Canada, Greenland, Mexico, etc - USA Tariffs / Trade War commencing March 2025 #4

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  • #501
I'm specifically referring to gem-quality diamonds.
I was just adding to what you had posted, not disagreeing at all.

Most people don't necessarily know just how vital diamonds are to heavy industry, construction, and manufacturing. There will be plenty of industries worried about tariffs on diamonds because of this.

MOO
 
  • #502
The jewellers will just start designing different pretty rings. A small emerald with little diamonds in a starburst around it, a silver square with 4 little diamonds embedded in it. They will cut the diamonds smaller and spread them throughout their designs.

imo
It may not be as simple as that. Traditionally, as a general practice, US brides have prioritised size over quality where diamonds are concerned (the biggest possible rock for the money), whereas UK ones have generally prized quality over size. What you propose would require two cultural shifts, ie away from a large solitaire to several smaller stones and/or a shift from diamonds-only to another stone with supporting diamonds.

The US produces small quantities of gem-quality emeralds and rubies, but by the sounds of it nothing like what would be required by a large jewellery industry.

According to List Of Gemstones Found In The USA

"USA is the world’s largest consumer of gemstones

More gemstones are actually sold in the USA than in any other country in the world. Over 99% of these gemstones are imported as there is very little domestic production. Most of the gemstones are mined in developing countries."


In practice, coloured gemstones come from places like Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Colombia, Burma/Myanmar and Thailand, all of which are being hit by much higher tariffs so the switch you suggest may not help as much as you expect.

As you probably know, for the best part of a century De Beers have rigged the diamond market to control the supply and therefore price of diamonds. What is less well known is that they also exercise control over the resale of diamonds by customers back into the industry. This works by a retail jeweller selling a diamond ring for £5,000 but offering only £1,000 when the customer wants to sell it back, such as when a woman wants to sell her engagement ring after divorce. As a result, diamond jewellery is rarely worth selling except to a specialist in vintage or second hand jewellery. By suppressing the market for second hand diamonds, customers are therefore pushed into forever buying new diamonds.
 
  • #503
I was just adding to what you had posted, not disagreeing at all.

Most people don't necessarily know just how vital diamonds are to heavy industry, construction, and manufacturing. There will be plenty of industries worried about tariffs on diamonds because of this.

MOO
Agreed.
 
  • #504
Trump. who 's claim to fame is 'he was the dumbest student I ever had... is up against some disciplined thinkers.. Claudia Sheinbaum , Mexico's El Presidente, is an environmental engineer, She was one of the scientists and policymakers who shared the 2007 Nobel Prize for Peace for their work on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

and Mark Carney. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University in 1988, then studied at the University of Oxford, where he earned a master's degree in 1993 and a doctorate in 1995.

And one must include Keir Starmer , a Knight of the realm, SIr Kier Starmer. British PM, Starmer graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Leeds in 1985 and gained a postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law degree at St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford in 1986. He became a barrister in 1987 at the Middle Temple, becoming a bencher there in 2009.

And darling Emanuel Macron. of France .. Macron studied philosophy at Paris Nanterre University. He completed a master's degree in public affairs at Sciences Po and graduated from the École nationale d'administration in 2004. He worked as a senior civil servant at the Inspectorate General of Finances and investment banker at Rothschild & Co.

and so on...........Pedro Sanchez... of Spain...In 2012, Pedro Sánchez received his Doctorate in Economics from Camilo José Cela University, where he lectured in economics.

and Lawrence Wong, Singapore.... Wong pursued higher education in the United States, first at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics (1994), and then at the University of Michigan, where he earned a master’s degree in applied economics (1995). A decade later he completed a master’s in public administration at Harvard University (2004) ( Lawrence is a particular favorite of mine.. he is a superb administrator. ) .
That puts an interesting perspective on Trump and other world leaders. The room is filled with thoughtful, critical thinkers who understand the consequences of actions - who can envision how moving one piece on a chess board will look six moves later. Then there's Trump who, confused by the knight and the rook, flips the board and goes golfing.

He believes that crowd-sourced chatbots are more clever than one human. He asked artificial intelligence for global tariff numbers and, without any human review, proudly and boldly broadcast those numbers to the world ... revealing simple arithmetic using trade deficits (a.k.a. "subsidy", per Trump) to generate "reciprocal" tariffs on penguins.

He's so far out of his league. He's trying to fake some sort genius intuitive financial plan, but he repeatedly starts with the end result and hopes the necessary steps to get there will be sorted out by someone else. He's like the architect who designs the high-rise building starting with the top floor. The necessary steps to transform the USA into a global manufacturing hub, possibly staffed by 14 year olds and foreign workers, require decades of careful planning. Everyone but Trump knows that.
 
  • #505
Just got back from the local protest. There was a lady dressed up as a penguin that gave me a chuckle. Lots of good signs. We sang Holly Near's Singing for our Lives with some gender updates. Joan Baez has a song sung by the same guy.

