Skip to content

Tariffs

Trump’s Tariffs Could Cause Huge Global Crisis

February 5, 2025 Michael Hudson and Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , , , ,
The US designed the global financial system in a way in which the US dollar is at the center, and other countries need to get access to dollars to pay off their dollar-denominated debt, and to pay for imports. Yet, in order for this system to work, the US has to run a deficit with the rest of the world, a current account deficit, so other countries can get those dollars. But Trump wants to disrupt this. He says he wants to tariff other countries to reduce the US trade deficit, which means that other countries won’t be able to get the dollars they need to pay off their debt and to pay for imports.

50,000 Jobs, Social Programs, And Medical Centers

February 4, 2025 Tallis Boerne Marcus, People's Dispatch. , , , , , , , ,
As the Trump administration intensifies its threats of mass deportations, Latin American nations are bracing for the impact. Mexico’s response, led by President Claudia Sheinbaum, has largely flown under the radar, despite its measured and humanitarian-focused approach. While the Mexican government has made it clear that there’s no need to panic just yet, Sheinbaum’s administration is well-prepared to face the challenges ahead. In the week from January 20-26, there were 4,094 people deported to Mexico, the vast majority Mexican. However, Sheinbaum made it clear this number alone isn’t out-of-the-ordinary. “[These deportations happened] With the arrival of President Trump, but if we take it week by week, this is a number that we’ve had on other occasions in our country.”

Mexico And Canada Hit Back, China Pulls Punches On Trump’s Tariffs

February 3, 2025 Erin Hale and John Power, Al Jazeera. , , , , , ,
Within hours of United States President Donald Trump announcing tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico over the weekend, his Canadian and Mexican counterparts hit back with their own levies on US goods. The response from China, Washington’s biggest strategic rival, was notably more restrained. China’s Ministry of Commerce did not announce specific tariffs in its response on Sunday, stating only that it would take “corresponding countermeasures to firmly safeguard its rights and interests”. The ministry also said it would challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organization, a largely symbolic measure since its appellate body has been non-functioning since late 2019 due to Washington’s refusal to support the appointment of new judges.

Canada Tariffs: Trudeau Hits Back Against Trump With 25% Levy

February 2, 2025 Michael Race, BBC. , , ,
Canada has announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, in a move that marks the beginning of a trade war between the neighbouring countries. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau set out "far-reaching" tariffs of 25%, affecting 155bn Canadian dollars' worth ($106.6bn; £86bn) of American goods ranging from beer and wine, to household appliances and sporting goods. The move matches US President Donald Trump 25% levy on Canadian and Mexican imports to the US - and an additional 10% on China - over his concerns about illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Whether Biden Or Trump, US’ Latin American Policy Will Be Contemptible

January 30, 2025 John Perry and Roger D. Harris, Popular Resistance. , , , , , ,
With Donald Trump as the new US president, pundits are speculating about how US policy towards Latin America might change. In this article, we look at some of the speculation, then address three specific instances of how the US’s policy priorities may be viewed from a progressive, Latin American perspective. This leads us to a wider argument: that the way these issues are dealt with is symptomatic of Washington’s paramount objective of sustaining the US’s hegemonic position. In this overriding preoccupation, its policy towards Latin America is only one element, of course, but always of significance because the US hegemon still treats the region as its “backyard.”

Trump Attacks Colombia; President Gustavo Petro Fights Back

January 27, 2025 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , ,
Donald Trump has kicked off his second administration with a very aggressive foreign policy. Trump is threatening trade restrictions and sanctions on countries around the world, including 100% tariffs on BRICS countries, which now represent 55% of the world population. The US president wants to colonize Greenland. He also vowed to take over the Panama Canal. Invoking “Manifest Destiny”, Trump is even attacking Canada and Mexico, the two largest trading partners of the United States. When Trump selected neoconservative hawk Marco Rubio as his secretary of state, it was a sign that he would be focusing his attention on Latin America

Trump’s Tariff Threats Could Destabilize The Global Economy

January 26, 2025 Michael Hudson, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , , ,
Trump told the Davos Economic Forum January 23: “My message to every business in the world is very simple: Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth.” Otherwise, if they continue to try and produce at home or in other countries, their products will be charged tariff rates at Trump’s threatened 20%. To Germany this means (my paraphrase): “Sorry your energy prices have quadrupled. Come to America and get them at almost as low a price as you were paying Russia before your elected leaders let us cut Nord Stream off.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Resigns

January 7, 2025 People's Dispatch. , , , ,
On January 6, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation. “I care deeply about this country and I will always be motivated by what is in the best interests of Canadians. And the fact is, despite best efforts to work through it, parliament has been paralyzed for months after what has been the longest session of a minority parliament in Canadian history,” Trudeau said as he resigned after nine years as prime minister and 11 years as the leader of the Liberal Party. Trudeau was facing a mounting cost of living crisis, dire opinion polls, and a tariff threat by the United States.

