China announces new tariffs on 106 US products, including soy, cars, and chemicals

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNBC

China announced additional tariffs on 106 U.S. products on Wednesday, in a move likely to heighten global concerns of a tit-for-tat trade war between the world's biggest economies.

The effective start date for the new charges will be revealed at a later time, though China's Ministry of Commerce said the tariffs are designed to target up to $50 billion of U.S. products annually.

The 25 percent levy on U.S. imports includes products such as soybeans, cars and whisky, Beijing said.

The move comes less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump unveiled a list of Chinese imports that his administration aims to target as part of a crackdown on what the president deems unfair trade practices.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/04/china-new-us-tariffs-including-soy-cars-and-chemicals.html

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Thar she blows.

The latest -

Link to tweet

TEXT

Donald J. Trump
‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump

We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!
4:22 AM - 4 Apr 2018

[democratisphere]

1. When will the CEOs and executive management of corporations be marching on Washington DC

and the WH?! It takes a drumpf to f'k everything up!

[BumRushDaShow]

2. And Congress is off all this week.

They won't be back until next week.

[democratisphere]

3. Congress is OFF every damn week!

Can't remember the last time they were ON!

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Well now that is true!

[Wwcd]

4. I think the question is, who profits? What part of this move by US & then China

benefits Trump or Putin financially.

He wouldn't have started this without a personal benefit

[BumRushDaShow]

6. As long as he leaves the clothing & textiles alone

he continues to make $$$ and Wally World and the Waltons don't lose as much as they could.

But Mexico could make a killing.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

7. Trump's ego profits, bigly.

Like that damned wall and immigration, he seems hell-bent to show his base he's keeping those ignorant campaign promises. Never mind the thousands of people hurt in the process.

DOW market futures down 450 already this morning. Little immediate impact on us, but prices at the store will in coming months unless this is resolved fast.

[KPN]

12. SEC should look at who made long-volatility

buys in the past few days or so. That will tell who's making money via Wall Street at least.

[Guilded Lilly]

8. We are as unimportant and inconsequential to this foul Cretin...

As any of the businesses he has bankrupted and stiffed over his conman lifetime.

[rdking647]

9. dow futures show a loss of 600 on the open

[KPN]

13. Might be time to take my lumps and move

to cash. Being retired, I need to preserve capital foremost. Already down 6% this year.

Fucking Orange Fat Prick's impact on the economy is finally coming home to roost as was predicted pre-election. This could get very bad, like a full on recession and another big spike in unemployment.

[Wwcd]

21. + a million. K n R

Agree completely.

The thought you've expressed has been the topic of more & more convos I'm hearing locally.

People's security & to simply exist has become one big question mark with Trump's erratic upending of American life.

We just flat out don't know which direction to move to get outta his way anymore.

I have no answer either.

[IronLionZion]

30. For retirement, you could move some to money market or short term bonds

Since we all know Trump is going to keep on screwing up, the stock market is not a good place to be in now.

[KPN]

42. Yeah, I'll go to money market actually. Though it's looking like the market is somewhat

shrugging off the futures that were posting pre-opening. So I'll probably keep some money in my mutual funds for now.

[IronLionZion]

45. Sell the rallies

every time the market is up, move some to money market. That's what I advise my parents who are looking to retire this year

[KPN]

48. Yeah, that's what I've been thinking actually. I don't mind holding some equities, but

I'm probably a bit over-invested right now (complacency based on pretty solid returns 2010-2017). Time to play it safer I guess.

[rdking647]

38. im in the same boat

ive been buying high yielding stocks.
even if they go down they are still paying me 8%+ a year

[KPN]

43. Hmmm ... care to share any tips?

[workinclasszero]

40. Inflation is gonna hit us hard

Tariffs are a tax increase on american citizens, lets not forget.

All those cheap goods from China on Walmart shelves are going to go up in price real soon.

[Sherman A1]

15. Oh goodie

I think I need to avoid checking the market today.

[KPN]

24. That's a good thing to do ... for a day or so, unless

you're retired and don't have a huge surplus above what's needed to meet your needs/life expectancy.

Me? I'm retired and am going to avoid risking my future while I can, meaning I'm going to eat my losses and move into cash until this passes. How long will that be? I don't know, but probably a while since the Orange Maniacal Fat Guy is getting increasingly erratic under Mueller's microscope.

[IronLionZion]

31. How long? Until that orange blob is gone

He's going to keep screwing up. We all know it. We'll all pay the price for his mistakes

[beachbum bob]

10. karma is a bitch as China's tariffs will impact trump supporting areas more than anyone elses....

pork has dropped to a 116 month low, good for US consumer, sucks for US pork producers with majority in IOWA and Illinois conservative areas.....throw in soy beans, that adds in more Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska.....real money taken out of farmers pockets who mostly voted for trump and republicans.

karma is a bitch

[paleotn]

16. The thing about soy tariffs....

they hammer farmers from North Carolina to Florida, Mississippi to Texas, Colorado to the Midwest. My state is a big pork producer as well. Fruit and nut farmers in the CA central valley will feel the pain. The thing all these areas have in common.....Dumpster strongholds in 2016. Karma is a bitch sometimes.

