'I know what the hell I'm doing,' Trump says as world braces for trade war

signalmankenneth

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Trump is a financial genius, he graduated first in his class at the Wharton School of Business with Magna Cum Laude honors?!!:rolleyes2:

After days of market tumult, President Donald Trump on Wednesday made good on his long-sought goal of imposing aggressive tariffs against dozens of U.S. trading partners.

But his gamble comes with major political risks for his legacy amid mounting concerns from Republicans and business leaders that's he's making a mistake by going too far in exacting economic retaliation.

Chief among his new trade moves is a hefty 104% tariff rate on China, which went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday. In total, new levies were slapped on nearly 90 countries.

China hit back immediately with its own 84% tariff against U.S. goods. The European Union, too, approved a set of countermeasures against the U.S. in response to Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Trump's painted what he calls "reciprocal" tariffs as retribution for a grievance he's held for "35 years" -- that the U.S. is being unfairly treated by trade imbalances.

"Nobody but me would do this," he said in the Oval Office on Monday. "You know it would be nice to serve a nice, easy term. But we have an opportunity to change the fabric of our country. We have an opportunity to reset the table on trade."

On Tuesday night, on the eve of realizing what he's said he considers one of his crowning political achievements, he boasted in freewheeling remarks to congressional Republicans, "I know what the hell I'm doing. I'm telling you, these countries are calling us up kissing my ass. They are. They are dying to make a deal."

"Many countries have ripped us off left and right. But now it's our turn to do the ripping," he continued.

By implementing the tariffs, Trump's moving full steam ahead on a campaign promise that turned real on April 2 in a flashy event in the White House Rose Garden -- a move that prompted swift economic and political backlash.

U.S. markets experienced their worst week since the coronavirus pandemic, with trillions lost in retirement and college savings accounts. Looking ahead at potential future fallout, economists increased their odds of a recession this year.

Market volatility continued on Wednesday after the tariffs took effect, with key indexes seesawing in early trading.

Up on Capitol Hill, some Republicans started to express increasing anxiety about the president's approach.

"Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves to be wrong?" Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, pointedly asked U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer as he testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Trump's agenda on Tuesday.

Tillis and other GOP members of the panel joined Democrats in questioning why the administration's refused to consider exemptions on certain goods critical to American industries, such as farming and garment manufacturing.

"I'm somewhat disappointed to hear that exclusions of some of these things are being ruled out at this point in time," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Greer.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-moves-full-steam-ahead-213600377.html


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MAGA's think Trump is an expert on this stuff because he was such a success in business.

Was he a success in business? I don't think so, but that's the popular perception. Regardless, running a business and running a national economy are 2 completely different things, that require very different skillsets.
 
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