Tracking Trump's Tariffs and Turbulent Trade Talks

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Trump’s Other War

President Trump’s tariffs have been estimated to impose an over 800 dollars tax on the average American household this year.
goldseek.com goldseek.com
 
finance.yahoo.com

Record imports push US trade balance deep into the red in August

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The US trade deficit widened more than expected in August as imports jumped to a record high against the backdrop of robust domestic demand, keeping trade on track to again subtract from economic growth in the third quarter. The deterioration reported by ‌the...
finance.yahoo.com finance.yahoo.com
 
searcher said:
finance.yahoo.com

Record imports push US trade balance deep into the red in August

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The US trade deficit widened more than expected in August as imports jumped to a record high against the backdrop of robust domestic demand, keeping trade on track to again subtract from economic growth in the third quarter. The deterioration reported by ‌the...
finance.yahoo.com finance.yahoo.com
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Then clearly everyone can afford the tariffs, right?

If not, imports would be down, wouldn't they?

Do you tend to buy more, or less of things you can't afford?
 
^^^^ what's funny about that @searcher ?

Do you buy more of the stuff you can no longer afford?
....or less of it?

If both imports are up as well as tariffs on those imported goods, then obviously the tax on imports is not high enough to change consumers behaviors. Ie: the tariffs are affordable.
 
Joe King said:
^^^^ what's funny about that @searcher ?
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Sometimes when I post certain things I know that you'll probably reply and I know where you'll go. I've even bet a few people that you'll reply in a certain way. And you came through for me. 🍺 🍺🍺

You take some of my posts way too seriously. :dontknow:

Joe King said:
Do you buy more of the stuff you can no longer afford?
....or less of it?
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Shopping is kinda a game with me. I only buy stuff I need and only when it's on sale. I'm also totally debt free. Don't owe squaduce to anyone, thank God.
 
searcher said:
Sometimes when I post certain things I know that you'll probably reply and I know where you'll go. I've even bet a few people that you'll reply in a certain way. And you came through for me. 🍺 🍺🍺

You take some of my posts way too seriously. :dontknow:
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So when you post some news that is fact based, ie: imports are up, that it's not real and to be taken seriously?

Then you posted news articles about tariffs making things too expensive.

That wasn't serious?


What I am pointing out, is that if both of those items are true, it can only mean that the tariffs are in fact affordable.

Otherwise people would be buying less imported (tariffed) stuff.


searcher said:
Shopping is kinda a game with me. I only buy stuff I need and only when it's on sale. I'm also totally debt free. Don't owe squaduce to anyone, thank God.
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But when the prices of the things you want to buy go up to an unaffordable level, do you you tend to buy more of it, or less of it?
 
searcher said:
Sometimes when I post certain things I know that you'll probably reply and I know where you'll go. I've even bet a few people that you'll reply in a certain way.
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So you are saying that you intentionally troll people?

Is that something a mod should be doing?
Ie: sounds like what Pete Rose did. Place bets on his own games.

If so, I reserve the Right to reply in any manner I wish to reply in.

Edited to add: especially when all I was doing was pointing out the inconsistencies between articles you've recently posted, and doing so in a manner intended to engage and discuss the issues in hopes of coming to a fact based conclusion we can both agree with.

Why is it unreasonable to point out the fact that if imports are up, the tariffs can't be adding that much cost to the things we buy from other nations.
 
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Joe King said:
What I am pointing out, is that if both of those items are true, it can only mean that the tariffs are in fact affordable.
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Not true. When I go food shopping I talk to peeps. They are not happy at all with the cost of things, and they blame it on T and his crapola. When he talks about affordability he says the word "affordability" in a sing song voice, as if it's a joke.

Example:



Joe King said:
So when you post some news that is fact based, ie: imports are up, that it's not real and to be taken seriously?
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What he's done is screw the American people with his policies. Around here people are not happy with him at all.

Joe King said:
So you are saying that you intentionally troll people?
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Nah, just trying to have some fun. If I can win a bet for lunch :dontknow:
 
Free to read

As usual, take it fwiw, dyodd & make of it what you will.

Trump Is Gutting America’s Core Geopolitical Advantage: Robert B. Zoellick, former US Trade Representative, deputy secretary of state and World Bank president, on the strategic cost of antagonizing Canada and Mexico. (Foreign Affairs)
 

Trump waives tariffs on largest buyers of Russian oil​

President Trump prevented some new sanctions on Russia and hefty tariffs on large-scale buyers of Russian oil from taking effect late Friday, waiving portions of a bipartisan law aimed at pressuring the Russian government — as Mr. Trump seeks to ease prices by tapping Russian energy.

Tariffs of 100% on the world's five largest importers of Russian crude oil and natural gas were set to take effect on Sunday under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act, which Mr. Trump signed late last month. But the law gives the president the authority to waive portions of the law if he certifies to Congress that halting the sanctions is "in the national interests of the United States," a provision that Mr. Trump invoked in an executive order Friday.

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/othe...s-of-russian-oil/ar-AA2epDA3?ocid=socialshare
 
Not so much about T's policies, talking trade on a global scale, especially Europe.

Nothing to see, can listen in one tab, play around the forum in a different tab.

DW News

Is Europe still a global power? The brutal free trade debate | The Dip Podcast

Oct 18, 2026 The Dip Podcast: Money, power & consequences
For decades, Europe grew rich in a world built on open markets. Today, that world is disappearing. Governments are using tariffs, sanctions, export controls, subsidies, and industrial policy not just to boost growth, but to gain geopolitical leverage. Economics is no longer separate from security. Caught between an increasingly protectionist United States and a more assertive China, Europe faces a difficult question: Can it stay committed to free trade, or must it join the global race for economic power?
In this episode of The Dip, Abraham Newman and Hosuk Lee-Makiyama debate whether Europe is adapting to a new era of geoeconomics or slowly losing its place in the world. Who will write the rules of the global economy in the next decade: the US, China, or Europe.


