President Trump likes tariffs. Most economists and commentators dislike them. The so called international rules based order included the World Trade Organisation aiming to reduce tariffs. The WTO however allowed emerging economies and China to play by different rules to the advanced countries. The WTO let countries impose high tariffs and use high subsidies for food and agriculture.
President Trump has a range of aims for tariffs.
His idea of reciprocal tariffs is a device to get tariffs down . Why not make countries imposing tariffs against your exports pay the same tariff on their exports? It might persuade them to agree to getting rid of the tariff.
His penal tariffs on Mexico and Canada are designed to get them to stop the flow of harmful drugs and illegal migrants over their borders with the USA. They may well get them to tighten their borders.
There is the aim to use tariffs to onshore more investment in industrial capacity. It is a change of emphasis from President Bidenās expensive subsidies which distorted trade and may Ā well help onshore .
There is the aim of collecting more tax revenue. That is true, but its net effects may be less than the gross amount of additional tariff money if the policy reduces the growth rate or results in higher domestic prices squeezing real incomes.
Most commentary ignores the fact that the EU is a customs union with tariffs on 73 % of product lines that it imports. It imposes especially high tariffs on food and agriculture where the US is a leading Ā exporter.
Free trade is a good idea, but the WTO has never delivered it. The favourable terms for China has created huge Chinese trade surpluses.
March 5, 2025
Once again it’s taken Trump to shine a light on the murky world of the EU and WTO
China had been allowed to plunder western technology and skip the R&D phase of development.
Because everything belongs to the state they have been allowed to target markets via subsidy to remove competition. This is obvious with EVs
Trump is 100% correct in correcting this blatant imbalance oftrade but in pursuit of net zero the UK car industry will be allowed to die as with steel aluminium chemicals and ceramics
The Starmergeddon government is in the pocket of the Chinese.
March 6, 2025
+1 Look how many senior politicians and other members of the Establishment have very close personal/family “business” and other links with the Chinese.
March 6, 2025
Jeremy Huntās wife was born in China, but if he bought their marriage certificate in the UK that would have contributed to the UK budget.
March 7, 2025
and how many have very close personal/family ābusinessā and other links with European countries?
Why would this be any different than China, India or even the US?
March 7, 2025
Yes.People should ask themselves has the UK been more influenced by -and become more like -the US or China over the past few decades.
I would have thought the answer was obvious.
March 6, 2025
@Ian Wraggg
Just one Chinese car company received USD 309 million in State subsidies to export and extract wealth from other markets. The UK tariffs on these imports virtually zero. While UK exports into China attract an average tariff of 46%.
This isn’t mutual or reciprocal trade it is weaponizing trade
March 7, 2025
The same happened with EU countries and companies but our politicians and establishment had no problem at all with the situation.
The difference is they hoped to get something out of EU laargess for themselves while our country and our people could be left to flap in the wind. I doubt that is the same with China so they complain and oink noisly about it because they cannot get at that trough.
March 6, 2025
+1
March 6, 2025
China spends almost the same as the UK on R&D, 2.68% and its economy is almost ten times the size of ours at purchasing power parity.
We used to import large amounts of Chinese manufactures such as china and furniture much of it created specifically for Western markets as well. Our national drink originated from China.
Communism and Maoism destroyed the Chinese economy; however, to suggest the Chinese are incapable of creating new products themselves is manifestly untrue. As a country we need to look to our laurels instead of deluding ourselves that East Asians whose earliest civilisations predate ours by millennia can only keep up by stealing our technology.
March 7, 2025
There wasn’t much of a Chinese economy to destroy when under Qing rule,hence the ‘century of humiliation’!
March 6, 2025
‘Free trade is a good idea..’
Yes – if it enables you to at least export as much as you import. If you initiate an industrial revolution and have stuff to sell that others cannot manufacture it is a great idea.
Trump seems now to favour the use of power to dictate trade terms.
The UK has also used that in the past. Enforced trade in opium (opium wars) opened up China. We got tea, silk and porcelain (goods and technology) in return.
So Trump is pushing some paleoconservative ideas and seems better at convincing people than Pat Buchanan et al. Unfortunately Trump is beholden to his donors, so the global corporations will get what they want.
