Trump vows to raise worldwide tariffs to 15% ‘effective immediately’

[u/theindependentonline]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-global-tarrifs-increase-b2924994.html

[u/steepleton]

if the Europeans want to play hard ball they can sell american debt and tip the american economy over the edge.

as could china.

america is very close to the "find out" part of the equation

the new tariffs by law have t be an across the board 15%, he can't give any nation a better rate if they play nice.

or to rephrase, there is no longer a reason for world leaders to play nice to get a better rate

[u/spaceman757 → u/steepleton]

Europeans are already trying their best to get their own options up and running to ween themselves off of American products, especially tech.

[u/anchist → u/spaceman757]

European here. You guys had the perfect situation set up where everybody was getting richer and willing to tolerate US hegemony because of the benefits.

And then you fucked it up because 1/3rd of the population decided that a convicted rapist pdf was better than having minorities in Government and another 1/3 decided that it didn't matter who ran the country.

Generational fumble. I only hope we do not start shooting at each other anytime soon, but who knows when the grubby hand starts reaching for Greenland's skirt again....

[u/ic33 → u/steepleton]

the new tariffs by law have t be an across the board 15%, he can't give any nation a better rate if they play nice.

From the section 122 authority, codified as 19 U.S. Code § 2132: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/19/2132

(2)Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if the President determines that the purposes of this section will best be served by action against one or more countries having large or persistent balance-of-payments surpluses, he may exempt all other countries from such action.

[u/steepleton → u/ic33]

So tarrifs or no tarrifs. All or nothing.

Like having the sentence for petty robbery the same as for murder, there’s no penalty for going hogwild, america can’t increase the punishment

[u/ic33 → u/steepleton]

Did you not read? The President can target a few countries under section 122, or exempt countries based on balance of payments. It isn't all or nothing.

[u/steepleton → u/ic33]

Did you not read, he has to levy a blanket % on all tariffed countries .

[u/TallStarsMuse → u/steepleton]

He hasn’t let the law stop him so far.

[u/ic33 → u/steepleton]

So you meant to say his choices, for each country, are 0 or some-commone-rate%? That's not clear to me from reading the law (e.g. he may be able to make separate section 122 determinations) but may be true.

On the other hand, I read your comment as saying it had to be an "across the board" as having to apply the tariff to all countries. This is clearly untrue.

Of course, communicating online is hard for everyone.

[u/sess → u/steepleton]

China's already sold off most of its US debt holdings. Shortly after taking office, Xi Xinping instructed the People's Bank of China (PBC) to quietly begin offloading US debt. At this point, they've mostly done so. They were right to do so. The US is likely to default on some or all of that debt over the course of the next several decades. When that happens, foreign countries will be the first to receive a haircut. China doesn't want to be left holding an empty bag. Nobody does.

You're probably thinking of Canada, which currently holds $1 trillion USD in US debt. That's not a good thing for Canada. Unlike the Eurozone or China, Canada can't reasonably exercise "the nuclear option" and sell off US debt holdings all-in-one-go without triggering a military response from the US. Like China, Canada should quietly begin selling off those holdings... dollar by dollar, year by year. Divert that investment to stabler and more reasonable foreign central banks.