[beachbum bob]

18. US producers will suffer, US manufacturers will enjoy..ADM likes dropping commodity

prices, Oscar Meyer likes dropping commodity prices....the farmers will be stuck as usual...the majority who support trump and republicans, now its gonna cost them some real money. Does money make difference, we will see

[keithbvadu2]

11. Not a problem: 'Trade wars are good, and easy to win'

Dotard says 'Trade wars are good, and easy to win'

https://www.google.com/search?q=trade+wars+are+easy+to+win&sitesearch=democraticunderground.com

[safeinOhio]

20. All most as easy as

running a casino.

[Vinca]

14. The stock market opening number should be interesting.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. Dow futures are choppy but still down

@ -469 at post time.

https://www.cnbc.com/pre-markets/

It'll probably open very sharply down then there will be rejiggering as some folks may find "bargains" and buy. What might get socked though is the NASDAQ (although the commodities will now go crazy due to this morning's announcement).

[Wwcd]

22. Question: Was there another time in US history that might compare to what this

..tarriff outcome will bring?

20's 30's 70's ..just asking and realize we can only yet predict an outcome.

Thanks

[BumRushDaShow]

26. Look up Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930

Last edited Wed Apr 4, 2018, 10:09 AM - Edit history (1)

https://www.economist.com/node/12798595

In that case, it was Congress that jumped off that cliff.

[Wwcd]

32. A must read for all. Here's a gif showing the increase in good's prices, from your link

Thanks for your link.
It should be a separate thread.
Some very interesting info here.

Is 1930 when Trump considers America Being Great Again??

[BumRushDaShow]

34. "Is 1930 when Trump considers America Being Great Again??"

I'm sure his father would have considered it to be so during that time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/13/us/politics/fred-donald-trump-father.html
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7174250/the_bridgeport_post/

[Wwcd]

35. Well, then the dirty MFer is finally revealing his American dream.

I recall my mom talking about life in the 'dirty 30's.'

Hopefully the laws we have enacted since that time of greed & ignorance will stand the test of Trump's hatchett.

We are going backward fast.

[BumRushDaShow]

36. My parents grew up in the '30s as well

and of course they noted that back then, the depression was why the U.S. tried as hard as it could to stay out of the war (although we were blockading Japanese ships too). But obviously Pearl Harbor changed that. And the effect was to gear up a war machine that was DOMESTIC and that ratcheted up the need for workers. But to pay for it, the wealthy were taxed upwards of 90% and rationing was instituted.

This time, we are fooling around warring in 3 countries and the raw materials for any type of domestically-produced war machine are pretty much all imported (and would thus cost more). And the wealthy just got a big tax cut from their already minimal tax bill so we would go into even more debt, in turn justifying cutting anything and everything that would help "people" (health, education, social safety net) to pay for it.

[Wwcd]

37. Yes. So the big tax cut was a preemptive safety net for the coming loss on war & tarrifs then?

Boeing is building a finising plant in China, btw.

With Bolton in place, you know war is the only thing he exists for.

Things are building to one big glorious day for the billionares.

[BumRushDaShow]

41. Pretty much.

Once those tax cuts were implemented, they don't really care about much else. The Bush family helped to create the MIC back then as well.

The rumors keep swirling that Eddie Munster will hang up his hat and not run again. There's really no need for him now. Mission Accomplished!

[Wwcd]

44. Indeed. Ryan was brought in for one purpose. Hold that RW firewall & collect his reward.

With 7 months still to go before we may pull off a shift in Party power in the legislature, you know they will rush to complete their destructive goals.
They aren't giving up anything now that they have full power of D.C. behind them.
They can do a lot more damage in 7 months.

[BumRushDaShow]

50. And even if we did

by hook or crook, take over the legislature (both chambers), we would not have enough to override a veto. So it is a win-win for them because whatever they put in place before November, will be in place until at least 2021 (unless thrown out by the courts), where we would have to either win the Presidency and/or have a veto-proof majority in both chambers.

[KPN]

23. Choppy? More like a dive. Second one in 3 days.

[BumRushDaShow]

25. "Choppy" in terms of it going

-500 and then -423 then -450.

It's currently -477.

[KPN]

28. Those are all relative dives. If enough people

do what I feel like I have to, I.e., get out of the markets and all my life savings into cash because I'm retired and don't want to mess around with my future, it's going to end up a YUGE DIVE.

I'm getting out while the getting' good -/ despite already being down 6% plus whatever I lose today for 2018.