As with all previous US governments, the Israel Lobby has a lock on American policy in the Middle East. Trump is even more biased (possibly because he has been offered business opportunities in the region). So that is an issue that will continue to fester.
March 7, 2025
We were already getting those things but the Manchu-Qing rulers of China insisted on payment in specie(in their case silver bullion) which was proving ruinous for the UK given the vast increase in consumption of Chinese- grown tea in 19th century.So China had to be forced to take goods instead.
There has been talk of a brewing war between Turkey and Israel(Asia Times 20/1/25:”When Israel & Turkey Go to War” by Michael Walsh).Turkish neo-Ottomanism is not at all compatible with the Zionist plan for Eretz Israel.The new rulers of Syria also have recently re-engaged with Russia,seeking economic co-operation and wanting Russia to retain its naval and airforce bases in the country.Meanwhile,Sudan has recently signed contracts for Russia to build a naval base on its Red Sea coast and a Russian airforce base has just been constructed in southern Libya,near the borders with Sudan and Chad.Russian advisers have moved into Chad following the expulsion of the French garrison there.
The arc linking Eurasia with Africa is rapidly falling into place.
March 5, 2025
Are the aims of points one and two such bad things?
In the case of trying to halt the flow of drugs and illegal migrants into the country you are elected to take care of, that’s a good thing surely if it works.
Isn’t it right that he should put the American people’s interests first, and if using tariffs solves the problem or brings the partnership to more of a balance, it can’t be all bad can it?
Let’s compare it to our so- called partnership with France regarding the illegals. It doesn’t seem like we’re getting much in return for all the money we’ve handed over, except more illegals (500 the other day I believe).
Successive governments have done what, to put that right on our behalf.
March 6, 2025
Subsidising goods for export in order to sell them cheaply is an advantage to those who are buying
March 6, 2025
@Cynic – how, if a countries wealth is exported, and it industry is decimated by those that don’t contribute that is just decline. The purchasing advantage disappears as the purchaser will have to make up the shortfall in additional taxes to fund the wealth creating infrastructure (schooling, health, safety & security, transport network). The price paid isn’t the same as the ‘cost’
March 6, 2025
But it’s destroys jobs and livelihoods of the receiving population
See steel aluminium, refineries and ceramics
All lost to cheap Chinese imports.
March 6, 2025
It is not an advantage if the quality is very much lower than we had before our manufacturing was killed. There is no choice now.
March 6, 2025
You, like the rest of us, do not know what backroom deals have been made. Much has been said (mostly by Germany) of all EU countries ‘taking their fair share’. And yes I know we are no longer (officially) part of the EU, but we are still in very much lock step with them.
March 6, 2025
Yes. I became convinced a long time ago that there is a “secret deal” with the EU/France …. made during the Brexit negotiations …. that we’d take “our fair share” of the criminal migrants. It’s the only thing that explains the close co-operation between the UK and France to ship them in. For the sake of appearances, the British Government pretends it wants to stop them, and Macron pretends he is trying.
March 6, 2025
+1
March 6, 2025
@Michelle – strange idea that a Government working for and with its people to ensure prosperity for ‘all’
March 6, 2025
It is no accident that we must endure unlimited and uncontrolled mass immigration irrespective of the party in power, and if one source is cut off another will be found, and if it cannot be legal immigration then illegal will do.
March 6, 2025
I watched Trudeau the other evening. He was very clear that the amount of fentanyl entering the US from Canada was very low. My family is ‘half’ Canadian and those in Canada are really angry with the US. The Ontario LCBO has removed all US products from it’s shelves – in other words, you cannot now buy US liquor in Ontario. I’m not sure the ban was neccessary, as many Canadians are already shunning US made products (and not just their booze).
March 6, 2025
If,Trudeau is āclearā it MUST be rightšš¤£
March 7, 2025
US Federal statistics show US border authorities seized 21,889 pounds of fentanyl in the 2024 fiscal year. Of that amount, 43 pounds were seized at the Canadian border about 0.2%, compared with 21,148 pounds at the Mexican border, about 96.6%. of the total.