The teacher's are pissed and when teachers are pissed in this state they get noticed. Hopeful.

And which state do you reside?
I do think where folks come from is valuable on this thread. I do want to follow where th3ere is protest activity......... and wonder when or if we are going to see "trump's army" start to appear.

We know where some of our great voices on this thread are: Australia, Canada, UK..... so do think it will be good to dissect where US voices come from. We are so diverse: farmland, auto manufacturing, heavy Federal support environments,
I am in NY, but spent much much time in VT and other New England states, so voices around me are much more left leaning. I recently left Florida where voices are soooooooooo different.
 
  • #506
I would think it is a whisper in Japan at the moment. And they are weighing up the cost/profit ratios carefully.

Will it cost them less to manufacture their US market sales in the US, or will it cost them less to export the vehicles.
They will likely still have to import many materials if they manufacture their US market vehicles in the US.

And if the US people have less money to spend, will they be buying new cars anyway?

Lots to consider. And also a bit of a gamble.

imo

Loads to consider is so right. If this were a really long game plan it could boost manufacturing and jobs in the US.

But the chaos in every single sector in the US, State and local districts........ "can't get there from herre"
 
  • #507
I am immensely impressed by these citizen protests going on in the USA.. massive turnouts, terrifically controlled voluntarily , men, women, kids, teenagers, bubs in pushers, I saw quite a few astute and politically aware little dogs.. It revived my faith in your ordinary American folks, with their dander up and taking it right up to Trump collectively..

I am slightly hopeful as well. And I am interested in the various age brackets that are showing up.
I am really really happy to see the almost middle-aged Millennials finally getting out there. They have been asleep for way too long;
 
  • #508
Loads to consider is so right. If this were a really long game plan it could boost manufacturing and jobs in the US.

But the chaos in every single sector in the US, State and local districts........ "can't get there from herre"
I talked to someone who I consider extremely smart yesterday. He said he believes most US companies will eat the tariffs for 3.5 years knowing this is temporary and Trump will be out of office next election.

He thinks it will be cheaper to pay the tariffs, rather than build factories and pay US wages long term. I tend to agree with him. Maybe a few companies will switch some parts of their manufacturing process to the US, but most will wait it out.

What do you all think?
 
  • #509
From little things, big things grow.. this is how all citizen protests begin ... with a sense of outrage, that galvanises people of all persuasions, genders, colours, religion, political bias, ... all these things fade into insignificance, when the outrage comes along.. ..one could argue, it's never too late, .. it is always exactly at the right time, when a citizenry gets to a collective' up yours'... it sometimes takes a sudden and inexplicable poke in the eye to drive people out of their homes and take to the streets..

Perhaps it needed this sweeping outrage to motivate.. I agree it would have been less painful if it happened back in November last year, but this is the thing about citizen protest... it does things in it's own time and this time, I think there were quite a few voters who realise they were conned, as well as the ones who KNEW a con was taking place.. I think that momentum is merely beginning, ...
Oh God, I hope you are right.
Looking back to the inner chaos of the previous administration, everyone got so freaking numband frozen...and the thaw is just beginning to take place.
I so hope it is not too late.
It also takes time for the damage to show up clearly and distinctly to citizens, constituents, voters....

The TARIFF DAMAGE has not been fully realized!!!!
tRump knows this... and was certainly his reason to all of drastic exec orders ...
tRump is always concerned about "crowd size" regardless of what he says....
When HIS folks start to turn, that will be when these protests are working.
 
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  • #510
He ran in 2024 to stay out of jail. IMO.

And yet, this man has gotten away with EVERYTHING his whole life. I think he thought jail would never happen. So many of these court cases just withered.
I think he had four years TO DO NOTHING but brainwash and continue his Fascist ideology behind the scenes of his totally visible media facade, to build his masses.
And dove tailing with most evangelical institutions. Brilliant.
And couple in his ability to grasp so many Latinos (primarily men)

This is just the simple Wikipedia explanation. There are zillions of fabulous and reputable books since WW1.

Common themes among fascist movements include: authoritarianism, nationalism (including racial nationalism and religious nationalism), hierarchy, elitism, and militarism. Other aspects of fascism – such as a perception of decadence, anti-egalitarianism and totalitarianism – can be seen to originate from these ideas.
 
  • #511
I think right now he is blaming China for pushing all that fentanyl into Mexico, or Canada.

No tariff on Mexico because, of course, it's Chinese fentanyl, not Mexican. 🤯

And soooooooooo many auto parts coming from Mexico.
 
  • #512
'overwhelmingly' is doing some heavy lifting , there..... Ms Leavitt appears to be oblivious to the long established fact that voters change their minds... it happens all the time which is why power changes from one political party to another on a regular basis, silly child .. .... they can, in fact,, turn on a dime.. Democrat to Republican to Democrat... back to Republican, from the same voter base.. .. what a silly poppet she is...
And we know Press Secretaries do burn out quickly.

