Re: Just how Crazy is Donald Trump!
The 4 Biggest Consequences of Trump's Disastrous Tariff Plan
For starters, the decision could cripple the U.S. economy
President’s Trump’s crusade to alienate the United States from the rest of the world continued on Thursday, when Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced the imposition of a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union. The tariffs were initially announced in March, but temporary exemptions were granted to our allies in the hopes that a mutually beneficial deal could be struck. It couldn’t; the exemptions were lifted and now the U.S. appears to be entering a world of needless economic pain.
International allies, nonpartisan economists, business leaders and others have roundly condemned the decision. So too have Republican lawmakers like Orrin Hatch, Bob Corker, Ben Sasse and even outgoing House Speaker and reluctant Trump critic Paul Ryan. "I disagree with this decision," Ryan wrote in a statement. "Instead of addressing the real problems in the international trade of these products, today's action targets America's allies when we should be working with them to address the unfair trading practices of countries like China. There are better ways to help American workers and consumers. I intend to keep working with the president on those better options."
The metal tariffs will have a notable impact on American employers and consumers, but even scarier than the tariffs themselves is what they signal could be coming in the future. Trump on Wednesday suggested a 25 percent across-the-board tariff on imported automobiles, and reportedly told French President Emmanuel Macron he wants "maintain his trade policy until no Mercedes models rolled on Fifth Avenue in New York."
The tariffs imposed Thursday also throw the future of America’s participation in the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into flux. Trump has expressed a desire to tear up the deal since the 2016 campaign, and no progress has been made as to renegotiating it to Trump’s liking. Judging by his similarly unpopular decisions to remove the U.S. from the Paris Accord and the Iran nuclear deal, it’s now a very real possibility that the president withdraws the U.S. from NAFTA if the trade war he just created were to get worse. "The United States has been taken advantage of for many decades on trade," Trump said Thursday in a statement, referencing NAFTA. "Those days are over. Earlier today, this message was conveyed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada: The United States will agree to a fair deal, or there will be no deal at all."
Trump's Tariff Decision: The 4 Biggest Consequences - Rolling Stone
The 4 Biggest Consequences of Trump's Disastrous Tariff Plan
For starters, the decision could cripple the U.S. economy
President’s Trump’s crusade to alienate the United States from the rest of the world continued on Thursday, when Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced the imposition of a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union. The tariffs were initially announced in March, but temporary exemptions were granted to our allies in the hopes that a mutually beneficial deal could be struck. It couldn’t; the exemptions were lifted and now the U.S. appears to be entering a world of needless economic pain.
International allies, nonpartisan economists, business leaders and others have roundly condemned the decision. So too have Republican lawmakers like Orrin Hatch, Bob Corker, Ben Sasse and even outgoing House Speaker and reluctant Trump critic Paul Ryan. "I disagree with this decision," Ryan wrote in a statement. "Instead of addressing the real problems in the international trade of these products, today's action targets America's allies when we should be working with them to address the unfair trading practices of countries like China. There are better ways to help American workers and consumers. I intend to keep working with the president on those better options."
The metal tariffs will have a notable impact on American employers and consumers, but even scarier than the tariffs themselves is what they signal could be coming in the future. Trump on Wednesday suggested a 25 percent across-the-board tariff on imported automobiles, and reportedly told French President Emmanuel Macron he wants "maintain his trade policy until no Mercedes models rolled on Fifth Avenue in New York."
The tariffs imposed Thursday also throw the future of America’s participation in the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into flux. Trump has expressed a desire to tear up the deal since the 2016 campaign, and no progress has been made as to renegotiating it to Trump’s liking. Judging by his similarly unpopular decisions to remove the U.S. from the Paris Accord and the Iran nuclear deal, it’s now a very real possibility that the president withdraws the U.S. from NAFTA if the trade war he just created were to get worse. "The United States has been taken advantage of for many decades on trade," Trump said Thursday in a statement, referencing NAFTA. "Those days are over. Earlier today, this message was conveyed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada: The United States will agree to a fair deal, or there will be no deal at all."
Trump's Tariff Decision: The 4 Biggest Consequences - Rolling Stone
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