What is Going on With Tariffs?
Okay, just to preface, this one might be a bit shorter than usual. I just got back from a Quiz Bowl competition (tore it up per usual), and it’s kind of late, espescially because I am an eight hour per night weapon. Also, it will not take me long to give you an explanation of these dumb ah tariffs.
And just to preface one more time. Mathy Tel is now fully COYS. We are absolutely massive. This club is winning four trophies this year. We are going to slam Liverpool, and then bend Newcastle over in the final. THEN, we’re going to cruise to a Europa League win over Lazio or something. THEN, we will get a bunch of cupcake teams all the way to the FA Cup final, where we will destroy Woolwich. THEN, we will complete a massive comeback in the league, headed up by a resurgent front three of Son-Solanke-Tel, with a midfield bursting with young talent and creativity from Sarr, Kulusevski, Gray, and Bergvall. Also, Djed Spence will continue is Djedissaince, Red Djed Redemption, Ballon D’or campaign, etc…, and the rest of our backline will go beast mode with VDV and Romero coming back, Porro maybe finally getting a rest or two, and then Danso figuring the whole system out. Kinsky will continue to be the best GK in England as well.
In case you have been living under a rock, Donald Trump is a bit of a tariff freak. He has made tariffs his thing throughout his entire campaign and early days of his Presidential term, which ignores the simple fact of life that tariffs are really unhealthy for the economy, and relevant for this article, unhealthy for the market as well. I had always assumed that he would use tariffs as a stick in negotiations, not to cause the negotiations entirely, but I was wrong.
As soon as he got in office, the big (emphasis) Don placed a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico on specific items for each country, with a 10% tariff on China as a whole. At the very last second, tariffs go into effect tonight I think, these countries reached a deal. In return for aborting this tariff attempt for the next month, and realistically, for the rest of his term, Mexico will send 30,000 troops to the border to control the fentanyl crisis.
This tariff attempt is done for now, and in return, the economy doesn’t get anything. So, what impact will these fake tariffs that might come back have on the market? Well, tariffs, indirectly, strengthen the US dollar, which makes it harder to borrow money, start new businesses, and in general, makes the economy a bit more rigid. Also, investors are just really pessimistic about the impact tariffs will have on consumer spending. They rightly believe that tariffs will limit the amount of money consumers can spend, which makes companies that are enclosed in a bubble via their proximity to higher-end consumers like Ferrari or even Costco, more attractive.
This said, I do think tariffs on China are real. The American people want China weaker in every facet, and Trump is nothing if not a flaming populist. I think the Chinese 10%, which was the only tariff not retracted, will likely continue and potentially get worse, which makes companies like Tesla, Apple, and Nvidia comparatively weaker, as they all use China for a lot of manufacturing.
On the whole, I think tariffs are pretty much nothing, and I think this is mostly a negotiating tactic from a guy who likes attention.
