Trump Tariffs cost Americans $3 billion a Month more in spending, Trump Trade Deficit Largest in U.S. History!!! Winning?

I still can't get over the double standard #1: Wisconsin Republicans are in a panic over the "uncertainty" manufacturers would have if Gov. Evers dramatically reduced the manufacturers tax cut. These supposed "job creators" may see it as a penalty, and just leave out state forever.

I still can't get over the double standard #2: On the other hand, Trump blew up every trade agreement the world depended on, and still hasn't renegotiated and got any of them approved. Plus, tariffs are forcing farmers to lose money or go into bankruptcy, and consumers are paying about 1 percent more of their hard earned money on things they buy...yet Republicans are oddly not just cheering Trump on, but they're saying we'll all be better off when and if the art-of-the-deal is ever completed? Note:

It's the double standard of double standards!

And then this happened (anyone in right wing radio, at Fox News, or at any of the other conservative media sources and institutes paying attention?: 

President Donald Trump’s trade war cost American businesses and consumers $3 billion a month last year in higher prices, according to a study by top economists. The U.S. “experienced substantial increases in the prices of ... goods ... the president appears to be relying on a 2018 analysis of data from the 1990s, when the United States represented a larger share of the global economy and enjoyed more leverage over exporters in other countries.

But looking deeper...

...dramatic changes to its supply-chain network, reductions in availability of imported varieties, and complete pass-through of the tariffs into domestic prices of imported goods,” noted the study issued Saturday by economists from the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, and Princeton and Columbia University. “Overall ... we find that the full incidence of the tariff falls on domestic consumers.”

Here's the Public Radio's Marketwatch report: Despite Trump's claims that we're sticking it to China, here's the breakdown on how his tariffs will effect what we buy:

In a 2016 campaign speech in Pennsylvania, Trump called the trade deficit a “politician-made disaster” and promised swift change. “We can turn it all around — and we can turn it around fast,” he said.

The president, who has insisted that “trade wars are good and easy to win,” has bragged repeatedly that even as trade negotiations have dragged on, China is paying the U.S. “billions of dollars in tariffs.”

Compare Gov. Evers reduction in the Manufacturers tax cut to the following...not even close:

The trade war also cost companies an additional $1.4 billion a month in efficiency losses as they changed the way they do business to adapt to the tariffs, such as cobbling together new supply chains, according to the study.

How will the conservative voting base react to the news, if and when they stumble on this story? 

Another paper by economists and academics published Sunday concluded that the main victims of Trump’s trade war have been farmers and blue-collar workers in regions that supported Trump in the presidential election.

“Workers in very Republican counties bore the brunt of the costs of the trade war, in part because retaliations disproportionately targeted agricultural sectors, and in part because U.S. tariffs raised the costs of inputs used by these counties.’

Yup, Trump's is the biggest in the nation's 243 year history:

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that — despite more than two years of President Trump’s “America First” policies — the United States last year posted a $891.2 billion merchandise trade deficit, the largest in the nation’s 243-year history.

Oh, and One more thing-Consumer Tax Refund Psychology: With consumers paying more now thanks to Trump tariffs, it can't be good if they get a smaller tax refunds after his much ballyhooed tax cut for the wealthy. This just adds insult to injury:

A new study by the JPMorgan Chase institute, reported by the Washington Post, casts doubt on Republicans’ blasé attitude about changing refunds. It turns out millions of households really do rely on that money coming back into their pocket at that exact time:

The average refund, which amounts to nearly six weeks’ take-home pay for the typical household, is crucial to a family’s financial stability, the JPMorgan Chase Institute study found. But ... their refunds diminish by as much as 9 percent this year because less is withheld from paychecks ... families depend on the tax season windfall to pay down debt, make major purchases or cover big outlays like out-of-pocket health care expenses. “For about 30 percent of families, this ends up being the single largest cashflow infusion of the year,” said Fiona Grieg, director of consumer research for the JP Morgan Chase Institute, who worked on the study. “This is really a moment that resets their spending levels … it does play a key role in creating a savings buffer that families rely on for the better part of a year.”

Farmers put faith in NY Huckster Trump's Trade War Fiasco!

I have supported rural voters for years, offering solutions and recognizing their problems with disappearing schools and teachers, broadband, roads, the loss of dairy farming, mining, and contaminated drinking water, but after witnessing their recent blind allegiance to our grifting president Trump, I'm wondering why I should care. They've invested more into being true believers than they have trying to solve their own problems, giving Trump unthinkable latitude than is rationally healthy.

