Does Trump think it's the source country that pays tariffs?

[Recursion]

I think somebody needs to sit him down and explain how this works.

[onecaliberal]

1. His stupidity is burning us all.

[Dulcinea]

22. I think he knows.

He's counting on the Trumpketeers not to know how tariffs work, though.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Little Donnie does not do Math.

Only thing Little Donnie Does is run his mouth. You can not fix Stupid.

[Angry Dragon]

3. he also knows twitter

[pkdu]

5. Whilst he definitely has the tiny thumbs of a Twittermaster

I believe he dictates his tweets.

[Wellstone ruled]

8. Understand his tweets usually follow

something he reads on Breitbart/Drudge or hears on Fox. Still can not fix Stupid.

[dalton99a]

4. For someone who holds a degree in economics from Wharton

[sarah FAILIN]

7. Daddy's money buys a lot

While the rest of us wok for it..

[no_hypocrisy]

11. Only two years at Wharton and it was only in real estate.

[anneboleyn]

16. "Wharton" was not a graduate MBA program. Trump was there as an undergrad and transfer student.

Of course he constantly says "Wharton" so that his voters think he has an MBA as in the modern Penn MBA program.

[no_hypocrisy]

19. Exactly. Two years in Fordham University in the Bronx and then transferred to Wharton.

He used his networking through his brother Fred Jr.

[yallerdawg]

6. It makes sense to his constituents.

If our 20% Mexican import tax pays for the wall, that's on Mexico.

[Fred Sanders]

9. American importers pay the Trump import tax, so then who pays the importers and the wall?

[Thrill]

10. Not sure what kind of economist is advising this clown

.

[TheFrenchRazor]

12. i think the point of tariffs is to make imports more expensive so people will buy domestic'

i don't have any problem with it if it's done intelligently, as part of a sensible overall trade strategy. using any money from that to build a wall is of course stupid.

[Thrill]

13. Just remember. When you do that. other countries

will do the same on American exports. How many companies these days are going to build shit here if they can't sell it globally?

[former9thward]

32. What?

Most other countries DO put tariffs on American products. Try selling a SUV or truck in Japan. American domestics can't do it. Same thing with auto parts. The OP must think this is a free trade world. It is not even close.

[Thrill]

33. It's not about whether they do or not

The point is if the US increases theirs the other countries will to. Paul Krugman explained this yesterday

[Caliman73]

25. You are right

I think that most people here understand the purpose of tariffs and that in some cases it is something that is supported as a sensible trade policy. Like you said however, and like people are arguing, Trump is proposing that Mexico will eat the 20% additional charge and thus pay for the wall by simply complying with the duty fees. Those costs are rarely eaten by the producer in any meaningful way, but are passed on to the consumer. Either that, or as you say, it will boost domestic production for a bit to fill in the losses, but at the higher domestic prices. Mexico will look for new trade partners and as others said, would likely raise duties on US imports as well. Overall it would be a loss of revenue.

[stopbush]

30. Food is one thing. People can opt to not eat avocados.

The problem is things like the US auto industry, whose cars are teeming with parts made in Mexico. The price of those cars will rise. It's not like there are a shitload of non-Mexican companies around prepared to turn on a dime and start manufacturing the volume of auto parts needed in the US.

[Blue_true]

14. The guy is certifiable.

And evil. No sane person should try to figure out what he thinks. OPPOSE HIM COMPLETELY!

Trump is insane if he thinks the rest of the world will allow him to impose 20% tariffs on them and not retaliate. The USA makes up 5% of world population and 20% of world consumption. If we go to war with the other 95/80%, we lose big and likely for good.

[displacedtexan]

15. Just remember: these are the Tea Party idiots who don't understand the history

of their own sect name.

[snooper2]

28. teabaggers please use the correct term

[Calista241]

17. Tariffs are not what he wants

Peter Navarro, who heads Trumps's National Trade Council said earlier today:

"The tariff is not an end game, it's a strategy -- a strategy to renegotiate trade deals," Navarro said at the time.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/26/news/economy/trump-mexico-tariff/index.html

My opinion is that he wants a new trade deal with both Canada and Mexico, and he's going to blow up NAFTA to get it.

He's on record many times saying he wants a bunch of bi-lateral deals as opposed to these multilateral deals lie the TPP and NAFTA.

[Talk Is Cheap]

18. Technically, it the 'importer of record' who pays the tariff.

The way I understand tariffs, it works this way:

If it costs $12 to make a pair of shoes in America, and an importer's cost is $11, then the
tariff could be $1 (or more, or none at all) to match the American price.

If the tariff amount causes the import price to exceed the price in America, the consumers would buy American (it's cheaper). If the tariff matches the ones made in America then the cost is a push. If the tariff imposed does not exceed the American price, then consumers would/could buy the imported shoes as it is cheaper.

But, then again, America does not make anything except military hardware...

[Recursion]

21. America manufactures more than any other country

And we manufacture more today than at any time before. "We don't make things here anymore" is one of Trump's bigger lies.

[Talk Is Cheap]

23. Really? What does the USA manufacture?

Go into any store in America. Pick up any product. Look at the 'Made in <country>" on the label.
What does it say? - right, China and a multitude of other countries.

Why do our imports greatly exceed our exports?

I am perplexed by your response...

[DanTex]

26. Umm, airplanes, cars, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, microchips, and a lot more stuff.

True, we don't make many little trinkets. But we are the worlds largest manufacturer, and also manufacturing output is higher than at any time in the past, even though manufacturing employment has dropped a lot. This is because now things are manufactured by machines.

We have a trade deficit because we consume more than we produce. Basically, the US wants iphones and China wants US Government Bonds, so they send us iphones and we send them bonds. If Americans wanted more bonds and less iphones, and/or if China wanted more iphones and less bonds, there wouldn't be a trade deficit.

[Talk Is Cheap]

27. I know you are not saying that iPhones represent why the US has a trade deficit...

"In 2015, the goods trade deficit was $763 billion."

"The country’s overall trade deficit in 2015 was about $500 billion, according to Census data, but that figure includes both goods and services."

from: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/21/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-goods-trade-deficit-was-almost-8/

also: https://www.statista.com/statistics/220041/total-value-of-us-trade-balance-since-2000/

[DanTex]

29. Of course not. I'm using it as an example.

If you want more accurate: the US wants to consume more products than it produces, and purchase less investments. Foreign countries, on net, want to consume less products than they produce, and purchase more investments.

So American consumers purchase more goods produced abroad (including, but not limited to, iphones), than foreigners do goods produced in America. And meanwhile, foreigners purchase more investments in the US (including, but not limited to, US Government Bonds) than Americans do foreign investments.

[Talk Is Cheap]

31. So, what magic powers do you have to know all this?

"the US wants to consume more products than it produces, and purchase less investments. "

Questions: who is the US you are referring to? What is your source for all this?

[DanTex]

34. That's not a controversial statement, it's very basic economics.

[GeorgeGist]

20. His followers will believe it.

[geek tragedy]

24. he is indifferent to the truth nt