But then again, some become governors!!
 
  • #513
I talked to someone who I consider extremely smart yesterday. He said he believes most US companies will eat the tariffs for 3.5 years knowing this is temporary and Trump will be out of office next election.

He thinks it will be cheaper to pay the tariffs, rather than build factories and pay US wages long term. I tend to agree with him. Maybe a few companies will switch some parts of their manufacturing process to the US, but most will wait it out.

What do you all think?
I agree with this. I think some companies will absorb part of the tariffs and pass on a portion to the consumer.

There will always be things that are cheaper to import no matter how high the tariffs go because of labor costs, OSHA and EPA regulations among other things.

I also think sourcing is going to be huge. For example what you sourced in China you may now source in Mexico. It might not be as bad for Mexico or Canada in my opinion.

ETA - We will likely see some exemptions in the farming industry and possibly a few others.

IMO
 
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  • #514
I talked to someone who I consider extremely smart yesterday. He said he believes most US companies will eat the tariffs for 3.5 years knowing this is temporary and Trump will be out of office next election.

He thinks it will be cheaper to pay the tariffs, rather than build factories and pay US wages long term. I tend to agree with him. Maybe a few companies will switch some parts of their manufacturing process to the US, but most will wait it out.

What do you all think?
Could well be. Factories usually require investors who commit the funds in the belief that profits will roll in for ever. Whereas, if the tariffs are lifted, a US-based factory would lose out again to one based in Asia.

So I guess it might only work in industries where there isn't much competition...
 
  • #515
Amazon has refused to remove this offensive content, leading to some boycotting Amazon. I decided to boycott Amazon a few months ago because the company shut down Quebec outlets after employees unionized.

1743953868514.webp

 
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  • #516
I agree with this. I think some companies will absorb part of the tariffs and pass on a portion to the consumer.

There will always be things that are cheaper to import no matter how high the tariffs go because of labor costs, OSHA and EPA regulations among other things.

I also think sourcing is going to be huge. For example what you sourced in China you may now source in Mexico. It might not be as bad for Mexico or Canada in my opinion.

ETA - We will likely see some exemptions in the farming industry and possibly a few others.

IMO
There are no exemptions for the farm industry. If exemptions are added later, it will make no difference because the damage is done. Trump lurching through tariff decisions has caused permanent damage. The USA government will be forced to subsidize the USA agriculture industry, exactly as it did during Trump's last presidency and tariff recklessness.

"American farmers say U.S.-imposed tariffs on Canadian goods are having a "devastating effect" on the local agriculture sector south of the border.
...

Sombke said 90 per cent of the state's potash — which is used as a fertilizer and is currently being tariffed at 10 per cent — comes from Canada, while much of its farming equipment carries a "made in Canada" stamp.
...

The 25 per cent steel tariffs could make purchases of necessary farm equipment much more expensive, he told host Marcy Markusa in a Friday interview with CBC's Information Radio.

For example, he says Canada makes good-quality no-till drills — specialized equipment that plants seeds without disturbing the soil — but their $1-million price tag would cost a U.S. farmer $250,000 more with the tariff.
...

"The degree of uncertainty that has been created by the last few months of policy change in the United States, I think has done permanent damage," he said. ... "People, investors, farmers, producers now have less certainty. They are less willing to undertake the kind of investment that generates economic growth," he said."

 
  • #517
  • #518
This video from Meidas Network has some good comprehensive shots of the protests. It gives a good idea of just how massive they were.

 
  • #519
I cancelled Amazon when I saw Bezos at the Inauguration and hanging out in the Oval Office.

Source: various videos previously posted.
Amazon violates Canada law and tries to force USA policy on Canadians. I have found that it's just as easy to order directly from outlets, although it takes a few more minutes to source the right product at the best price. Delivery costs are the same.
 
  • #520
Yes, we export so relatively little to the US. Not worth getting involved in the US posturing.

Albo actually studied economics at the University of Sydney, prior to joining politics ...... "he graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Economics. Anthony knows the impact that a good education can have on your life." Link

Seems as though Albo has put a 5 point plan into place.
  • Provide $50 million to sectors hit by tariffs
  • Establish $1 billion economic resilience program
  • Establish a critical minerals reserve
  • Prioritise Australian-made products
  • Strengthen anti-dumping laws

What a good read... sounds like a really good plan.

And a side note on BEEF. ALL American stores are carrying Australian Beef and Lamb. We have been having unheard of deals on good lamb products. Excellent and cheaper products overall........
Especially from Thompson Farms International.
I had been thinking about all that beef earlier when the tariffs were going worldwide... and suspecting we will see much higher prices, shortages. Especially lamb. I think that will disappear for a while. Think I will try to stock up. But will need an additional freezer!!

AI Overview



The beef products sold under the "Thomas Farms" brand, owned by Thomas Foods International (TFI), are sourced from Australia and known for their grass-fed, pasture-raised quality, with a focus on ethical and sustainable farming practices.


 
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