The Trouble With Trump's Tariffs

Trump once again is exercising his lack of knowledge about tariffs. Or maybe he has just found a clever way to shake down other nations.

He has been saying for months that round two of his tariffs nightmares begins August 1, and that he will be ruthless and decisive. As usual he claims that the money will pour into this country. He says he will make so many deals, we won’t believe it.

Now he claims he has made two deals. Saudi Arabia signed a deal to pay $600 billion to be administered and expended per Trump. Japan has also signed a deal of the same nature for about $550 billion, and the question begs, what kind of deals are these? Already I don’t believe it.

Normally a tariff is a percentage of the cost of an item sold, so the tariff paid depends upon the quantity sold. But the way this was presented on the news, I cannot help but wonder, have these two countries just given up on trying to work with Trump on tariffs and, instead, offered to simply pay a preset amount of money? Because that’s not tariffs, that’s extortion.

Those countries which have not struck a deal will pay a special tariff of ten percent which will go into effect on August 25. There are exceptions but a calendar Trump has keeps track of it all. He says he has unlimited power to set tariffs anywhere, for any amount, although that is not what is in the Constitution. That power, and the ability to perform checks on other branches so that our country remains a republic, should exist within Congress. However, the Republicans continue to fail to do their jobs and vote exactly according to Trump’s wishes.

The worst part is that our elected so-called Republican representatives are so disingenuous. They claim that they are only voting as Trump tells them because his ideas are so wonderful and they fully support everything he does. The Democratic representatives do not have a clue how to break through Trump’s daunting tin wall.

The R-people fail to admit that his ideas are crazy, not just the tariffs but most of his ideas are cockamamie, ideas that harm the country. They won’t admit he’s incapable.

Look at the defunding of the Department of Education. Well, a bunch of wealthy people want to make money by opening and operating charter schools. They tell parents you do not have to pay much, or in some cases the schools may be completely free. That’s because the money allocated by the state and federal governments will follow the student to his new school. So, if you live in Americaville, and you send your child to Titan Charter School instead of Americaville High School, your money will not help your local public school at all. You will be sending your tax money to a free enterprise outside of where you live. And a wealthy person will benefit while the community suffers.

Now think about the immigration issue. You expected that violent members of the MS-13 gang would be arrested and deported. Instead, moms and dads who have raised families and worked in our communities are being seized and sent to places like the concentration camp, Alligator Auschwitz, located in the mean environment of the Florida Everglades. Now additional billions have been allocated to build more immigrant detention centers. And at Alligator Auschwitz, almost 40 percent of its prisoners have committed absolutely no crime. Another huge percentage has only minor charges pending. About six percent of the immigrant violent criminals have been arrested. And we have our ICE goons, running about in masks, wearing armor and carrying guns. This is not the America I grew up in, folks.

Maybe the worst thing is the delighted cruelty Trump enjoys using when he carries out his schemes. The poor kids whose parents cannot afford the charter schools will have to take military readiness tests, because the poor people will be expected to protect the country while the rich kids get a cool break. As for border control, look how cruelly the immigrants are treated.

With the tariffs, Trump is either incredibly stupid or incredibly mean. Mayhe he really has been immune from the effects of tariffs over the years. After all he is a wealthy man and as he himself has stated he knows his way around the IRS. So, he sees the stock market jump up and down, someone is devasted because he lost $70,000 from the stock market upheaval. But he does not care. Prices rise everywhere because no markets are unaffected. To the spineless, worthless representatives who refuse to hold him accountable, to the senators who give him a free pass for everything he wants, I despise all of you. None of you deserves to be reelected.

The deals are quite complex. Each of them involves an infusion of cash to the US from the country making the agreement. For Saudi Arabia, their investment will be $600 billion with major investments in AI data centers and energy infrastructure. They will also invest money in companies like Google, DataVolt, Oracle, AMD, and a high-capacity IV fluid factory to be built in Michigan. Yet other deals involve our workforce building the King Salman International Airport, King Salman Park, something called “The Vault,” Qiddiya City, and exportations including gas turbines, and Boeing products. Saudi has also signed a defense sales agreement of $142 billion that will cover equipment and services from over a dozen defense firms.

The Japanese prime minister’s agent signed for Prime Minister Ishiba for an infusion of $550 billion with the United States receiving 90 percent of the profits, according to Trump. In exchange for that Japan will pay 15 percent tariffs, and that will be the limit on the cars we buy from them also, while other nations will pay a higher 25 percent tariff on cars. And there will be no restrictions on volume. The Japanese describe the money as coming in the form of equity and loan to support investment by the Japanese in pharmaceuticals and semi-conductors.

So, Trump, what will you do with the money? Don’t forget that all the trappings of your office plus salary come from our taxes. How about you spend it on things the people want? Give us back Medicaid and SNAP cards? No more concentration camps. How about some for the schools, because you might not want to call it the Department of Education but we still must go about educating our children.

Plus, here’s a newsflash: Nobody wants you to excavate the East Wing. We don’t need a $200 million ballroom. Nobody other than your rich buddies cares about your MAGA baby funds—that’ll cost us about $9 billion, and we would rather not risk everything on the stock market, like you do. Especially when some nut like you starts playing with tariffs. Forget fixing up that plane that you want for your personal library—you’ll do just fine with a couple of comic books tossed here and there. Lay some pages from the Epstein files around for good reading. You are just a travesty to the presidency. The trouble with your tariffs, Trump, is that you already took from the American people more than your stupid tariffs will give them.