Donald Trump the Megathread part II - mod warnings in OP, Updated 06/06/25

fergiesfolly

Currently work for US pharma MNC. As of yet, no one's too worried about our jobs heading back to the States.

The scale of investment to get a fraction of our production back to the States, the volume of regulation to be overcome and the loss of goodwill ( and sales) worldwide would set them back a decade.

If we're anything to go by, most companies have been exploring other potential markets and will expand there at a faster rate the previously planned.The US are an important market, but that's reducing annually and they won't have the clout they currently have to bully companies to invest there.

I think the world should follow the Canadian example. Stop buying from them. Let them sweat that one out for a while.

jmayo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123338959#Comment_123338959

Yep Trump asked the son in law to find him some "economics expert" to back up his tariff lunacy.

And hey presto Kushner unearthed a "professor" from Irvine who has written or co-written lads of books including one or two about taking on China.

The laugh is one of his co-authors didn't even know that Ron Varo was a fictious entity.

Doesn't say much for his co-authors expertise much.

It would be really funny if it didn't involve this fruit loop backing the orange fruit loop to push us all towards a depression, never mind a recession.

Vicxas

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/09/european-union-approves-first-set-of-retaliatory-tariffs-on-us-imports.html - Europe about to fire back

jmayo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341022#Comment_123341022

EU will surely hit technology and social media companies like Google, Meta, X.

Europe have no comparable entities.

And that is no bad thing for society, well apart from how it works out for some people in Ireland and of course our over dependence on American multinationals corporate taxes.

Seattle

https://www.rte.ie/news/us/2025/0409/1506597-us-tariffs-pharmaceutical/

Forget about all the other stuff for a minute. It's important, but this is the thing what will thrash our economy in an instant.

The only positive is he's introduced the bulk of other tariffs beforehand and it's clear to everyone that we have a mad king situation, so companies will be less likely to react and more inclined to wait and see how it plays out.

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341091#Comment_123341091

No it really wont, it will hurt but the idea it will thrash our economy in an instant is just ludicrously ignorant

Sleepy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123340980#Comment_123340980

A ban/pause on selling medications that fall outside of the "life-saving" area but which are primarily (or entirely) made in the EU e.g. Viagra, Ozempic, Botox etc. should be considered here too.

I can't imagine it'd take long for Trump to fold if he couldn't get it up to cheat on his wife and his buddies' trophy wives are whining about being fat and wrinkled.

yagan

The only thing getting trashed is what was left of the US reputation for being a good place for business.

Remove Trump and you're still left dealing with MAGA.

pad406

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123340764#Comment_123340764

Problem is he doesn't think at all, at least not in the conventionally accepted sense 😀

He'll probably have heard about China's retaliation over his breakfast Big Mac and will be spitting it out as he screams

"hit them with 200% more"

RickBlaine

Can someone who knows more about the stock market than me explain why the dow etc is gaining today on yesterday despite the 84% China tarrifs. I was expecting a drop after that news.

HalloweenJack

This a very interesting piece from the BBC. Talk that the Fed may have to step in a la the UK's disastrous flirtation with Trussonomics:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yrr0e7499o

Very specifically, this point of warning:

Questions remain over the scale and what type of investors are dumping US bonds.

There is been speculation some foreign countries, such as China which owns some $759bn of US bonds, might be selling them.

China could inflict a lot of damage on the US economy if pushed to do so. I'm sure Trump doesn't care but Wall Street might be concerned.

Giblet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341161#Comment_123341161

People trying to get discounts, hoping the price will shoot back up. Buying the dip, as it were.

10000maniacs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341161#Comment_123341161

Chuck Schumer backed off a threat to block a funding bill aimed at averting a government shutdown at the weekend.

yagan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341157#Comment_123341157

Wall Street have probably taken out a hit on the orangutan and are acting like maga doesn't exist.

Widdensushi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341091#Comment_123341091

Sure it's their own people are paying the tariff, it's their economy/ health will suffer, they don't make the most of the drugs internally so it's pay up or do without.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341194#Comment_123341194

Ya but those American pharmaceutical companies don't want to be charging patients too much 🤣

Penn

Trump doing exactly what a President should do, and calmly reassuring everyone.

Nothing is more calming and reassuring than a 78 year old man shouting "BE COOL!"

aidanodr

So - the EU will start its retaliation next Tuesday.

"The European Union will put in place duties mostly of 25% on a range of US imports from next Tuesday in response specifically to the US metals tariffs. The bloc is still assessing how to respond to the car and broader levies.

The US imports include maize, wheat, barley, rice, motorcycles, poultry, fruit, wood, clothing and dental floss, according to a document seen by Reuters. They totalled about €21bn last year, meaning the EU's retaliation will be against goods worth less than the €26bn of EU metals exports hit by US tariffs.

They are to enter force in stages - on April 15, May 16 and a final stage on almonds and soy beans on December 1.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that Ireland agrees with the EU response."

https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-41610211.html

Im still sort of thinking would everyone be better off cooling there jets and just put down that phone re deals and dont retaliate either .. Let trumps USA slowly stew itself.

Maybe thats too simplistic and there are far more complex things going on here economically that means retaliation is necessary?

aidanodr

News from the Bond Market .. it just BROKE:

In just 3 days, the 10Y Note Yield surged 60 basis points while the S&P 500 fell -8%.

This marks the LARGEST 3-day increase since 1982 and one of the largest divergences in history.What happened?

The basis trade broke.

This is a twitter thread - more at the link below:

https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1909939711210037256

randd1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341302#Comment_123341302

If they don't respond, it basically gives Trump free reign to do whatever he wants to do to hurt EU business.

