Because math is hard.

DarkBrandon01 said:

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The US will never again have a post war monopoly on industry. These tariffs will destroy the economy while this administration chases a dream that isn't possible anymore. The rest of the world will learn to trade without us and the US will no longer dominate global financial markets.

What MAGA doesn't realize is that other countries making your products is a sign of strength, not weakness. Our quality of life is so fantastic BECAUSE of outsourcing. All of our products are cheap because they are made in sweatshops overseas, in countries too underdeveloped to have any leverage in the market. And Trump has the audacity to say that those countries are exploiting us! This era of US dominance will come to an end if the tariffs are allowed to remain.

I said this months ago and I'll say it again. Start stockpiling food.

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You can get happy in the same panties you got mad in, Karen. It will be OK.

It appears people are *****ing because the White House's definition of "reciprocal" doesn't match their definition.

While I agree with them, it's really a pointless thing to ***** about.

And NO, this post is not a statement of agreement or dissatisfaction with the tariffs.

ExPeterKeating said:

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Explain to me why us having, in most cases, a 50% RECIPROCAL tariff on imports is unfair or bad? Why is no one upset at the tariffs pointed at the US? Oooooo, the world will collapse and our economy will collapse. So, my cheap Chinese junk will cost a few bucks more? Big whoop. Maybe the bedwetters should be *****ing at other countries for holding tariff on US exports. But NO! They never do that. Maybe i can just buy something made in the US. If we get a strengthened manufacturing base, then we all win.

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Its not a reciprocal tariff at all. It's formulated to shrink trade deficits (which aren't inherently bad outside a few specific industries).

At least the boomers will be as broke as everyone else.

Jeeper79 said:

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ExPeterKeating said:

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Explain to me why us having, in most cases, a 50% RECIPROCAL tariff on imports is unfair or bad? Why is no one upset at the tariffs pointed at the US? Oooooo, the world will collapse and our economy will collapse. So, my cheap Chinese junk will cost a few bucks more? Big whoop. Maybe the bedwetters should be *****ing at other countries for holding tariff on US exports. But NO! They never do that. Maybe i can just buy something made in the US. If we get a strengthened manufacturing base, then we all win.

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Its not a reciprocal tariff at all. It's formulated to shrink trade deficits (which aren't inherently bad outside a few specific industries).

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Shrinking deficits is fantastic provided the shrinking comes from maintaining imports and increasing exports.

BTKAG97 said:

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It appears people are *****ing because the White House's definition of "reciprocal" doesn't match their definition.

While I agree with them, it's really a pointless thing to ***** about.

And NO, this post is not a statement of agreement or dissatisfaction with the tariffs.

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The White House's definition of "reciprocal tariff" must be based on some language other than English, sort of like how the last Biden spending boondogle was called "The Inflation Reduction Act."

Still, there is a whole lot of handwringing going on right now. With Trump, everything is a negotiation. This is simply his opening offer. I will judge it by where we end up. Hopefully, we do have something more like reciprocity in trade, which will require more than simply looking at customs duties. When the Europeans won't let you import ag products due to BS safety claims, it doesn't matter what tariff they are charging. That kind of stuff is a legitimate target, but you can't really call retaliatory tariffs reciprocal tariffs if you want to be regarded as being transparent.

BTKAG97 said:

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It appears people are *****ing because the White House's definition of "reciprocal" doesn't match their definition.

While I agree with them, it's really a pointless thing to ***** about.

And NO, this post is not a statement of agreement or dissatisfaction with the tariffs.

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Its extremely pertinent.

The only excusable reason to have reciprocal tariffs is to get the other country to remove theirs. But by this math, we could be tariffing countries that don't even tariff us. Meaning why are we even doing it?

Jeeper79 said:

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BTKAG97 said:

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It appears people are *****ing because the White House's definition of "reciprocal" doesn't match their definition.

While I agree with them, it's really a pointless thing to ***** about.

And NO, this post is not a statement of agreement or dissatisfaction with the tariffs.

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Its extremely pertinent.

The only excusable reason to have reciprocal tariffs is to get the other country to remove theirs. But by this math, we could be tariffing countries that don't even tariff us. Meaning why are we even doing it?

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To encourage them to figure out a way to equitably balance our trade relationship. HTH.

Jeeper79 said:

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BTKAG97 said:

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It appears people are *****ing because the White House's definition of "reciprocal" doesn't match their definition.

While I agree with them, it's really a pointless thing to ***** about.

And NO, this post is not a statement of agreement or dissatisfaction with the tariffs.

---

Its extremely pertinent.

The only excusable reason to have reciprocal tariffs is to get the other country to remove theirs. But by this math, we could be tariffing countries that don't even tariff us. Meaning why are we even doing it?

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Other than Israel (who caved last night), do you have a list of countries that don't tariff us?

Rydyn said:

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Jeeper79 said:

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BTKAG97 said:

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It appears people are *****ing because the White House's definition of "reciprocal" doesn't match their definition.

While I agree with them, it's really a pointless thing to ***** about.

And NO, this post is not a statement of agreement or dissatisfaction with the tariffs.

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Its extremely pertinent.

The only excusable reason to have reciprocal tariffs is to get the other country to remove theirs. But by this math, we could be tariffing countries that don't even tariff us. Meaning why are we even doing it?

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Other than Israel (who caved last night), do you have a list of countries that don't tariff us?

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Let me rephrase. This calculation is based heavily on trade deficits. Outside of a few industries, trade deficit doesn't much matter.

Annex II from the EO.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Annex-II.pdf

Members of the administration are out touting this as fair trade vs free trade. Fair trade was the term used by labor unions and democrats for a long time.