In the first 10 months of 2024, the Canadian border service reported seizing 10.8lb (4.9kg) of fentanyl entering from the US, whilst US Border Patrol intercepted 32.1lb (14.6kg) of fentanyl coming from Canada. So the trade in fentanyl does takes place in both directions.
I first remember first seeing ‘public’ (in plain sight) drug abuse in San Fransico in the early 90’s. I’d been to SanFran before but uptil then any ‘incidents’ I’d seen were mostly alchohol related. On that trip however, the route from my hotel to the downtown Convention Center was full of homeless people (I had to step over quite a few) many under the influence of either cheap booze or drugs. When I reached a certain crossing (with police on the other side) it was clear an invisible line had been drawn. My American colleagues were worried that I’d been “stupid enough” to actually walk there.
I was therefore not suprised to see the issue had moved north to Seattle in the early 2000’s. I was however, quite shocked to see the same problem in downtown Vancouver in 2019. Stopping at traffic lights on East Hastings, we watched as a young woman (in a filthy white dress) bin-dived. She wasn’t the only addict on the street that morning (there were plenty wandering around) but I’ve never forgotten her. Drugs are a terrible blight on any Society.
March 5, 2025
I would suggest that there is also an environmental argument in favour of tarriffs (related to the previous post). Import tarriffs could encourage home-produced items, reducing the pollution emitted when moving goods large distances.
I believe in free markets but think a free market works best within a common domain. Trading internationally has its merits but it is often far from a free market: (i) as mentioned, the WTO skewed the market with biased rules, as did the eu; (ii) so-called “trade deals” are full of anti-free market rules; (iii) currency differences are not a good basis for free market activity. I understand why richer countries want to import products made in poorer countries but it is cheating!
March 6, 2025
The free market that many people pine for (The EU) had common rules, most overly costly. Protecting your own market but allowing others to trade within it if they abide by the rules is free trade. Tariffs merely equalise some of the rules that are not observed.
March 6, 2025
Trump tariffs on imports have stung their car industry which buys many components from overseas and forces their costs to increase. US manufacturers have sought a one month grace period, but that might not be enough.
March 6, 2025
Part of prob is that so many people in business in USA and UK and elsewhere are NOT patriots. They’re taking large chunks of their companies and profits outside their own countries. Or selling their company to a foreign owner. Which is related to the problem of low productivity. Michael O’ Leary is a good example of a patriot in business who puts his money where his mouth is paying his taxes in his own country.
Patriotism is how you contribute to your country that costs you something in real terms. Whether you’re a billionaire businessman. Or an artist. Pop star. Nurse. Postman. Soldier. Etc. This is basic stuff but that the modern world has greatly diminished. Seeing patriotic songs when England is playing in the World Cup is not real patriotism. Patriotism has to cost you something.
March 6, 2025
You speak of corporations and many corporatists, like OāLeary choose to pay taxes in Ireland – because they have the lowest Corporation tax.
If you think the decisions is anything you do with patriotism you are deluded.
March 7, 2025
Regarding income tax, O’Leary said, ‘”I’m one of the largest taxpayers in the country and I have no problem paying 50 per cent of my income in tax.’
Regarding corp tax, you don’t know. He’s Irish. How do you know he doesn’t want to work where he lives – an hour or less from his lovely country home and stud horses and cattle and where he grew up (and where you might as well pay your tax to your fellow countryman than another country and who he wants to leave some of his fortune to his children but not all of it – doesn’t want to spoil them).
It’s not just about patriotism but also just loving living where he lives and the people and that life is too short. All interconnected.
So, yeah, he’s more patriotic than a lot of rich businessmen his ilk.
March 6, 2025
A good summary. Free trade is good and Tariffs usually damaging but Trump is mainly using tariffs as a negotiation tool to get to more free and fair trade. This with both tariffs and other artificial regulatory barriers to trade. The EU has very many such barriers.
March 6, 2025
President Trump is using the ‘buying power’ of the American consumer to get what he wants. Which is perfectly sensible. For example. When shopping I look around for the best deals and try and save money – which I do ! President Trump is trying to cut his deficit and bring a lot of American business’s home, creating jobs and more taxes for the USA economy.