28:18
 

MIDTERMS CAN'T STOP HIM: Trump Unchained and the Empire's Nightmare​

Susan Kokinda opens with Chatham House's October 15 warning that President Trump could come out of the midterms "unshackled from electoral constraints," and Secretary of State Marco Rubio's answer in Mumbai: "we're no longer going to be defensive." The episode looks at the author of that warning, Dr. Andrew Payne, and his book War on the Ballot, at Halford Mackinder's doctrine, and at Chatham House director Bronwen Maddox on the members of Congress who have come to Chatham House in the run-up to their own elections, with Secretary Rubio on America First. It then turns to the reaction to the President's diesel deal with Russia and his openness to a meeting with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, from the Council on Foreign Relations to the Wall Street Journal's "Yalta 2" editorial, with President Trump and Secretary Rubio on talks about nuclear weapons, and the ASEAN, APEC and G20 summits ahead. It closes with what the President is doing without the Congress: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the tariff authorities, the EPA's repeal of the 2024 power-plant rules, Defense Production Act funding for refining, federal loans for power, drug and manufacturing plants, the White House's $11.3 trillion investment count, and 21 new plant sites announced since October 1.
00:00 The Saturday Wrap-Up - MIDTERMS CAN'T STOP HIM: Trump Unchained and the Empire's Nightmare - October 24, 2026
01:20 Off the Reservation
04:24 Yalta Panic
08:26 He Doesn't Need Their Permission
 
searcher said:
Not true. When I go food shopping I talk to peeps. They are not happy at all with the cost of things, and they blame it on T and his crapola. When he talks about affordability he says the word "affordability" in a sing song voice, as if it's a joke.

Example:

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It is true. If people can't afford imports due to high tariffs, imports would not be at record levels.

The record level was hit After the tariffs came into effect.



searcher said:
What he's done is screw the American people with his policies. Around here people are not happy with him at all.
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Around there, as in, a democrat stronghold?

They'd blame Trump for a cloudy day. Lol


Next time ask 'em if they support carbon taxes.
 
Joe King said:
Around there, as in, a democrat stronghold?
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lol No, I've told you this before, Republican stronghold.

Joe King said:
They'd blame Trump for a cloudy day. Lol
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No, see above. Now here's the straight skinny..........

I know a lot of peeps, including peps in the Republican Committee. They have told me they are sick and tired of T's crazy talk and what he's trying to do as far as acting like he's some sort of a king. They have said it's D this time except for one local.

BTW............I was a registered R until T came along.

Joe King said:
Next time ask 'em if they support carbon taxes.
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Most peeps I know don't have a clue about this. They are concerned about the cost of living. Not at all happy when they gas up or food shop.
 
searcher said:
They have told me they are sick and tired of T's crazy talk and what he's trying to do as far as acting like he's some sort of a king. They have said it's D this time except for one local.
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Well then they obviously have the attention span of a goldfish.

The dems are all about climate change.




searcher said:
Most peeps I know don't have a clue about this.
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Exactly. Ie: attention span of a goldfish.

For years, the dems are the ones who have been pushing for carbon taxes.


searcher said:
They are concerned about the cost of living. Not at all happy when they gas up or food shop.
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Wait 'til they get a load of the carbon taxes the dems want in order to "fix" climate change.


Carbon taxes are intended to make fossil fuels more expensive so that people will convert to electric and renewables more easily.

That means even higher energy costs than what they have now that they are complaining about so much.
 
Joe King said:
Well then they obviously have the attention span of a goldfish.

The dems are all about climate change.
Click to expand...

Joe King said:
Exactly. Ie: attention span of a goldfish.

For years, the dems are the ones who have been pushing for carbon taxes.
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Attention span???????? lol I just told you I'm in a Republican stronghold. And believe me, no politician around here, R or D talks about carbon taxes. They do talk about property taxes, the cost of living, local crime, school stuff, PA related / township concerns, etc.

Joe King said:
Carbon taxes are intended to make fossil fuels more expensive so that people will convert to electric and renewables more easily.
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Yesterday I ran to the local WaWa and and was a bit taken aback. They have a lot of charging stations for EV's. Every one was occupied and there was a waiting line (lotta cars) for their turn to charge up their cars. First time I ever saw that. It was an awakening for me.

They have around 48 gas / diesel pumps. No waiting, pull up get your gas and go. It made me think maybe peeps are concerned about fuel costs and a possible disruption in the supply chain. Think back to the 1970's when we had two fuel shortages.

As for T, like I said earlier, I believe peeps are tired of chaos. Especially peeps my age.
 
searcher said:
Attention span???????? lol I just told you I'm in a Republican stronghold. And believe me, no politician around here, R or D talks about carbon taxes. They do talk about property taxes, the cost of living, local crime, school stuff, PA related / township concerns, etc.
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Yes, attention span. Or did they forget that the dems when in power, are hostile to the fossil fuel industry? Did they forget what Biden did?

Fuel will only get more expensive with those idiots in charge.

Also, we're talking national politics here. Not local.


searcher said:
Yesterday I ran to the local WaWa and and was a bit taken aback. They have a lot of charging stations for EV's. Every one was occupied and there was a waiting line (lotta cars) for their turn to charge up their cars. First time I ever saw that. It was an awakening for me.
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That's what dems want. To make gas so expensive as to make people want to get rid of gas powered cars.

Now think. How expensive would it need to be for most peeps to want to sell their ICE car in favor of a BEV?

Probably a lot more than gas costs now.

Adjusted for inflation from early '80's it should be nearly $5
 
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