by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Cadet Donald John Trump looked good in his school uniform, damned good, so good in fact that now he dreams of standing on a massive reviewing stand with our nation's men and women marching by in their simple and subservient uniforms and saluting him smartly as they pass. Generalissimo Trump! The glory of commanding the military without all of the fuss and bother of actually having to serve.
Perhaps Ivanka could even design a uniform to highlight his magnificence.
The impatient Generalissimo, however, could not wait until his vanity parade this November to show the world his military ability, and decided to exercise his tactical brilliance on the world economic stage in the meantime. Trump, ever the stable genius, began his very own trade war!
Trump had fired a shot and won the war - except, of course, he hadn't.
Trump took a particular interest in China, and his administration drew up a list of $34 billion worth of Chinese goods to tax - while, of course, leaving the Chinese shoes that First Daughter Ivanka imported to sell in her fashion business off of the list. China retaliated with tariffs on pork, soybeans, and cars - products specifically selected to hurt geographic areas that had been big Trump supporters in the election of 2016.
The European Union, an assemblage of once-staunch U.S. allies, also retaliated over the tariffs on steel and aluminum with tariffs on peanut butter, bourbon, and Harley Davidson motorcycles - again products calculated to impact heavily on Trump supporters.
Canada was also quick to post a list of American imports that it would tax - a list including metals, food products, household goods, and appliances. Our other neighbor, Mexico, announced tariffs on American bourbon and many agricultural products - again targeting constituencies that had been strong Trump supporters.
Trump was quickly discovering that sometimes the victims of bullying would fight back, a most inconvenient truth.
American farmers and manufacturers were getting a one-two punch. The prices that they had to pay for goods were going up because of the tariffs imposed on imports by the Trump administration, and it was becoming harder to sell overseas due to the retaliatory tariffs imposed by other countries. Donald Trump had already lost his trade war - bigly - but he was too busy preening and practicing his salute to even notice.
Now Harley Davidson, an iconic American manufacturer, has announced that it will have to move some production overseas to avoid the new European Union tariffs - that means hundreds of American jobs and paychecks leaving the country. An enraged Trump responded by essentially declaring a war on Harley Davidson.
He won't win that war either.
It almost feels like Donald John Trump is working for someone other than the American people. Perhaps that will clarify after Helsinki.
Citizen Journalist
Cadet Donald John Trump looked good in his school uniform, damned good, so good in fact that now he dreams of standing on a massive reviewing stand with our nation's men and women marching by in their simple and subservient uniforms and saluting him smartly as they pass. Generalissimo Trump! The glory of commanding the military without all of the fuss and bother of actually having to serve.
Perhaps Ivanka could even design a uniform to highlight his magnificence.
The impatient Generalissimo, however, could not wait until his vanity parade this November to show the world his military ability, and decided to exercise his tactical brilliance on the world economic stage in the meantime. Trump, ever the stable genius, began his very own trade war!
"Trade wars are good and easy to win."Generalissimo Trump began his global economic offensive by proclaiming past injustices against America and vowing to right those wrongs. His first act of aggression was to institute tariffs (taxes) on imported steel and aluminum. Those tariffs would make it more expensive for Americans to buy their steel and aluminum from overseas (as Trump himself had done in his past life as a simple civilian), and would necessarily make it more likely that American builders and manufacturers would buy American. Easy peasy.
Donald John Trump
Trump had fired a shot and won the war - except, of course, he hadn't.
Trump took a particular interest in China, and his administration drew up a list of $34 billion worth of Chinese goods to tax - while, of course, leaving the Chinese shoes that First Daughter Ivanka imported to sell in her fashion business off of the list. China retaliated with tariffs on pork, soybeans, and cars - products specifically selected to hurt geographic areas that had been big Trump supporters in the election of 2016.
The European Union, an assemblage of once-staunch U.S. allies, also retaliated over the tariffs on steel and aluminum with tariffs on peanut butter, bourbon, and Harley Davidson motorcycles - again products calculated to impact heavily on Trump supporters.
Canada was also quick to post a list of American imports that it would tax - a list including metals, food products, household goods, and appliances. Our other neighbor, Mexico, announced tariffs on American bourbon and many agricultural products - again targeting constituencies that had been strong Trump supporters.
Trump was quickly discovering that sometimes the victims of bullying would fight back, a most inconvenient truth.
American farmers and manufacturers were getting a one-two punch. The prices that they had to pay for goods were going up because of the tariffs imposed on imports by the Trump administration, and it was becoming harder to sell overseas due to the retaliatory tariffs imposed by other countries. Donald Trump had already lost his trade war - bigly - but he was too busy preening and practicing his salute to even notice.
Now Harley Davidson, an iconic American manufacturer, has announced that it will have to move some production overseas to avoid the new European Union tariffs - that means hundreds of American jobs and paychecks leaving the country. An enraged Trump responded by essentially declaring a war on Harley Davidson.
He won't win that war either.
It almost feels like Donald John Trump is working for someone other than the American people. Perhaps that will clarify after Helsinki.
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