(02-03-2025, 10:08 AM)americus 2.0 Wrote: Can someone explain to me in general terms how this tariff thing works and how it's going to help the US? This is something I don't have any knowledge or understanding of this in our current economic climate and searching the interwebs just adds confusion. 

I'm just trying to understand how this will help us in the long term but not before we feel the pinch of higher prices added to inflation. 

Thanks!

Pretty complicated ... Mexico, Canada and China are all different. The below are high level and broad brushed but the direction is correct.

Canada
Many are asking why Canada?  Illegals and drugs not a prevalent there, everything else is good right? Well not so much. Trump made a deal that replaced nafta. The US was to allow Canada access to the US market at very, very favorable rate. Canada in turn was to lower many of their tariffs and allow many US goods into there country. Well Canada never lowered tariffs and did not allow our products in. (ex agricultural) So we are basically handing them 200 billion per year. (actually that is a bit low) So we are basically paying for their healthcare system ... LOL   Second immigration, it seems to be minor. Well, they are letting a bunch into their country. The people then apply for a student visa which is given away once the person fills out a form. That person then enters the US legally on that visa and disappears into our country. So the impact of illegal immigration was  understated by the last administration. Since Canada violated the trade agreement Trump imposed those tariffs which puts us about even with theirs on us.

side note Quebec would go broke inside of 90 days if this goes on. The Canadian oil (Alberta) would just sit there if we didn't buy it as they have only one terminal and have no way to economically export it elsewhere.

Mexico
Like Canada they violated the trade agreement. This needs to stop and they owe us for the years they failed to do their part.  Second there are many products China is trans shipping through Mexico to use the current trade agreement with Mexico. They dump these products into the states with the intent of driving US companies out of business making us dependent upon China for this product. Mexico gets a cut for allowing it to happen. (Steel is the most publicized but there are a bunch) Immigration and drugs is known so I will not bore you.  However northern Mexico is ruled by the cartels. Think godfather type organizations much larger and armed with military weapons. They ignore the border and create havoc in the US. This is due to Mexico giving up and that needs to change.

Just my take. Trump is going to first protect us like he said.

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