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!

---

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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A new broom always sweeps clean.

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

What a load of shite.

There's not a word of truth in this post.

Do you have any source to support your claim here? Without a source, you're just posting Faux News [BLEEP]. I looked and couldn't find anyTrump/Canada trade agreement to replace NAFTA.

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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

What a load of shite.

There's not a word of truth in this post.

Do you have any source to support your claim here? Without a source, you're just posting Faux News [BLEEP]. I looked and couldn't find anyTrump/Canada trade agreement to replace NAFTA.

Obviously you are a electronically challenged individual. My first attempt yielded this link. Why don't you read it?

quote from the first bullet point. USMCA, which went into force in July 2020, replaced NAFTA and is its successor

https://www.spglobal.com/market-intellig...gL7KPD_BwE

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A new broom always sweeps clean.

What a load of shite.

There's not a word of truth in this post.

Do you have any source to support your claim here? Without a source, you're just posting Faux News [BLEEP]. I looked and couldn't find anyTrump/Canada trade agreement to replace NAFTA.

Obviously you are a electronically challenged individual. My first attempt yielded this link. Why don't you read it?

quote from the first bullet point. USMCA, which went into force in July 2020, replaced NAFTA and is its successor

https://www.spglobal.com/market-intellig...gL7KPD_BwE

Brilliant. Now how about a source proving Canada violated this alleged agreement? Again, I looked. What I did find were a number of articles claiming Trump's trade war against Canada violates international law.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/c...025-02-02/

The official said the Canadian government considered the move by Trump illegal and said it violates the trade commitments between the two countries under their free trade agreement and under the World Trade Organization.

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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!

Since Canada violated the trade agreement Trump imposed those tariffs which puts us about even with theirs on us.

So you seriously believe that Canada has had a 25% blanket tariff on all US goods (except energy) this whole time, and Trump was just evening the scales What on earth are you smoking?

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Since Canada violated the trade agreement Trump imposed those tariffs which puts us about even with theirs on us.

So you seriously believe that Canada has had a 25% blanket tariff on all US goods (except energy) this whole time, and Trump was just evening the scales What on earth are you smoking?

Dear Mr. Pigeon,  

We currently have a 200 billion dollar+ deficit. I stated everything was high level broad brush. By imposing the tariff we will about even up with them. I did not state they had taken that approach. You were WRONG that there was not a new agreement. You are just trolling me at the moment which is funny. I see you joined this forum February 2025 and that was what your 2nd post?  Go play elsewhere....

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A new broom always sweeps clean.

So you seriously believe that Canada has had a 25% blanket tariff on all US goods (except energy) this whole time, and Trump was just evening the scales What on earth are you smoking?

Dear Mr. Pigeon,  

We currently have a 200 billion dollar+ deficit. 

You appear to be confused. A trade deficit is just another way of saying "goods surplus." It just means that we buy more from Canada than Canada buys from us. It's like how you have a trade deficit with your grocery store because you buy more groceries from them than the grocery store buys from you.

It has nothing to do with any tariffs on US goods.

By imposing the tariff we will about even up with them. I did not state they had taken that approach.

You did. This is what you said verbatim:

Trump imposed those tariffs which puts us about even with theirs on us.

You are clearly saying that you think Canada already had tariffs on US goods equivalent to the 25% blanket tariff that Trump imposed. Would you like to walk that back a bit?

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Dear Mr. Pigeon,  

We currently have a 200 billion dollar+ deficit. 

You appear to be confused. A trade deficit is just another way of saying "goods surplus." It just means that we buy more from Canada than Canada buys from us. It's like how you have a trade deficit with your grocery store because you buy more groceries from them than the grocery store buys from you.

It has nothing to do with any tariffs on US goods.

By imposing the tariff we will about even up with them. I did not state they had taken that approach.

You did. This is what you said verbatim:

Trump imposed those tariffs which puts us about even with theirs on us.

You are clearly saying that you think Canada already had tariffs on US goods equivalent to the 25% blanket tariff that Trump imposed. Would you like to walk that back a bit?

Have a nice life ...

---

A new broom always sweeps clean.

You appear to be confused. A trade deficit is just another way of saying "goods surplus." It just means that we buy more from Canada than Canada buys from us. It's like how you have a trade deficit with your grocery store because you buy more groceries from them than the grocery store buys from you.

It has nothing to do with any tariffs on US goods.


You did. This is what you said verbatim:



You are clearly saying that you think Canada already had tariffs on US goods equivalent to the 25% blanket tariff that Trump imposed. Would you like to walk that back a bit?

Have a nice life ...

Gg

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Since Canada violated the trade agreement Trump imposed those tariffs which puts us about even with theirs on us.

So you seriously believe that Canada has had a 25% blanket tariff on all US goods (except energy) this whole time, and Trump was just evening the scales What on earth are you smoking?

You could just do what I asked in the first place and answer my question. If you don't know the answer to my question don't waste my time arguing with someone else.

---

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!

In the short-term, they may raise prices but there are some plans for that.

