Buyer Beware... If you're non-American, think twice before purchasing from the US

[WillyDiamond]

What if we, as a nation, stood up and quietly said, yes.. the trade unbalance is unfair and we hope other nations will quickly help straighten out this situation. Instead we impale our own country as the problem.

But, we as a nation, are now solely interested in instant gratification. Any sacrifice is way too much for us and let us keep feeding on our dollars until they are worthless.

Tell the people in our country who live paycheck to paycheck, cash their check each week to buy food to put on the table and find out their money does not cover the cost at the supermarket for their family, sure, tell those people to sacrifice.

 

[LightBright]

Tell the people in our country who live paycheck to paycheck, cash their check each week to buy food to put on the table and find out their money does not cover the cost at the supermarket for their family, sure, tell those people to sacrifice.

The US Agricultural Trade deficit increased dramatically in 2021 and is now at an all time high favoring other countries. “ The U.S. is projected to experience a record agricultural trade deficit of $45.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, driven by rising imports of high-value goods like fruits, vegetables, and processed foods.”

So yes, these tariffs will increase food prices. Question in my mind is why we have a historic Ag Trade deficit, and can the tariffs change that.

 

[Sunrises Sunsets]

Tell the people in our country who live paycheck to paycheck, cash their check each week to buy food to put on the table and find out their money does not cover the cost at the supermarket for their family, sure, tell those people to sacrifice.

Those people sacrifice daily, not just when there is a trade dispute. Did it occur to you that evening out the trade agreements may make those who live paycheck to paycheck better off in the long run? At this point I've seen a lot of hand wringing about the temporary disturbances in the stock market, non-essential items price raises and what other countries may think of our efforts.

These aren't primary concerns to those living on an economic tightrope. They don't have money in the stock market, non-essential items aren't on their radar and they may be hoping other countries acquiesce to the trade issue and settle it quickly. If you have noticed, those making the loudest noise about the tariffs are the fairly well off.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Is any member an economist?
Likely not.
The issues -such as trade deficits- have been explained in detail in this thread.
You mentioned history.

To those mentioning history…. Please learn the history of tariffs and the results.
Clearly the country is divided.
For a large portion of us, it seems blatantly obvious that the wool is being pulled over the eyes of the rest of us. Experts are ignored and fictitious charts and numbers are used to justify our country breaking treaties and relationships with our closest allies.

Your “side” won. We can scream and cry till the cows come home. No one is standing up. People in our government who are on record saying tariffs are bad are keeping quiet.

As for now- Canada hates us. And pretty much the rest of the free world.
It’s quite likely grocery prices will spike- along with most other things we buy starting Monday. And tax breaks for upper income people are on the way.
We have no choice but to start digging deeper to pay so billionaires can get tax breaks.
AND….a large percentage of Americans are thinking this is all good.
We’re done. This isn’t getting fixed.

 

[WillyDiamond]

Those people sacrifice daily, not just when there is a trade dispute. Did it occur to you that evening out the trade agreements may make those who live paycheck to paycheck better off in the long run? At this point I've seen a lot of hand wringing about the temporary disturbances in the stock market, non-essential items price raises and what other countries may think of our efforts.

These aren't primary concerns to those living on an economic tightrope. They don't have money in the stock market, non-essential items aren't on their radar and they may be hoping other countries acquiesce to the trade issue and settle it quickly. If you have noticed, those making the loudest noise about the tariffs are the fairly well off.

The jobs overseas, and we import their products are there for a reason. People are paid wages not sustainable in the US and if we did bring them back, the costs would be prohibitive to US buyers. Some argue those jobs are lost forever and not coming back. it is like trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube, kind of tough. Perhaps we should be looking to build products where the world needs them and we can drive technology and own it, therefore creating sustainable good paying jobs.

I would like to see those people who live paycheck to paycheck, not do so anymore. With the new tariffs how long will that take? It will take years to build or refurbish an auto plant in the US, not days. You want Nike to stop making athletic shoes in Vietnam and China, US labor costs are prohibitive and these are low paying jobs, can’t support a family in the US. Even if Nike could bring a plant to the US, your shoes would now go from $150 a pair to $300 a pair. Most people wont pay that.

The whole point is to help people go from one economic level to another, from no 401-k plan to having one, from no savings in the bank to having a nest egg.

Maybe some of the well off are doing the complaining, perhaps it is not complaining as you mention, but rather empathy or compassion for others.

 

[Lookinagain]

These aren't primary concerns to those living on an economic tightrope. They don't have money in the stock market, non-essential items aren't on their radar and they may be hoping other countries acquiesce to the trade issue and settle it quickly. I

What about retirees, who often have money in the stock market? Taking mandatory distributions from their 401k or IRA? Unless they have kept a fair amount of cash in those accounts things need to be sold regularly. They need that money to supplement SS but also have tax consequences if they don't take those mandatory distributions. And of course, they are afraid that SS will be cut somehow. The wait and see approach just doesn't seem to work for them. And they are very concerned.

 

[togal]

Interesting article from the BBC today. It makes the point that the US has a massive SURPLUS in service industries, and these have been excluded from the calculations. I also read elsewhere that they used AI to do the tariff calculations, which is why penguins have been included

Interesting article from the BBC today. It makes the point that the US has a massive SURPLUS in service industries, and these have been excluded from the calculations. I also read elsewhere that they used AI to do the tariff calculations, which is why penguins have been included

[URLT unfurl="true"]https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp34nkj1kv2o[/URL]

I got banned for 1 week from this forum for posting a 'Tariff Timeline' by the Associated Press, which was very informative, except the timeline named a specific person of high authority who imposed the tariffs....so your article will likely get deleted. This forum doesn't allow comments or articles that name politicians. With that said, it's near impossible to find any information online regarding "Liberation Day" tariffs that doesn't have a specific name attached to it.

 

[Sunrises Sunsets]

( And tax breaks for upper income people are on the way.
We have no choice but to start digging deeper to pay so billionaires can get tax breaks.)

Those awful rich people who float our boats...

"In 2021, taxpayers filed 153.6 million tax returns, reported earning more than $14.7 trillion in adjusted gross income (AGI), and paid nearly $2.2 trillion in individual income taxes.

The average income tax rate in 2021 was 14.9 percent. The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid a 25.9 percent average rate, nearly eight times higher than the 3.3 percent average rate paid by the bottom half of taxpayers.

The top 1 percent’s income share rose from 22.2 percent in 2020 to 26.3 percent in 2021 and its share of federal income taxes paid rose from 42.3 percent to 45.8 percent.

The top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97.7 percent of all federal individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 2.3 percent.

The 2021 figures include pandemic-related tax items from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), such as the non-refundable part of the third round of Recovery Rebates and the expanded child tax credit (CTC) and earned income tax credit (EITC).

Capital gains realizations exceeded $2 trillion to reach a 40-year high, driving income growth and taxes paid for high-income groups."

From: Who Pays Federal Income Taxes? Latest Federal Income Tax Data

 

[Ella]

I got banned for 1 week from this forum for posting a 'Tariff Timeline' by the Associated Press, which was very informative, except the timeline named a specific person of high authority who imposed the tariffs....so your article will likely get deleted. This forum doesn't allow comments or articles that name politicians. With that said, it's near impossible to find any information online regarding "Liberation Day" tariffs that doesn't have a specific name attached to it.

Time outs are given when rules are broken blatantly, most often more than once.

That being said, please have discussions here rather than just post links to articles. That solves this problem. Link fights are not productive and when names are mentioned conversation devolves quickly into battles about parties.