Just like equity vs equality became the Dem mantra.

Jeeper79 said:

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Rydyn said:

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Jeeper79 said:

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BTKAG97 said:

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It appears people are *****ing because the White House's definition of "reciprocal" doesn't match their definition.

While I agree with them, it's really a pointless thing to ***** about.

And NO, this post is not a statement of agreement or dissatisfaction with the tariffs.

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Its extremely pertinent.

The only excusable reason to have reciprocal tariffs is to get the other country to remove theirs. But by this math, we could be tariffing countries that don't even tariff us. Meaning why are we even doing it?

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Other than Israel (who caved last night), do you have a list of countries that don't tariff us?

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Let me rephrase. This calculation is based heavily on trade deficits. Outside of a few industries, trade deficit doesn't much matter.

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The way they set the constants, it's based ONLY on trade deficits.

Actual tariff rates vs what Trump claimed. You'll note that our tariffs are many multiples higher than the tariffs we are supposed to be reciprocating.

Project Liberal on X: "We corrected the chart. https://t.co/VJpiwx43ms" / X

And a comparison to the Smoot Hawley tariffs for reference.

Geiger Capital on X: "The overall weighted-average tariff is 29%. The highest in over 100 years. Bigger than Smoot-Hawley. https://t.co/VtPf7fjMlZ" / X

Good luck fighting a war with Russia and a trade war with the US.

Drop Nato, and all support for Ukraine/Kiev regime.

Jeeper79 said:

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Krombopulos Michael said:

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BREAKING: French President Macron urges companies to pause all US investments. pic.twitter.com/2dtEgdsRQe

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) April 3, 2025

The French proving once again, they are not our allies.......

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We kind of sent them a "we're not your ally" memo yesterday. What do you expect?

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Yea I don't blame them for this. If another country started a very public trade war, we wouldn't like that very much either.

Jeeper79 said:

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Rydyn said:

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Jeeper79 said:

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BTKAG97 said:

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It appears people are *****ing because the White House's definition of "reciprocal" doesn't match their definition.

While I agree with them, it's really a pointless thing to ***** about.

And NO, this post is not a statement of agreement or dissatisfaction with the tariffs.

---

Its extremely pertinent.

The only excusable reason to have reciprocal tariffs is to get the other country to remove theirs. But by this math, we could be tariffing countries that don't even tariff us. Meaning why are we even doing it?

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Other than Israel (who caved last night), do you have a list of countries that don't tariff us?

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Let me rephrase. This calculation is based heavily on trade deficits. Outside of a few industries, trade deficit doesn't much matter.

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Except they do, when the trade deficits are manufactured by our trading partners to focus on middle class jobs.

BusterAg said:

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BTKAG97 said:

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It appears people are *****ing because the White House's definition of "reciprocal" doesn't match their definition.

While I agree with them, it's really a pointless thing to ***** about.

And NO, this post is not a statement of agreement or dissatisfaction with the tariffs.

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I disagree.

I like the idea of reciprocal tariffs. This bull**** is not reciprocal tariffs. There is no sane definition of reciprocal tariffs that makes this acceptable.

Trump should trot this out there for what it is / should be: a starting point to negotiations with foreign countries on truly reciprocal tariffs. The **** he trotted out there yesterday is insane. This is worse than the marker expanding the hurricane path predictions on live TV. Trump needs to right the ship here, quick.

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If you guys have been paying attention, Trump negotiating is all about "start high, end high". Yes it looks foolish, the good thing is, he understands power dynamics, and realizes we're holding all the face cards.

Jeeper79 said:

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Krombopulos Michael said:

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BREAKING: French President Macron urges companies to pause all US investments. pic.twitter.com/2dtEgdsRQe

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) April 3, 2025

The French proving once again, they are not our allies.......

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We kind of sent them a "we're not your ally" memo yesterday. What do you expect?

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Okay, but that's like saying that an abused spouse has the right to fight back, or at least it should be no surprise if she/he does.

Is this the thread where it should be put that the stock market just dropped 1,500 points, or 3.5%? Or would that be another thread?

Quo Vadis? said:

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BusterAg said:

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BTKAG97 said:

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It appears people are *****ing because the White House's definition of "reciprocal" doesn't match their definition.

While I agree with them, it's really a pointless thing to ***** about.

And NO, this post is not a statement of agreement or dissatisfaction with the tariffs.

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I disagree.

I like the idea of reciprocal tariffs. This bull**** is not reciprocal tariffs. There is no sane definition of reciprocal tariffs that makes this acceptable.

Trump should trot this out there for what it is / should be: a starting point to negotiations with foreign countries on truly reciprocal tariffs. The **** he trotted out there yesterday is insane. This is worse than the marker expanding the hurricane path predictions on live TV. Trump needs to right the ship here, quick.

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If you guys have been paying attention, Trump negotiating is all about "start high, end high". Yes it looks foolish, the good thing is, he understands power dynamics, and realizes we're holding all the face cards.

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I agree with this.

Including the part where calling these reciprocal tariffs is foolish.

Trump underestimated the intelligence of his voting base. Let's see how that plays out for him. I don't think it will be good.

No Spin Ag said:

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Is this the thread where it should be put that the stock market just dropped 1,500 points, or 3.5%? Or would that be another thread?

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Any and all threads would be fair. It's a pretty epic bloodbath

No Spin Ag said:

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Is this the thread where it should be put that the stock market just dropped 1,500 points, or 3.5%? Or would that be another thread?

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No… because it's currently down 4.25%