by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
How many products do you have in your home right now that were made in China? If you are like most Americans, that number is very high. We should have never allowed ourselves to become so dependent on cheap Chinese goods, but we did. Walmart, Target and our dollar stores are absolutely teeming with products that were manufactured in China, and now those products are about to get much more expensive. The 34 percent “retaliatory tariff” that the Trump administration recently imposed on the Chinese was on top of a 20 percent tariff that the Trump administration had already imposed on them. The White House has confirmed this. Unfortunately, the 54 percent tariff that we were potentially facing will now rise to 104 percent thanks to an additional 50 percent tariff that will go into effect on April 9th. Earlier today, President Trump posted the following on his Truth Social account…
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
Yesterday, China issued Retaliatory Tariffs of 34%, on top of their already record setting Tariffs, Non-Monetary Tariffs, Illegal Subsidization of companies, and massive long term Currency Manipulation, despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional Tariffs, above and beyond their already existing long term Tariff abuse of our Nation, will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs, over and above those initially set. Therefore, if China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th. Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated! Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
The math is very clear: 20 percent plus 34 percent plus 50 percent equals 104 percent.
No matter how the pundits try to spin this, the truth is that we will be paying this tariff if we continue to purchase Chinese products.
It is easy to say that we should just switch to products made in the U.S., but in thousands of cases there simply are not any similar products manufactured here.
And in thousands of other cases, products that are ultimately assembled in the U.S. depend on components that come from China.
Once again, we should have never allowed ourselves to get into this situation.
Trying to reverse course now is going to be a major league headache. I asked Google AI to tell me some of the products that we get from China, and it produced quite an extensive list…
Consumer Electronics: China is a major source for smartphones, computers, video game consoles, and other electronic devices.
Toys and Games: A significant portion of the toys, games, and sporting goods imported into the U.S. come from China.
Furniture and Bedding: China is a major source for furniture, bedding, and other home goods.
Textiles and Clothing: China is a major source for textile products and clothing.
Machinery and Electrical Equipment: China is a major source for machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers, and electrical equipment
Other Products: China also supplies the U.S. with items like lithium-ion batteries, plastics, and miscellaneous manufactured goods.
Food: While a small percentage of the U.S. food supply comes from China, it is a major supplier for specific items like apple juice, garlic, canned mandarin oranges, fish, and shrimp.
At this point, a list of things that we don’t get from China might be shorter.
I am particularly concerned about what these tariffs will do to the pharmaceutical industry, because Google AI says that the vast majority of the active ingredients in our pharmaceutical drugs are imported from China…
While it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact percentage, a significant portion of raw materials for pharmaceutical drugs in the U.S. come from China, with estimates suggesting that around 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are sourced from China and other countries like India.
We are in so much trouble.
Bill Ackman is warning that unless these tariffs are rolled back we are headed into a “self-induced economic nuclear winter”…
Billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman, a staunch President Trump ally, has warned that the world is on the brink of “self-induced economic nuclear winter” as he begged the commander-in-chief to pause his sweeping tariffs.
“The President has an opportunity on Monday to call a time out and have the time to execute on fixing an unfair tariff system. Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down,” Ackman wrote in a lengthy X post Sunday night.
“May cooler heads prevail.”
Bill Ackman wouldn’t have become a billionaire if he wasn’t extremely sharp, and I agree with his assessment.
The outlook for the months ahead is extremely dismal.
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