President Trump has imposed an additional 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, and a 10% additional tariff on goods from China. The reason for the tariffs is because Canada, Mexico, and China have failed to take substantive action to stop the flow of illegal aliens and illegal drugs (including fentanyl) into the United States. In 2022, 73,654 people died from a fentanyl overdose in the U.S.--more than the total combat deaths suffered by the United States in the Vietnam War. Trump has also pointed out the large trade imbalances between the United States and those three countries.
The screeches from the China and its stooges were immediate.
China, for its part, is threatening war "of any type". You can see China's problem: it is already on shaky economic ground as an export oriented economy, and the U.S. is its biggest market.
The Canadian prime
minister and ex-part-time drama teacher, Justin Trudeau indicated that
Canada would impose a retaliatory 25% tariff on the U.S., as did Mexican
president Claudia Sheinbaum. The premier of Ontario even threatened to cut off the sale of electricity to the U.S.
The media stooges have even gotten in on the act. NBC News, for instance, "warns" that the tariffs will raise prices on goods, failing to mention a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta that estimated that the impact on consumer prices would only be between 0.81 percent and 1.63 percent, although the prices of automobiles may be affected more than other goods. As the NBC article notes, "[t]he tariffs could add as much as $12,000 to the price of a new car, according to a report from the Anderson Economic Group."
Trump is imposing tariffs pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) because of Canada's, Mexico's and China's role in killing Americans and facilitating the flow of illegal aliens into the United States. I have not seen any legal justification offered for the decisions of Canada, Mexico or China.
We'll see how this goes. Right now he's doing more irritating than anything.
ReplyDeleteIf nothing else, he is moving the Overton Window. A year ago, if anyone had suggested that we should annex Greenland or parts of Canada, they would have been considered crazy. Same for suggesting that illegals need to be deported. Imagine where the Overton Window will be in a year.
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