Yet just by coincidence, the trade war isn't hitting Ivanka Trump. Funny how that works:

Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods won’t touch Ivanka Trump’s foreign-made products for her fashion line. While Trump rails at Harley-Davidson motorcycles for moving some production to Europe to dodge EU tariffs, the first daughter and senior White House adviser has never manufactured a single product for her Ivanka Trump brand on American soil. Trump enacted tariffs Friday morning on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods, affecting hundreds of products from boats to medical devices and auto parts. Products spared include those manufactured by his daughter.

Farmers Blindly Stand with Trump: Yes, many rural voters bought the idea that Trump was a successful businessman. Sure, if just naming buildings, building hotels and failing in the casino business with no responsibility to shareholders...or anyone for that matter instills confidence and certainty, Trump's your guy:

Not everyone is buying this is a crisis. Standing on the edge of his bucolic dairy farm close to Sartori’s cheese plant, Scott Ditter, a dairy farmer with 60 cows whose sole client is Sartori, is unfazed.

“This guy is smart,” says Ditter. “He’s got a plan. That’s why he does what he does. He’s a rattler and he knows how to rattle cages." It is time that the US’s “so-called trading partners” cut the US a fair deal, he says. "China literally rapes American companies of their technology." The cards have been stacked against the US for too long, Trump’s tariffs will finally force its trading partners to deal fairly, he believes. There’s too much milk out there as it is and some farmers will fail, they would have anyway, says Ditter. For him a bit of pain now is worth it if Trump can get a better deal for the US. “A lot of farmers I speak to think we are doing the right thing, putting our foot down and saying enough is enough,” he says.

Double Whammy, Cheeses getting Mysterious New Names: Adding insult to Trump injury:

WSJ: Analysts say that unless an international court sides with the United State’s position that all cheese names are generic, no one is sure when the naming problem will get fixed.

The U.S. has been battling the EU over the geographic naming restriction. Sartori Cheese's president Jeff Schwager says the EU got the upper hand by taking an aggressive approach toward completing agreements with almost all of trading partners ... Since the agreement was signed, the EU’s share of the imported cheese market in Canada has climbed 12 points to 70 percent, he said.

The EU-Mexico deal includes a provision restricting Mexico’s other trading partners from selling products with names that correspond to a region in Europe. The EU’s trade agreement with Mexico also prohibits U.S. cheesemakers from using protected names in marketing campaigns ... So after Sartori renamed its Asiago sold in Mexico to Sartiago, it couldn’t run ads in Mexico saying, “Our Asiago is now called Sartiago.”

Cattle Ranchers Blindly stand with Trump Too: No regrets voting for Trump, they don't blame him, they're hoping for more of those rumored accomplishments tied to his legend...not the bankruptcies or contractor lawsuits left in Trumps wake.

Scott Walker abandons Wisconsin Businesses under Trump Trade War Attacks.

It's surreal to see how those feverish right-wing capitalists love it when Trump attacks another successful American business. My guess as to why? Many don't like or just don't want to understand the reality of the global marketplace.

Sadly for us, our insulated from reality career politician Scott Walker has an unwavering focus pushing free-market political theory not found in any other industrialized country in the world. Just as bad, "small government" voters go along with being ignored by their representatives, get nothing in return, and are then asked to suck it up and endure hardship while Trump rolls out thoughtless impulsive trade policies. Like Walker's approval of those damaging tariffs on dairy, soybeans, Harley-Davidson etc. Walker believes "leader" Trump must know what he's doing:

Walker praised Trump's negotiating position during a luncheon with other governors at the White House. "The best thing you said at the G7 is the ultimate goal is let's just get rid of all tariffs," Walker told Trump. "You were brilliant to point that out. That's the ultimate answer."

Of course, it's not going to be Walker struggling to keep the family farm or that steady family sustaining middle-class job.

Never directly addressing the Trump trade war problem for Wisconsin business, predictably, our "unintimidated" governor is now kissing up and praising Trump. It wasn't so long ago...



Yet Harley workers reaction to Trump's tariffs affecting their job? "Surrender" and "jaw-dropping" come to mind. (NPR audio):



Piggybacking off that clip from a previous blog post, NPR's Marketplace brought up the Harley workers shocking reaction with this analysis. (NPR audio):

Analyst: "There's this overriding sense among many Trump supporters that I've heard that the president must know what he's doing, and what he's saying has to be right."

