as do the prices of the new grocery bell-weather, eggs). Jobs, especially manufacturing jobs, rise. Inflation is currently very low. But the stock Market freaks out and pops its balloon, followed by Democrats and their protesters. Sorry, but I don’t think you have him where you want him.
Over 50 countries already want to address their tariffs and other trade barriers.
- Vietnam’s top leader said the country would reduce its tariffs on the United States “to zero.”
- Thailand has signaled its readiness to discuss with the U.S. government at the first opportunity to adjust the trade balance to be fair to both the parties,”
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on April 6 offered zero tariffs as the basis for talks with the United States, pledging to remove trade barriers rather than imposing reciprocal measures and saying Taiwanese companies would increase their U.S. investments.
The market adjustment made headlines, which were followed by left-wing protesters who said they wanted Trump and Musk to keep their hands off (something). The economy? The Waste, Fraud, and Abuse? Globalism? Hamas? Anti-Israel factions tried to monopolize these events. The message was muddled, and the legitimacy of the gatherings is suspect (as always, they should be). There were some impressive crowds, but is that news of voters’ remorse or the Dems grasping for relevance in the absence of anything else?
They’ve got nothing. Their leadership sucks. Hoping things fail isn’t exactly a platform you can stand on for very long, especially if they don’t. So, there they were, pretending Trump had doomed us to poverty and (cheaper gasoline and eggs), then news breaks that the President knew more than they did. Nations are lining up to talk about fair trade as their own markets take a beating they can’t afford.
Most, if not all, nations have significant tariffs on US goods entering their countries alongside other unfair practices (and have for decades). We covered this a few weeks ago via the Tucker Carlson Interview with Bob Lighthizer. The world has done the US wrong, and we’ve just taken it. American wages, lifestyles, and workers have suffered. In return, they rob us of our intellectual property, jobs, and the self-sufficiency needed to sustain even a sliver of national security and self-interest.
Mr. Trump ran on using tariffs to fix that, and here we are. The net effect will likely be lower prices, more exports, shrinking trade deficits, more investment, and more US jobs. A stronger American economy – though I’d expect a few rough rides before any of this begins to approach parity. Global trade and the US economy have been broken for a while. You don’t fix that on a long weekend.
And Democrats have jumped off another bridge, and it is already beginning to look like whoever went with them has nowhere safe to land.
Keep your chins up and a smile on your face, Republicans and Trump supporters. Don’t let the Dems and the chattering handmaiden media get you down. The tariffs haven’t even started yet, and Trump is already winning.