March 6, 2025
Indeed and/or to get other to open their markets more.
Just listened to the Sunak interviews with. Nick Robinson. Rather pathetic BBC type of soft wet questions. I have nothing but contempt for the fake Tory, ECHR fan, tax to death, net zero fan, open borders fan, throw the towel in six month early Sunak but his interview has lowered my opinion of him even further. But then Kemi is hardly any better same mad policies as Sunak really. Kemi is another open border, net zero, tax to death, ECHR socialist in essence.
March 6, 2025
@Lifelogic – is the Trump team asking for ‘free-trade’ or just reciprocal trade? There is a big and subtle difference
March 6, 2025
Everyone asked for free trade, but it was denied. Therefore Trump, who canāt force other countries to reduce their tariffs, has taken the only route open yo him to ālevel the playing fieldā I.e imposing reciprocal tariffs. I.e if the EU charges 20% on US cars the US will charge 20% on EU cars.
Do you object?
March 6, 2025
Indeed
March 6, 2025
No. Free trade is a race to the bottom with goods being produced in the countries with the lowest labour and energy costs.
It is the cause of the deindustrialising of our economy and leaves us defenceless and vulnerable. In short, it is insanity.
March 6, 2025
Which for the same reason makes it even more silly to keep our energy prices high and sacrifice businesses on the alter of Net Zero
March 6, 2025
Not so. We can have cheap and plentiful energy but choose not to. We mechanised the fabrication processes long ago – it was called āthe Industrial Revolutionā and produced good more cheaply than those countries which pay humans low wages to do the same work.
Itās a race to the top and we are very good it it if the idiot government would get off our backs.
March 6, 2025
@Mike Wilson – in reality there is no such thing as ‘free trade’ in the World today. If a country’s gets to offer its goods in another without contributing on an equal basis to that country wellbeing, that freedom(freedom not to contribute) has to be picked up by the host countries taxpayer. For ‘free trade’ to work the recipient country has to also have its inhabitants, industry etc. free of any tax burden – that an impossibility. The wording is wrong to freely trade on a reciprocal basis is all that is required.
Countries that subsidies their exports such as the EU, India and China etc. while having artificial barriers to other have weaponized trade. They are stealing not trading, stealing wealth they are not contributing too.
One mans tax relief is another mans tax burden. Most of us still believe that tax buys us safety, security, health education transport links etc. if someone gets a free pass others have to pick up the burden. There is no such thing as Government money in the UK, just Taxpayer money
The UK’s flakey tax system is a whole other subject
March 6, 2025
Free trade in general is good, but you do need to keep control of some essential industries I agree.
March 6, 2025
Good morning.
Let us be clear about what tariffs are ? They are an extra charge on the ‘consumer’ (importer) not the ‘provider’ (exporter). If President Trump imposes a tax on Chinese widgets, it is the American consumer who pays.
Tariffs are a very cleaver way of taxing ‘demand’ on imported goods. VAT / Purchase tax is a very good way of taxing demand on ‘internal’ consumption. Both, if well used, can help to balance an economy without hitting those who would feel it most. ie Those with more disposable income may wish to consume more. For this they would taxed more.
Tariffs also work where there is a considerable wage disparity. Labour can make up a significant cost of a manufactured product – hence all those robots and self check-out tills. A country with low regulations, staff benefits and wage costs has a significant advantage over those on the opposite side of the scale. This can lead to loss in manufacturing and jobs which, in turn, leads to loss on tax revenue. Tariffs can be used to balance out these differences.
I am not a person who favours high taxing etc but, if you are going to tax, tax the right way, not the Rachel from accounts way.
March 6, 2025
Mark B.
The more we expect a government to do for us, such as NHS, DWP, foreign aid etc, the greater the cost of that government. That has to be paid for, but the state has no money other than tax revenues. Our costs are always going to be higher because our state is huge and inefficient compared to others.
I know I’ve mooted it before on here but, I would like to see the return of The “I’m Backing Britain” campaign.
March 6, 2025
@Mark B – I would suggest that tariffs should/could at first be seen as an equalizer. Manufacturers suppliers in the target market pay tax that fund infrastructure(schooling, health, transport links etc.) the wealth that those that import into that market want to profit from, ‘Free Trade’ is a way of extracting wealth from the target market while never contributing.
