“No room left” for negotiations says Trump.
The Wall Street Journal reports Trump Says Canada-Mexico Tariffs Will Take Effect, ‘No Room Left’ for Talks
“Tomorrow, tariffs—25% on Canada, and 25% on Mexico—and that will start tomorrow,” Trump said Monday at the White House. “So they’re going to have a tariff, and what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things, in the United States, in which case you have no tariffs.”
Trump has said he also plans to increase duties on goods from China by 10%, on top of 10% duties he imposed in February and other tariffs already in place on the world’s second-largest economy.
Raising duties on goods from China by an additional 10% would generate about $86 billion overall—more than the yearly tariff revenue collected by all of Trump’s first-term tariffs, according to an estimate by analytics company Trade Partnership Worldwide. That sum would outpace the $77 billion the U.S. collected in tariff revenue from all sources in 2024, Trade Partnership Worldwide said.
Hoot of the Day
There’s “No room left” for negotiations says Trump.
There never was any room. Trump campaigned on tariffs and here they are.
The alleged “breathing room” was a month-long ploy to get whatever concessions he could from Mexico and Canada, then ignore them. That game works about once.
Spare me the sap on alleged emergencies. There are no trade-related emergencies. And drugs are no reason to break unrelated treaties.
Trump broke his own “best trade deal in history” so there is no reason for any country to believe he will honor any trade deal he signs.
Trump Claims “We Have All the Oil We Need” True or False?
Please consider Trump Claims “We Have All the Oil We Need” True or False?
The answer is false and I go over all the details. We need Canadian oil and we get it at cheap prices.
Another Recession Call?
No, this isn’t another call. I never removed the last one I made in May-June of 2024. If one happens now I will be 6-8 month early.
I’m still not convinced we missed one then. This feels more like a double-dip or one barely avoided although the NBER is highly unlikely to declare that.
More likely, Biden funneled enough stimulus to keep the economy hanging on through the election. Give hand-out credit where credit is due. Then misguided Trump optimism helped for another 3 months.
We have never seen a tariff shock this big.
The most ridiculous aspect is Trump is hitting our two top trading partners, Mexico and Canada, more than China. And the biggest deficit is with China.
The economy was already weakening before this tariff disaster.
Weakening Economy Recap
February 4, 2025: Job Openings Drop by 556,000 in December, Quits Show Job Finding Stress
February 5, 2025: ADP Payrolls Better than Expected But Two-Thirds of the Economy Has Stalled
February 14, 2025: Retail Sales Crash – Did the Consumer Finally Throw in the Towel?
February 19, 2025: Housing Starts Drop 9.8 Percent, Unable to Retain Any Traction
February 20, 2025: How Will 77,000 DOGE Terminations Impact Unemployment and Jobs?
February 21, 2025: Student Loan Borrowers Crushed by Appeals Court Ruling, Credit Scores Plunge
February 22, 2025: Trump Signs Order Cutting Off All Federal Benefits for Illegal Immigrants
February 26, 2025: US Consumer Confidence Drops at Sharpest Pace in 3-1/2 Years
February 26, 2025: New Home Sales Plunge 10.5 Percent in January From Upward Revision
February 26, 2025: Homebuilders Have Most Speculative Unsold Inventory Since May of 2008
February 27, 2025: Initial Unemployment Claims Spike by 22,000 Not DOGE Related
February 28, 2025: Subprime Auto Loan Delinquencies Hit Record High 6.56 Percent
March 3, 2025: Construction Spending Was Weaker Than Expected in January, Especially Housing
March 3, 2025: A Weak ISM Report Shows New Orders and Employment Back in Contraction
Weakening Economy Synopsis
Jobs, housing, retail sales, and construction were already weakening. Immigration is down at least 85 percent.
Immigration will no longer fuel spending, nor will immigration add to the need for state-and-local jobs related to health care and assistance services.
Finally, we have not yet felt the hit on small manufacturers do to extremely unwise tariffs.
For discussion, please see How One Small Business Owner Is Coping With Trump’s Tariffs
Fifty-four percent of small businesses polled said that tariffs would negatively affect their companies, while just 11 percent said they would benefit.
Please read the above post and multiply it by tens of thousands of small businesses.
Meanwhile, any trust in the US to honor signed deals is gone. Let that sink in. And if you don’t think that matters then you aren’t thinking.