Tariffs will raise the prices of goods that are not produced in the US.
Companies that want to sell goods to US consumers, will move manufacturing to the US.
Tariffs won't be placed on materials that the US doesn't have.

Tariffs work in the long run as it moves jobs back to the US. Those jobs are higher paying, stable manufacturing jobs. Those jobs do increase the cost of goods sold. There are less costs involved in shipping the goods and better quality is delivered so less overhead is needed for waste and warranty/repairs.

How does this help you when prices go up? Everyone's taxes go down. Tariffs will replace the taxes, so at worse you have a net $0 effect. The areas that have new manufacturing jobs, will see immediate improvement, more local revenue, state, and federal money now coming in. Also a part of this, removing all the illegals will drive prices down for everything. Government removes tons of money needed for them, housing costs, services, etc. Now those manufacturing jobs don't need to pay $40 and hour to just get bye. That in turn lowers the cost of the goods being produced.

Short-term there will be issues but Trump is pushing tax free stuff. Then I think there will be moves to pause taxes all together for a period of time. Then Trump removes the IRS.

Sent from my SM-T970 using Tapatalk

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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!

This is a forum for fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars football team. You're asking for socioeconomic/political information from people who think following this team is a good idea. Proceed at your own risk.

---

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!

In the short-term, they may raise prices but there are some plans for that.

Tariffs will raise the prices of goods that are not produced in the US.
Companies that want to sell goods to US consumers, will move manufacturing to the US.
Tariffs won't be placed on materials that the US doesn't have.

Tariffs work in the long run as it moves jobs back to the US. Those jobs are higher paying, stable manufacturing jobs. Those jobs do increase the cost of goods sold. There are less costs involved in shipping the goods and better quality is delivered so less overhead is needed for waste and warranty/repairs.

How does this help you when prices go up? Everyone's taxes go down. Tariffs will replace the taxes, so at worse you have a net $0 effect. The areas that have new manufacturing jobs, will see immediate improvement, more local revenue, state, and federal money now coming in. Also a part of this, removing all the illegals will drive prices down for everything. Government removes tons of money needed for them, housing costs, services, etc. Now those manufacturing jobs don't need to pay $40 and hour to just get bye. That in turn lowers the cost of the goods being produced.

Short-term there will be issues but Trump is pushing tax free stuff. Then I think there will be moves to pause taxes all together for a period of time. Then Trump removes the IRS.

Sent from my SM-T970 using Tapatalk

Thank you for adding in the pause on taxes. I feel like it's a very big part of the plan, yet it's barely talked about compared to the tariffs.

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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!

This is a forum for fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars football team. You're asking for socioeconomic/political information from people who think following this team is a good idea. Proceed at your own risk.

Yet here you are right along with us.

---

So you seriously believe that Canada has had a 25% blanket tariff on all US goods (except energy) this whole time, and Trump was just evening the scales What on earth are you smoking?

Dear Mr. Pigeon,  

We currently have a 200 billion dollar+ deficit. I stated everything was high level broad brush. By imposing the tariff we will about even up with them. I did not state they had taken that approach. You were WRONG that there was not a new agreement. You are just trolling me at the moment which is funny. I see you joined this forum February 2025 and that was what your 2nd post?  Go play elsewhere....

You're using very imprecise language.  First you said they have a tariff on us already, and we needed to even up with them on that.
Now you are using the same "even up" terms to talk about the trade deficit between the US and Canada which is a different matter.
In fact, it's a doesn't matter.  Trade deficits simply don't matter.  My household is in a trade deficit with Publix.  It's NBD.

---

My fellow southpaw Mark Brunell will probably always be my favorite Jaguar.

Dear Mr. Pigeon,  

We currently have a 200 billion dollar+ deficit. I stated everything was high level broad brush. By imposing the tariff we will about even up with them. I did not state they had taken that approach. You were WRONG that there was not a new agreement. You are just trolling me at the moment which is funny. I see you joined this forum February 2025 and that was what your 2nd post?  Go play elsewhere....

You're using very imprecise language.  First you said they have a tariff on us already, and we needed to even up with them on that.
Now you are using the same "even up" terms to talk about the trade deficit between the US and Canada which is a different matter.
In fact, it's a doesn't matter.  Trade deficits simply don't matter.  My household is in a trade deficit with Publix.  It's NBD.

The mind of a cult is strange.

---

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!

In the short-term, they may raise prices but there are some plans for that.

Tariffs will raise the prices of goods that are not produced in the US.
Companies that want to sell goods to US consumers, will move manufacturing to the US.
Tariffs won't be placed on materials that the US doesn't have.

Tariffs work in the long run as it moves jobs back to the US. Those jobs are higher paying, stable manufacturing jobs. Those jobs do increase the cost of goods sold. There are less costs involved in shipping the goods and better quality is delivered so less overhead is needed for waste and warranty/repairs.