Trade is abused by some, the EU, India, China etc. the use of tariffs for their likes can be seen as a reciprocal leveler – so every one gets to put back into the market they profit from, as such they are not harmful to any one. The consumer when it is reciprocal is only being asked to pay what they would pay on home grown goods and services. Then instead of their wealth just being exported it gets to contribute for the growth that occurs in that market place.
There is a similarity to this Government removing money by way of taxes from the market place resulting in trashing the economy, tariff ‘free trade’ has the same effect. Putting up prices, inflation and decline
Its all about things being equal and reciprocal the EU, India, China etc. don’t play with the idea of mutual respect they have weaponized trade in ways to unbalanced and cause maximum damage to others.
March 6, 2025
Mark – you forgot to add “A Country with low energy costs has a huge advantage over one with the highest ones”
March 6, 2025
He was elected on his MAGA agenda, to bring jobs back to the USA after so much manufacturing was hollowed out as it moved to China and elsewhere in previous decades. One consequence was that corporate USA has been able to spend c$5.6 trillion on share buybacks since 2000, outspending households and foreign investors, who bought c$2.5 trillion of share net; by contrast pension and mutual funds sold c$2.3 trillion shares net. These buyback programmes, much of it debt financed, fuelled US stock market growth instead of reinvestment in the US economy. It appears to be working as Apple recently announced it would spend $400 billion in in sourcing manufacture of its products, most of which are supplied from outside the USA. Low energy costs are attracting a lot of petrochemical investment into the USA as well. But a question remains whether all the necessary skills are available as Intel’s efforts to achieve high yields on its state of the art chip foundry reveal.
March 6, 2025
I can see Trump using tarifs as a “re-shoring” tactic, especially for Mexico. Mexico’s main commercial advantage is cheaper labour. Canada is a different thing in my view.
US companies have always used their Canadian factories as manufacturing buffers, being the first point of culls in hard times. I can remember Johnson & Johnson and Fisher-Price cutting back their headcount in Peterborough (Ontario) well before doing so in the US. This was very hard on the local economy, which was otherwise extremely seasonal (being tourist based ). I’m starting to think that maybe Trump is really serious about controlling Canada’s huge natural resources. These include mineral, gas, oil & hydro resources but maybe it’s much simpler than that. Canada has 20% of the worlds fresh water.
March 6, 2025
Free trade is great for economists and government owned/backed/supported companies but rubbish for the rest of is in the forever war of commerce.
March 6, 2025
Commerce is not a war but a choice.
The consumer accepts and pays what the product or service costs as good value, or rejects it.
Refuse to buy bad value and the seller loses.
March 6, 2025
I am referring to those of us who research, manufacture/producer, market, sell and support products and services, not the consumer where the vast majority have no idea of what is involved nor the true costs of buying the cheapest.
March 7, 2025
Understood, yet purists describe: The sole purpose of all production is consumption.
However, what consumers choose to buy determines whether all the preparatory expertise, work, finance and risks are needed. Many consumers are naĆÆve, careless, fickle, unaware of quality and value, but commerce cannot exist unless the consumer exchanges.
March 6, 2025
I am hugely in favour of tariffs as an equaliser.
The best way to kill net zero would be to impose tariffs on countries whose costs are lower because they don’t have the same controls. This will raise prices rather than hide the cost and a real debate can be had where we discover the science is not settled.
Gordon Brown introduced tax credits to prove competition against low wage economies. We paid to subsidise business. Better to impose tariffs on low wage economies and stop importing tat. Yes our economy would be smaller, but given we have had to borrow over the value of our economy to subsidise the size of our economy, I suspect there is a better way of doing things.
March 6, 2025
I absolutely agree about the huge amount of “Tat” we buy NS.
We live in a consumer-led society, where everything is designed to be disposable but rarely repairable. My working theory is that much of waste would cease if we banned credit cards. They are far too convenient and encourage impulse purchase. Rather than give up on cash, we should support it’s use. This is never going to happen of course.