Jobs/Taxpayers on Hook for Trump Trade War Problem: Raising Harley's prices and moving jobs overseas is just the beginning. It will get even worse for Wisconsin taxpayers, who might be funding another "carrot" from Rep. Robin Vos:

"I would prefer to use more of a carrot approach to say what can we do to make sure you stay here as opposed to a stick."

Here's a screen-capture of Trump tweets about Harley-Davidson. Insane?:

Chris Hayes' guest Dan Dicker talked about Harley and Wisconsin cheese in this segment dealing with Trump's trade war:

Scott Walker silent on "Moron" Trump's decision to smear and destroy Harley-Davidson.

Scott Walker couldn't be bothered with the humanitarian crisis on our border, but when it comes to money, he's all mouth. Like Walker's favorite state-based businesses Harley-Davidson, featured in a campaign ad:

Nope, not a motorcycle guy!

Walker rides his Harley and asks the viewer, "Are you with me?"

Trump made fun of Walker for his love of motorcycles during the presidential race. At a rally in Janesville in 2016, Trump said: "He doesn't look like a motorcycle guy to me. I'm sorry."

But Walker's now an in the tank member of the Trump Party, and despite Trump forcing Wisconsin's own Harley-Davidson to move some manufacturing to Thailand due to a reckless trade war with Europe, Walker hasn't mentioned one word about Harley losing $100 million a year on Twitter.

Trump has decided to move on from destroying Amazon to destroying Harley Davidson...

The EU began imposing tariffs Friday on $3.2 billion worth of American goods, including motorcycles ... "Consequently, EU tariffs on Harley-Davidson motorcycles exported from the U.S. have increased from six percent to 31 percent ... tariffs will result in approximately $2,200 per average motorcycle exported from the U.S. to the EU." ... the company is going to take a bath ... "The incremental cost for the remainder of 2018 ... $30 to $45 million. On a full-year basis, the aggregate annual impact ... approximately $90 to $100 million."

BREAKING: We could have predicted this...Trump the moron:

Trump Party Republicans Whine: But conservative hack Brian Fraley is feeling the same pain we all feel from what is typically theoretical reckless policy churned out daily by his party. Aligator tears:

Well, this is Uncomfortable: On Thursday Scott Walker will be happily shaking hands with Trump and breaking ground for Foxconn. Walker doesn't appear to be so "Unintimidated" anymore. WISC:

Walker has avoided directly criticizing Trump on the issue, repeatedly saying instead that no tariffs would be good for Wisconsin manufacturers and farmers. He hasn't spelled out what he would do ... "Governor Walker believes there should be no tariffs or trade barriers as the President stated earlier this month at the G7 summit," Walker spokeswoman Amy Hasenberg said.

Harley's workers and Trump supporters not just on board, but okay with Job Losses: I hope you're sitting down. NPR interviewed Harley workers in Menomonie Falls, an unhappy bunch at best and hardcore Trumpsters okay with tariffs, trade wars, losing their jobs, and other reckless impulses emanating from the White House. Your heart will sink...(audio):

Some workers at the company could end up losing their jobs as a result. But they don't necessarily blame President Trump for what's happened.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also featured Harley workers comments that held true to Trump, willingly accepting his simpleton solutions to complex trade policy, hoping for magic.

Harley owner and enthusiast Robert Miranda, who is founder of the the Milwaukee chapter of the Latin American Motorcycle Association, has plenty of opinions on the situation. "I don't appreciate that this government is forcing me as an individual to start rethinking my loyalty to an American brand," he said, adding that Harley-Davidson is "a brand that I have always trusted and have always respected and have admired. That's being done by a government that right now seems to have its head up its butt on what's going on with international trade," Miranda said. "I think Harley is doing what Harley needs to do to survive, although I think Harley is also taking advantage a little bit of what's going on. But, this is a corporation, and corporations are about the bottom line."

Veteran Harley owner Ted Palmatier loves his bike but stands firmly in Trump's corner in this fight. "It's American iron and that’s how people who buy the brand, ride the brand, enjoy the brand see it,” said Palmatier, of Cudahy. 

Seriously, try to imagine the following amazing statement if President Obama started trade wars and hurt a treasured Wisconsin company like Harley-Davidson:

"We control what we can control," said Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. "What Wisconsin can control here is the ability to take a step forward in transforming our economy with an investment in one of the best digital technology players in the world. On the flip side, we're very cognizant of our homegrown global leaders like Harley-Davidson. So we want to make sure that Harley can participate in a fair trade environment."

One more unrelated comment I think we should be motivated by: