Will the US economy collapse bc of Trump’s tarrifs?

Kompf. I dont see Trump’s tarrifs as tarrifs in the strict sense of the word. I just see it as a very expedient way for the Trump administration to roll out a form of consumption tax without having to go thru the rigmoral of the Senate and Congress to generate revenue. If you say the US economy stands to collapse because of tarrifs, then Singapore would have collapsed ten times over by now, because unlike the US, she has GST, very very high priced COE’S along with sky high fuel prices. Tell me Kompf what is the difference between all that and tarrifs for the man who has voted to buy? Will there be inflationary price pressures? Will some factories shutter? Might there even be wave after wave of retrenchments? Definitely, but if you think about it, America still produces many things. Unlike Singapore that imports everything from paperclips to eggs, so the local stuff in the US are not tarrifed are they Kompf? Like I said, if tarrifs are really so bad Singapore would have keeled over and died many times over…..(interruption).

Q: What about US tarrifs on the geo political landscape? Do you see anything there?

A: Well there is definitely a rewriting of the geo political status quo, but I dont really expect anything to change radically. Take the case of Canada Kompf, since 1957, the US has set up a very elaborate early warning system called NORAD to interdict incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles and supersonic bombers in the northern territories of Canada. The reason why the US sees this as a strategic necessity and needs the Canadian dimension of NORAD is because the Northern artic is the shortest guide path to hit the US from Russia and China. Now do you see the Canadians saying to the US. Hey because you have tarrifed our aluminium and canola oil and petroleum and fifty other produce, we want you to pack your stuff and get lost from our Northern territories. The Canadians will never do that because they too are direct military beneficiaries of NORAD. The same holds true for the Japanese, do you see them demanding that the US pack up and leave Okinawa because Toyota cars manufactured in Mexico have been tarrifed. No! Again that’s because Japan is a beneficiary of all these US bases. And this is thematic. Not a single country that currently host US military assets have asked the US to pack up and go. Now dont you think that is a very perculiar observation Kompf. Where I think there is a difference Kompf is in the redefinition of the relationship between the US and their reliable allies. In past administrations the US were willing to pay or bribe and in some cases even stand as a security guarsntor for those countries who allied with them, but now the tables are turned. Before the callgirl can expect a bouquet of long stem roses along with a box of chocolates and a wad of hundred dollar bills and a Platinum American Express card after discharging her ten point service. Now the client is saying to the same call girl. You may now have the uncommon privilege to suck my golden ding dong and while we are at it, I am tired of just playing side A, can you please bend down because I am more interested in side B now! By the way here is the bill for your privilege of receiving a banging from me! I am sorry Kompf for framing it in such vulgar terms, but I think its necessary for the sake of clarity and brevity to speak plainly about the facts of life under Trump…so all this talk about minus one is all bravado. Truth is Kompf, this the new Pax Americana. It doesn’t stop there. Its even conceivably that since the US has kosherized the idea of tarrifs as a means of generating revenue, that means other countries and trading blocs will also begin to ask – why can the US only treat other countries like a cassette…why cant I play side B as well. I am so tired of only side A. So this idea of tarrifs is likely to be adopted by some countries as well. My point is tarrifing will be normalised.

I think countries who used to be reliable allies of the US should get up to speed with this new US order rather than bitch about it…because this is not going away Kompf. The US economy is not going to implode because of Trump’s tarrifs. I am not saying its a painless transition that it is not, but the US economy is in my opinion robust enough to take the short term shocks of all these tarrifs.