March 6, 2025
Tax credits support a part-time worker economy that Rachel Reeves is putting a significant halt to from April; perhaps that is the plan. Business has in the past hired part-timers to get away with no employers NI. Sub-contractors are the only labour now without the Employer’s NI and other social liabilities as Ā£5000 at the new minimum wage is just 8 hours work (so one day per week or two half days) and the claimant needs to work 16 hours per week if they are single with 1 or more children and 24 hours for a couple with one working at least 16 hours. WTC are being finished and renamed this April Universal Credit.
The minimum wage for a 35-hour week is Ā£22,222.20. Thereās no set limit for income because it depends on your circumstances (and those of your partner). For example, Ā£18,000 for a couple without children or Ā£13,100 for a single person without children – but it can be higher if you have children, pay for approved childcare or one of you is disabled.
March 7, 2025
And quite possible to earn close to Ā£40K TAKE HOME on Universal credit in a minimum wage job.
March 6, 2025
Trump has identified the various Globalist attacks which are being made against the USA and is systematically disabling them, using tariffs as his weapon of choice.
1. The massive wave of illegal immigration which was flooding the country with low-skill, low-wage migrants undercutting the wages of working class Americans; foreign criminals; organised drug gangs; potential terrorists
2. The drugs which are flooding into the country across the borders with Canada and Mexico – and causing massive social problems across the country, but predominantly into the Democrat-held cities
3. The WTO-generated trade imbalance, which was exporting manufacturing jobs from America to Asia and the Customs Union, which is protecting the EU from competition
We, and they, should be grateful that he is only using tariffs to fight back. And, since 1 and 3 above also apply to the UK, we should copy him. In our case, the drugs are coming in from around the world since we effectively have no border.
March 6, 2025
Tarrifs on Canada is bonkers. This at moment is his initial line of attack. That tells you more than anything. At end of day it’s ultimately all about productivity / quality of services and products. And patriotism. Michael O’ Leary is a patriot. He pays his taxes in his home country. He wants his earnings to go back into his country’s economy. So the real problem with USA is cultural – not political / economic.
March 6, 2025
You could not be more wrong if you did a course run by Starmer. Shame!
March 6, 2025
I wonder if “the patriot” O’Leary would pay his taxes in his home country if they weren’t half those which the UK has been saddled with by the morons in The Treasury?
March 6, 2025
So called Free trade, trade tariffs, protectionism, quota’s, duty, a host of other taxes, varying regulation standards, are all tools used by politicians to try and manipulate matters to their own advantage.
The customers simply have to pay what is required if they want the goods.
March 6, 2025
So wrong. We want goods at a certain price and of a certain quality. Else we donāt spend.
March 6, 2025
That all makes Trump sound like a superb strategist, where positive results are obtained with just the suggestion of tariffs. “THINK AGAIN,” Trump says, and they do.
The EU in particular have had things all their own way for too long – With Brexit we were in a strong position to impose or even dictate tariffs, but what happened – our weak leaders gave into EU demands and we fell under the negative control of EU ‘fairness’.
Tariffs may not be so important in this part of the world in a few years time – Just imagine Europe and the UK sinking into oblivion while the rest of the world grows rich trading on good terms. IN any case how will we afford imports when we won’t have anything to export?
March 6, 2025
My nightmare is we get another ‘podium moment’ from Keith who tells us ‘We have to take the hard decision of agreeing to join a European army, which will include equality of rules across the EU nations and the UK for both military production and our respective economies’. Or something like it. He will then welcome the EU Provincial Administrator to N0. 10 and hand him the keys. Keith will then depart the UK for his hillside villa in Davos, a surprise, kindly gift from the Mauritius government.
March 6, 2025
For a time I saw Theresa May as “weak” to “cave in” to EU demands , but it was really much worse than that.
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2019/06/30/trade-and-tariffs/#comment-1033569
“In the case of the Irish Prime Minister it is comprehensible that he simply does not want to consider any āalternative arrangementsā which would frustrate his avowed intent of keeping the UK under swathes of EU laws, rules of the EU customs union and single market, in perpetuity.
But for our own Prime Minister it is more difficult to see why she would be willing to collude in that, unless that is one attributes a kind of mesmeric influence to Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry, supported by other business lobby groups.ā
March 6, 2025
I was just thinking the same thing. Our services exports will soon be replaced by AI agents. The weāre really up a creek without a paddle.
