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Stupid Flanders!

Saw a policy expert say it's a mixture of 3 things really:

1. Trump likes to blame outsiders for problems and this is well received by his loyal base and gives off strongman vibes
2. long term plan to switch from income tax (scales the more you earn) to consumption taxes (the poorer you are the more you pay for for consumption, relatively speaking) which benefits the rich at the expense of the poor. this wealth transfer is easier to sell when the populace is focused on outsiders
3. Trump doesn't understand basic economics

source: https://youtu.be/2I1L1fXaYDs

There's no logic to it at all. It's absolutely not about that.

Almost no fentanyl is getting into the US from Canada. A vanishingly small amount of illegal immigration occurs through the Canadian border.

It's just fascism and imperialism.

They have to say this in order to get around the provisions in the free trade agreement HE signed last time he was in office.

I'mma let you in on a secret: Fentanyl basically is only a meaningful threat to addicts who don't know what they were taking. And if we actually cared about them, we would pump a fraction of a percent of our military budget into rehab and therapy to help them kick the habit and put narcan (sp?) in every emergency first aid kit right next to the defib. Beyond that, it is just an excuse for why a cop beat his wife or murdered a black kid.

As for what they ACTUALLY want to achieve? Saw an analyst hypothesize (on bluesky) that the real goal was the 10% tariffs. Put those on and drop them after vague claims of getting something in return (comparable to South America... fucking earlier this week?). It makes trump look "hard on China" while destabilizing relations between North America and later NATO. And it would result in basically every company jacking up their prices to pass that on to the consumer and then never lowering them because capitalism.

End result? increased profits for the oligarchs who jacked up their "made in America" products even more than the 10% they were now paying on materials and components.'

As for this? I don't like seeing my retirement funds go down the toilet (and am not optimistic they are ever coming back up this time) but fuckin' a. Burn it to the ground. It will hurt the little guy but it will hurt the 0.0000001%ers even more. The world is going to be on fire and have no water by the time I am eligible to take cash out of my 401k without penalties anyway.

That said? I assume he wants his base to believe the reason why groceries are still expensive is because Canada and Mexico just love fentanyl so much and they hate America. And his base will eat it up while the same useful idiots make sure the left is united against the Democrats (who do fucking suck but...).

A. Enact sales tax on poor people so that they can fund further corporate tax cuts
B. Ruin relationships with the closest American allies as that is a net benefit for geopolitical rivals like Russia, who Trump is demonstrably in bed with
C. Market value collapse let's all the rich cronies that have crawled up Trump's asshole buy out what's left of America's assets at fire sale prices. 10 richest men doubled their wealth during covid. They want that to happen again.

These tariffs are a way for Trump to tax his population so he can fund whatever he pleases. And the majority of his population don't even understand this 25pct tax is going from their pocket straight into his.

It feels like he's trying to accomplish the kind of hostile take over you see in business. That doesn't really work with a country though....

Trump is still butt hurt about world leaders, especially Justin Trudeau, laughing at him and making fun of him behind his back. The tarrifs are a way to generate funds to pay for tax breaks for the rich. It will also allow American companies to raise prices, and profits, without the cheaper Canadian products and with less supply so more demand. It's a bit of him being a bully, a bit of revenge, but mostly, like everything else he is doing, it's about allowing the wealthy to loot the country bankrupt while burning the thing to the ground and enriching himself.

Trump needs a fight, he cannot function without an enemy.

The "women are too emotional to be leaders" crowd are running the show with the mentality of a grade school bully

These trade wars are seldom short, they are easy to start but hard to stop. Look up Chicken Tax (started in 1960s)

This time, they'll call it Order 1488.

He's salty about America's trade deficit with Canada, which as the other guy said is madness.

Madness.