[BumRushDaShow]

29. It opened down 500

and is currently -451 (but will obviously go nuts today).

[KPN]

46. Okay -- maybe it won't be so bad after all. All I can say is the pre-opening futures

were bad from my perspective, i.e., already -6% for the YTD. At this point, anything over -1.5% feels like a dive whether it's 3, 2.5 or 1.5!

[BumRushDaShow]

51. It's down 222 at post time

But I think people are rejiggering portfolios and what not, since they have to factor in the various commodities and tech issues.

[KPN]

53. Well, I've got till noon EST to decide whether I want to ride today out

or move some of my money to something safe. Hope they quit rejiggering soon!

[BumRushDaShow]

54. You could probably let it ride

but I think the bull market is pretty much over and the bears will be returning, so consider investing with that in mind. This current bull market is getting close to historic at 9 years, but no one is really sure what bubble will burst (there are so many at this point). The last bull run ended with the tech burst in the '90s and the last recession was a result of the housing collapse.

[blue-wave]

17. Now tell me that

the giant screeching sound I hear is not our/the world's economy grinding to a halt?

[IronLionZion]

27. Trump's cronies have sold their stocks in January

so now they're letting all hell break loose so they can buy low and screw over: farmers, retirees, factory workers, ranchers, and more.

Some Trumpsters have been bragging online that stuff will get cheaper for us without the Chinese buying American exports.

[Wwcd]

33. Yet he's protected them all with his key appointments

How does Larry Kudlow feel about tarriffs?

He probably well remembers the disaster of the 1930 tarriffs.

Well, disaster for some but not for all, that is.

MUST READ Post #26for a bit of history.

**BumRushDaShow
26. Look up SmootHawley Tariff in 1930
https://www.economist.com/node/12798595

In that case, it was Congress that jumped off that cliff.
*******

[KPN]

47. Kudlow's a moron. Don't know why anyone would listen to a guy that was bullish

on equities right up to the 2008 Wall Street collapse.

[Wwcd]

49. Right you are. (I should have added the sarcasm thingy to my Kudlow comment.)

Kudlow is Trump's go to guy now?

[KPN]

52. When are we just going to go ahead and bring out the pitchforks, sickles and torches

against these arrogant bastards?!

I'm ready. I'm fed up.

[Wwcd]

55. I'm with you on the limits of tolerance being rapidly expired

Unfortunately, for some in this country who just don't care to be as plugged in as we are, it will take a big squeeze from Trump's tarriffs, Bolton's war...
It will only happen the moment they are all affected personally, & by then Jeff Sessions will have his priivate for-profit prisons built.

I here what you are saying tho.

[workinclasszero]

39. The stable genius is playing 33D chess with China folks

[mahatmakanejeeves]

56. Unclear what the $500 billion refers to. The US trade deficit with China isnt even $400 billion.

Retweeted by David Fahrenthold: https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold

It remains unclear what the $500 billion is referring to. The Us trade deficit with China isn’t even $400 billion. White House officials won’t clarify.

Link to tweet

When you’re already $500 Billion DOWN, you can’t lose!

Link to tweet

[BumRushDaShow]

57. WaPo had this

China fires back at Trump with the threat of tariffs on 106 U.S. products, including soybeans

By Emily Rauhala April 4 at 10:06 AM

<...>

Trump’s figure did not factor in U.S. exports to China. According to U.S. government figures, the trade deficit in goods between the two countries in 2017 was about $375 billion. When services are included, the overall U.S. trade deficit with China was about $336 billion. Though the dollar amounts targeted by both sides are similar — $50 billion — the focus on U.S. soybean exports by China could have a particularly big impact on the United States.

Soybeans are the top U.S. agricultural export to China, and U.S. soybean farmers and their allies fought hard to prevent the tariffs — something Zhu noted in the news conference. The current U.S. ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, is the former governor of Iowa, a state that could be hit hard. In March, representatives from the Iowa Soybean Association visited him in China to plead their case, according to a Chinese report.

Christopher Balding, an ­associate professor at the HSBC Business School in Shenzhen, said that comparing the U.S. and Chinese lists showed China’s willingness to target products such as soybeans, automobiles and planes that could create political problems for Trump. “Even though the numbers between China and the U.S. are comparable, it seems clear that China is trying to twist the knife,” he said, “This is a warning that ‘we are willing to fight harder and inflict more pain that you are.’”

The goal may be to get U.S. voters to stop Trump from pressing ahead. Farm states generally backed Trump in the 2016 election, and their exports could be hurt. “China is stirring up U.S. farmers to put pressure on the White House,” said Shen Dingli, deputy dean of the Institute of International Affairs at Shanghai's Fudan University.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-fires-back-at-trump-with-tariffs-on-106-us-products-including-soybeans-cars/2018/04/04/338134f4-37d8-11e8-b57c-9445cc4dfa5e_story.html