March 6, 2025
I don’t approve of tariffs, for example the 241% tariff Canada places on milk imports from USA and the 298% tariff on butter.
March 6, 2025
What is free trade free from?
Buyers and sellers are free offer whatever they want to sell on their own terms at whatever price they accept.
In many cases the sellerās own cost includes the expense of products and services their own product or service has incurred that needs to be included. Producing a car to sell may involve 30,000 parts bought from many different sources. All manner of costs may be built in whether in plastic bags for packing components, lead originally stolen from a church roof, child labour or VAT riddled throughout various back and forth journeys leading to the eventual product completion at the point of sale.
Tariffs are just one element of Terms and Conditions affecting price. Countries may be free to include, exclude, or match them in reciprocal cancellation. Ultimately, it is what the consumer accepts as desirable and worth the cost that dictates what buys or sells.
The Consumer is free, unless they are buying a TV in the UK, with the BBC lurking behind to fine them.
March 6, 2025
I think as a general rule that if somebody in this country wants to buy something from another country then they should be allowed to do so, and without our government hindering them in any way. That is a matter of personal freedom, but of course in practice we accept many restrictions on our personal freedom for good reasons and the freedom to buy stuff from abroad cannot always be complete. But I want there to be good reasons openly stated.
March 6, 2025
Parliament (Con/Lab/LD/Green) are about to implement the EUās Net Zero import tariff known as CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism), a tariff on the CO2 emitted during the production of CO2 intensive goods such as steel, concrete, ceramics, glass, aluminium all chemicals etc. Theyāre just waiting for these industries to close in the UK first.
Once our ice based car industry has closed CBAM will be imposed on evs, especially as these cars are very CO2 emitting in their manufacture. And of course on the wind turbines and solar panels imported from China which also have very high CO2 emissions in manufacture as well as in the case of solar panels, toxic tailing lakes.
BTW, fixed offshore wind uses 1000 times more concrete and steel per unit of generated power than a large nuclear fission plant (such as Hinkley Point C) and 2000 times more than a gas plant. And need replacement 3 times more quickly.
March 6, 2025
PS:
Donāt forget this is all done to save the planet.
March 6, 2025
OR May I have the references for the factors 1000 and 2000 you are quoting?
March 6, 2025
š«£
March 6, 2025
There must be better ways of applying tariffs than Trump’s version of twenty five per cent on Canada and Mexico and without even sitting down and talking first – it’s like everything else that’s coming out of that mad place at this time – the ‘elephant in the china shop’ approach with the proviso of row back if it’s not working (they think) a kind of suck it and see but am glad that Canada is not going to play their game. For our part it’s hard to know how we’ve arrived at such a crossroads or how we ever thought we could do trade business with such people. Next thing: there us no point in referencing brexit or Biden anymore they have long left the stage – Biden was never on the stage so he doesn’t exist and the EU is what it is but at least it conducts business in a respectful and measured way.
March 6, 2025
Itās funny watching those commentators horrified by the Trump Administration creating a ālevel playing fieldā with āreciprocalā tariffs, because Iām sure I have seen them before – demanding that the U.K. remain in the high tariff EU zone call the ācustoms unionā.
So they donāt actually understand or favour any system based on the financial results – they are purely and mindlessly pro-EU and anti-capitalism.
I believe that Trump is a capitalist to his marrow. He will beat China on the economic front. There will be no conventional war.
March 6, 2025
By bringing Taiwanese chip making to the USA he has also circumvented all problems with China over Taiwan.
Trump is a peacemaker – peacemakers ensure you never get to war!
March 7, 2025
Very naive.The war party will still want Taiwan as a weapons platform.
March 6, 2025
US Commerce Secretary Lutnick acknowledged recently that some tariffs would increase prices to US customers but “that is not inflation”. This is thinking Reeves should adopt when the Bank of England confesses it has not met target.
Otherwise, “the EU is a customs union with tariffs on 73 % of product lines that it imports” – the more one learns about the Evil Empire, the more evil it seems.
