Comments by "Andy Monaghan" (@229andymon) on "Bloomberg Television" channel.

It’s not that tariffs are wrong, it’s that they come with consequences. I’d say selective and limited tariffs can be good, especially to resolve a specific situation. But… that’s not what Trump wants, he wants to apply them with reckless abandon, left and right, friend and foe. He can do that - and then sit back and watch US political and economic influence disappear all over the world. Influence that has benefited US immensely. Be careful what you wish for.
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Surely 145% tariff equals a trade ban? Is there any potential for trade at that level?
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Trump made a huge mistake taking on the Chinese. The Chinese are prepared, and able, to suffer, if they must, to win over the long term. Trump is a businessman, they think about the next quarter.
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@Mobsters66 To be fair, I’d say the object of the exercise appears to be that the tariffs are *not* applied. So, they’re actually there rather as an incentive to encourage US manufacturing to be created or expanded to obviate the need for them. Or, perhaps, they’re a threat to get a “better deal” (in Trump terms) from the exporting country. I’d say the goal is not for the US state to gain tax revenue. Which sounds kinda OK if you say it quickly. Only it’s not. The longer term consequences of Trump style tariffs will isolate and weaken the US and, as you rightly say, make stuff generally more expensive, which will hurt the US working class (or “middle class” as they term them).
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What with this dude, Trump and Boris Johnson, are we now in the age of political leaders created in the hair salon?
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Liz Truss is also highly educated. It didn’t stop her screwing up the UK economy worse than any dumbass could if they tried. Her compatriot, Boris Johnson, is the product of some of the finest education money can buy, and a bigger clown you’d struggle to find.
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@zarategabe That’s usually what happens when right wingers lead a country. But, interestingly, its exactly what he says he’s trying to stop. His angle is contradictory, he wants to stop sleaze, corruption and industrial scale theft - by implementing right wing politics. Which is like employing a fox to stop chicken stealing.
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To me as a European, the Trump people seem to believe the following; the US has the capability to “whip” the rest of the world (friend and foe alike) for both political strategic reasons and also economic gain. I don’t think that’s (entirely) true. It also seems to think that having whipped us, we’ll just suck that up and stay whipped afterward. That’s definitely not true. We’ll respond, and I’m very confident the US won’t like that response. If political and economic isolation is the direction the US wants to go, they’ve just elected the right guy. Good luck with that.
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