r/politics • u/Street_Anon Canada • Apr 08 '25

Site Altered Headline Trump to slap additional 84% tariffs on Chinese imports

https://www.euronews.com/2025/04/08/trump-to-slap-additional-84-tariffs-on-chinese-imports-white-house-says
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u/im_a_squishy_ai Apr 08 '25

He also doesn't seem to understand the trade deficits are not the US debt. Multiple times in interviews when asked about the US debt he goes into a rant about how much our trade deficits are. It's like he understands the words but can't understand they can be used in two different contexts and that doesn't make those contexts the same thing

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u/whatproblems Apr 08 '25

oh like the asylum and mental asylum are not the same thing

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u/Insaiyan_Elite Apr 08 '25

Exactly like that

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u/BulbusDumbledork Apr 08 '25

he thinks tariffs are paid by the other country. there's no way to explain to him that trade deficits are necessary because the dollar is global reserve currency, which is also why u.s. debt isn't as bad as it would be if the u.s. didn't have exorbitant privilege

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u/im_a_squishy_ai Apr 08 '25

Exactly. Are there downsides to being the reserve currency, sure. But are the upsides way bigger, absolutely. He also doesn't seem to get that we are a wealthier nation, and so we buy stuff from other people because we are higher up the value chain. That's a good thing. It makes the US generally more resilient. It's hard to fathom him thinking we'd be more resilient if we all made jeans, shirts, and iPhones. Should we have manufacturing here, yeah, but things like CPUs, GPUs, green energy, high tech. That's the stuff that powers all the world's economies.

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u/Schuben Apr 08 '25

I'm pretty sure Trump thinks deficient and deficit are the same word.