March 6, 2025
Tariffs are a useful tool to protect home industries ā¦however, successive governments have allowed and indeed encouraged cheaper imports, no matter the cost to our industrial base ā¦even today our politicians welcome the imports of steel, food, energy, immigrant workers, EVs, wind-turbines etc etc
March 6, 2025
The White House says “The USA has one of the most open economies in the world, and the lowest average tariff rates in the world”. Trade accounts for 67% of Canada’s GDP, 73% of Mexicos, 37% of Chinas and 24% of US GDP. $1 trillion deficit in goods.”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/
The UK was told by the EU we were going to get a punishment on trade when we chose to leave to deter other members. They take infringement proceedings against the UK, and we were told they have the power to punish the UK at will during the transition by closing off parts of the single market. https://capx.co/how-a-debacle-over-car-batteries-proves-the-eu-is-still-trying-to-punish-britain-for-brexit
It will be very ironic if the USA under Trump is kinder to the UK than the EU.
March 6, 2025
Not ironic at all. The USA has never suspended British laws. The EU has!
March 6, 2025
The House of Commons could today be talking about ‘tariffs’ and their effects upon everyone in the UK …oh no; they’re debating ‘international womens day’
March 6, 2025
Glen
Got to get your priorities right eh !
March 6, 2025
That should be interesting. Most of them are very confused about what a woman is. Perhaps someone sensible from Reform could spell it out for them.
March 6, 2025
Tariffs are a useful tool granted but they must be applied in a considered way for effect not scatter gun like now. A look at the markets over a few days will be the judge of how they’re working and so far despite Howard Lutnick upbeat protestations the results don’t look too good.
March 6, 2025
As a final thought for today, off topic, Zelensky keeps banging on about Ukraine needing security guarantees, but what about Russia? Putin claims that in 1990 NATO promised not to expand any further east, how much was that assurance worth in 2008 when NATO invited Ukraine and Georgia to apply for membership?
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2022/03/18/inflation-4/#comment-1307220
Perhaps Trump is right, maybe having US mining operations in Ukraine would be a good protection for Ukraine, and maybe the opposite could also be true if it became a joint operation between Ukraine, US and Russia?
March 6, 2025
I understand that the French are going to lead Europeās Defence and Offence and āpacify Russiaā.
Today the Russian court sentenced British mercenary James Scott Rees Anderson, who fought on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, to 19 years in prison.
Iām afraid Micron and Stammer are going to be āpacifiedā – probably with dummies because they are certainly just old babies. Stupid.
March 6, 2025
It was interesting to see John Healy explaining to Pete Hegseth how UK France and Europe are going to spend lots more on defence as per president Trump demand – however I also got the distinct impression that that was not exactly the response the Americans really wanted to hear.
March 7, 2025
The Americans wanted the European NATO members to o tribute more to NATO, not to support Ukraine and threaten to āpacifyā Russia.
Kaja Kallis has assured the EU that āwe can beat Russiaā.
So thatās all right then.
600 Ukrainian soldiers surrendering every day to the Russians. Thank God. Once they surrender they are safe. Even the British mercenary was not killed in Kursk, but tried in a proper court.
The Russians are living up to what were British values and standards. Ie the rule of Law.
March 6, 2025
People here defending Trump on tariffs talking absolute twaddle.
The reality of US stocks sliding and Trump getting scared and back-tracking – not completely – demonstrates this, the obvious.
Why do people do cartwheels to defend Trump?!
Seems they’re more seduced by his aura than any actual substance.
March 6, 2025
Sorry this is off-topic, but I have predicted that Rupert Lowe world be the next to be ousted by Farage who is very insecure and disposes of all talent – he always has done.
Reform will NEVER deliver if Farage continues in politics. He is a VERY weak vessel and nobody can work with him.
Those who love him most know him least.
March 7, 2025
210 criminals arrived in the UK yesterday; from the safe country of France ā¦.
March 7, 2025
As JR rightly says, China has developed massive trade surpluses – and one result, or ‘benefit’, as Xin Jinping doubtless regards it, is the rise in defence spending by …. 7.2% that he just announced.
But then China does not have to keep a large proportion of its citizens in workless luxury for a life term.