How does this help you when prices go up? Everyone's taxes go down. Tariffs will replace the taxes, so at worse you have a net $0 effect. The areas that have new manufacturing jobs, will see immediate improvement, more local revenue, state, and federal money now coming in. Also a part of this, removing all the illegals will drive prices down for everything. Government removes tons of money needed for them, housing costs, services, etc. Now those manufacturing jobs don't need to pay $40 and hour to just get bye. That in turn lowers the cost of the goods being produced.

Short-term there will be issues but Trump is pushing tax free stuff. Then I think there will be moves to pause taxes all together for a period of time. Then Trump removes the IRS.

Sent from my SM-T970 using Tapatalk

Trump can't remove taxes, or remove the IRS.

He needs congress to do so; and he doesn't have the votes.

Also math - tariffs can't replace tax dollars; we don't import or export enough stuff. So the deficit would explode and we would have massive national debt

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Can someone explain to me in general terms how this tariff thing works and how it's going to help the US? 

Short version: They'll make imported products or products that incorporate imports more expensive. They won't help in any meaningful fashion.

Long version: The idea behind imports is that goods and products imported from another are taxed by a certain amount upon entry into the country by the people/firm purchasing the imports. You typically place tariffs on an import because you are trying to compete with foreign competitors by making their product more expensive, so that consumers are inclined to buy domestic products rather than foreign ones.

Two problems:

1. Your country may not have a domestic supply of said product either because it doesn't have the natural resources to do so, or is unable to produce them enough to meet domestic demand. An example of this in the United States is rare earth minerals; the US doesn't have them in abundance so a lot of them are imported.

2. Because of the cost of the tariff, firms have to find a way to recoup the cost. If the tariff is small or niche the firm may be able to simply eat it, but larger and more expansive tariffs will end up being passed onto the consumer because firms will have to raise prices to match their newly increased production/acquisition costs because of the tariff. The result may be that consumers have to spend more anyways even if the the domestic supply of the product is cheaper.

Let's say Atropia and Donovia both produce oranges, but Atropia can produce 5 times as more, and can do so cheaper than Donovia on a per unit basis, because Atropias' climate is better suited for growing oranges. Donovia imports Atropian oranges for $5 a pound, by comparison Donovia produces oranges that cost $10 per pound. But Donovia decides it wants to encourage its orange industry so it places a tariff on oranges from Atropia worth $10, increasing the cost of Atropian oranges to $15. Donovian oranges are now cheaper, but if Donovians want oranges they end up paying more anyways because Donovian oranges will always be more expensive and lower in supply than cheaper-to-produce Atropian oranges.

Additionally, there's little reason Donovia can't also artifically increase the cost of its' oranges to $13 per pound; it will still be cheaper than imported Atropian oranges. Now change oranges to something vital like gasoline or pharmaceuticals, something people really just can't brush off as an uncessary expense.

It may help the industry being affected make a profit, but its a downgrade for the consumer.

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Interestingly enough it appears we are at a 2 to 1 deficit with most countries. Exceptions I have heard of are China, India and Mexico. (not sure about Canada) Now this is hearsay from multiple sources, I am sure if someone wanted they could delve into government info and find out. Not something I am inclined to do at the moment so those of you who read this and want that precise info, have at it ..lol

One thing for sure tariffs do not cause inflation. India has more tariffs than any other country and are not experiencing inflation. This line of argument is fear mongering in an attempt to scare people. They are like most things properly managed.

Illustration
When the Columbia tariff row happened AOC came out bemoaning that coffee process would go through the roof. She was all over the news. This was an outright lie and fear mongering raised to an Oscar level performance. . First coffee has risen over 300% over the last 4 years. Second Columbia only provides 22% of the imported coffee in the US. In this case we would just increase purchases from other sources. That is why they caved so quick. There are very few items that are sole sourced that we import.

So why all the nervousness? Well, tariffs are collected and go the the government. It is a cost just like anything else. Actually it is a use cost. The more you buy or use the more of it you pay. Higher income people buy more stuff and use more resources than lower income people. It actually has a greater effect on higher income people. In the EU they call it a VAT tax which they can and do make many of our companies pay. This is on top of the tariffs.

These tariffs can be used to offset income taxes charged to citizens, say tax on tips etc?

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A new broom always sweeps clean.

One thing for sure tariffs do not cause inflation. India has more tariffs than any other country and are not experiencing inflation. This line of argument is fear mongering in an attempt to scare people. They are like most things properly managed.

India had 5.22% inflation for 2024, compared with only 2.9% in the US. Like the US, the central bank in India manages inflation with interest rates, and their repo rate is up at 6.5%, compared with only 4.25% in the US.

So they do pay the price for their tariffs. But they have also been reducing their tariffs for years now. Not surprisingly, the reduction in tariffs coincided with India's emergence from a developing nation to a global economic power. Because when an economy grows that large, it can't afford to have protectionist or isolationist policies anymore.

So why all the nervousness? Well, tariffs are collected and go the the government. It is a cost just like anything else. Actually it is a use cost. The more you buy or use the more of it you pay. Higher income people buy more stuff and use more resources than lower income people. It actually has a greater effect on higher income people.

There is "duped," and then there is "tariffs-are-actually-a-progressive-tax-duped."

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