There has to be a response of some kind. A targeted response where goods are imported from areas with massive GOP support would certainly be one way.

More so, I reckon if the EU agree in principle to hit America where it would really hurt, in it's services, including social media and other tech, by agreeing to fun European alternatives.

Another way would be targeted limits. Say Netflix or Amazon Prime, limit what they can charge to €1 a month within the EU. Hit Facebook/Google with an advertising tax of €1 per advert (I'm sure most people are fed up with targeted ads every time you open an app). Curtail American companies for bidding on EU contracts, as they did with the recent military expansion plans to make the European defence industry self-sustaining without the need for the US. It might meant we do without them for a year or two, but I'm sure we'd manage.

There's ways to hurt American services without tariffs. Targeting their profits on the services the provide in Europe is another one.

Either way, the EU had to respond, and I think they did it the right way, no rush of blood to the head, and make it clear they're willing to negotiate if America calms down. At the very least it makes Europe look stable compared to the US, and long term that will play out in the markets to the EU's advantage.

odyssey06

@aidanodr I thought perhaps EU shouldn't apply retaliatory tariffs. On the other hand, with China responding, and the US stock market etc crashing, the EU and others responding piles that pressure on and may force Trump into a climbdown, or wakeup Congress to step in.

yagan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341334#Comment_123341334

Basically dealing with the brexit loons was good preparation for this showdown. Keep calm and carry on.

SaoPaulo41

Ominous from the normally calm Paschal

Global trade war will mean 'lower living standards' says Paschal Donohoe

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has painted a bleak picture of lower living standards as a a result of  future trade "fragmented" along geopolitical lines.

The tit-for-tat trade-war is a major headwind for the global economy and "casts a dark shadow over prospects for the Irish economy," Mr Donohoe said in unusually frank comments.

"Tariffs, to put it simply, are taxes on consumption and investment and are unambiguously negative for economic growth," he said.

Overall, the impact will include not just lower trade and lower growth but "lower living standards," Mr Donohoe declared. 

"It is no exaggeration to say that the world is changing. Fragmentation will likely interact with other structural changes – an ageing populations, weak productivity on this side of the Atlantic, high levels of public debt, climate change and biodiversity loss, digitisation and the roll-out of artificial intelligence."

Mr Donohoe did not spell out the implications for employment and thus the tax-revenue cash for both public service and pensions.

But the import of his Dáil remarks were seized upon by Labour Party spokesman on trade Duncan Smith, who said people should take note at such comments from someone so widely regarded as calm and unruffable.

Mr Smith underlined that Mr Donohoe, a man of huge experience in the Finance portfolio, had referred to "global fragmentation" and "inexorable challenges" in the time ahead.

"I hope the minister, after saying those words, will be more open to instruments that will help the Irish economy and Irish workers," he said.   

In his speech Mr Donohoe said there was "mounting data and evidence  that global economic activity is becoming increasingly fragmented along geopolitical lines."

He added: "This is not something the Government, or even the European Union, can fully control."

Tariffs were  a "policy-induced shock" on top of an unprecedented series of shocks to the Irish and global economies, Mr Donohoe said, citing Brexit, the pandemic, and surging price inflation triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

"Unfortunately, this resilience looks set to be tested once again in the months ahead," he said.

Nowhere is this resilience more evident than in the labour market, where the employment rate has never been higher and the unemployment rate has never been lower, Mr Donohoe added however. 

"To put it another way, we’ve never had so many people in employment – over 2.8 million – and so few in unemployment.  To all intents and purposes, the economy is at full employment and I think we can take at least some comfort in this."

He said he remained conscious that price level remains "higher than before", adding: "Against this backdrop, it is essential we maintain a balanced and sustainable approach to budgetary policy."

Senan Molony44 minutes ago

aidanodr

This from FOX NEWS of all places. O-U-C-H

Is the message getting through? It seems many in the US of the MAGA types and GOP types still dont get that its the US consumer that gets hit with the Tariff amount passed on to THEM

"Fox News tells a story a small business owner who used to pay $26,000 in tariffs on goods imported from China, but now faces a $346,000 tariff due to Trump’s new 104% tariff on Chinese imports.

We think that China is gonna have to pay for it. A special needs toy importer-- when the tariff went into effect, his tariff bill went from $26,000 at midnight to $346,000. And that's money that's got to have to come out of his pocket... They think foreign countries have to pay the tariff, that's not true. Tariffs are being paid by Americans."

https://twitter.com/Ronxyz00/status/1909923574972105114

Baba Yaga

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123340006#Comment_123340006

holy jayzus…who in their right mind would want to kiss donnie vonshitzinpants arse…??!!!?

aidanodr

Ha :D .. nice one

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341356#Comment_123341356

I am so suspicious of Fox that I think they picked a "special needs toy importer" on purpose. MAGA don't believe in special needs because of their weird "back in my day" thinking.

He will just be painted as a whiney lefty liberal.

aidanodr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341302#Comment_123341302

Here is the Ofee-shall doc from the EU about this retaliation:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_25_1025

Roald Dahl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341357#Comment_123341357

It actually beggars belief that a country's leader would boastfully speak in such a crass, vulgar way. Between that and the appalling "Kiss him Goodbye" deportation video, MAGA truly is defiling the American White House. I see no way back for them now, not after voting this blackguard in for a second term.

On that note, I disagree with Simon Harris flying in with the legion of other "asskissers" to be lectured to and insulted. There is nothing to be achieved by pleading with a bully.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123341356#Comment_123341356

I honestly think that most MAGA types are under the impression that tariffs are something that somehow punishes foreign consumers and governments and doesn't impact on them at all. The bellicose and jingoistic language from Trump and hitting back at every country in the world is making them think this.