Goals Behind Trump’s Tariffs

January 4, 2025 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , ,
Donald Trump cited billionaire egghead venture capitalist Marc Andreessen to advocate for high tariffs. Trump argued that tariffs will magically replace the income tax and pay off US public debt (which is more than 120% of GDP). This is utterly false, and mathematically absurd. For Trump, tariffs are just another convenient excuse to cut taxes on the rich — which will in fact increase the US deficit, and therefore public debt. Thanks to Trump’s tax cuts during his first term, the richest billionaire families in the US paid a lower effective tax rate than the bottom half of households in the country.

China And Mexico Stand Firm In The Face Of Trump’s Tariff Threats

November 29, 2024 Pablo Meriguet, People's Dispatch. , , , , , , , , , ,
Several days ago, the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, announced his intention to impose a 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian products until the arrival of migrants and drugs, especially fentanyl, allegedly from Mexico and Canada is reduced. In a post on his social network Truth Social, the incoming far-right president reaffirmed his xenophobic positions on immigration and blamed Mexico, China, and Canada for the appearance of fentanyl in the country. “As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before.

Mexico’s Leftist President Rips Trump Tariff Threat

November 27, 2024 Jake Johnson, Common Dreams. , , , ,
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday sharply criticized U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's threat to impose a 25% tariff on all imported goods from Canada and Mexico, calling the proposal a potentially disastrous distraction from meaningful solutions to drug trafficking and mass migration. "Migration and drug consumption in the United States cannot be addressed through threats or tariffs," Sheinbaum, a member of Mexico's leftist Morena party, wrote in a letter to Trump. "What is needed is cooperation and mutual understanding to tackle these significant challenges."

How Trump’s Return Will Impact The World

November 11, 2024 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , ,
As he prepares to return to the White House, US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed neoconservative Iran hawk Brian Hook to lead his State Department transition team. This has excited pro-Israel groups. At a September event at the Israeli-American Council, Trump proudly declared, “I was the best friend Israel ever had”. All of the likely candidates for Trump’s secretary of state and national security advisor are China hawks. These include neocons Marco Rubio, Robert O’Brien, and Mike Waltz. Three other possible choices, Ric Grenell, Bill Hagerty, and Vivek Ramaswamy are so-called “MAGA” Republicans who have distanced themselves from neoconservatism, but still share the neocons’ vehement hatred of China and would escalate tensions with Beijing.

Trump Threatens To Punish De-Dollarization

September 14, 2024 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , , , , ,
Countries across the planet are seeking alternatives to the US-dominated financial system. However, former President Donald Trump has pledged that, if he returns to the White House, he will punish nations that de-dollarize. “We will keep the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency”, Trump promised at a campaign rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin on September 7, 2024. “It is currently under major siege. Many countries are leaving the dollar”, the Republican presidential candidate lamented. “They’re not going to leave the dollar with me”, Trump insisted. “I’ll say, ‘You leave the dollar, you’re not doing business with the United States, because we’re going to put 100% tariff on your goods'”.

China To Give LDCs, Including 33 African Countries, Zero-Tariff Treatment

September 6, 2024 Friends of Socialist China. , , , ,
China has decided to give all least developed countries having diplomatic relations with China, including 33 countries in Africa, zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on Thursday in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, the Xinhua News Agency reported. This has made China the first major developing country and the first major economy to take such a step. It will help turn China’s big market into Africa’s big opportunity, Xi said, Xinhua reported. China will expand market access for African agricultural products, deepen cooperation with Africa in e-commerce and other areas, and launch a “China-Africa quality enhancement program,” Xi said.

The Price Of Biden’s New China Tariffs

May 24, 2024 Patrick Lawrence, Scheer Post. , , , , ,
I love the photograph The New York Times ran atop Jim Tankersley’s May 18 story analyzing the inadvisable raft of tariffs on Chinese imports President Biden authorized four days earlier. There is the old coot signing the paperwork at a desk in the Rose Garden as a crowd of seven looks on admiringly. Polo shirts, sneakers, a baseball cap. Six of these seven are people of color; four are women. Perfect, just perfect. Study the picture. These dutiful onlookers are not officeholders or administration officials. They are union leaders from what were once powerful labor organizations: steelworkers, autoworkers, machinists, communications workers, the AFL–CIO.
«123»