How Long Until Trump "Pauses" his Idiotic Retaliatory Tariffs?

[daz28]

Just now, Pokebball said:

the truth is probably somewhere in the middle

One is the truth; the other is what they're selling as the truth to save face.  The dumping of the bonds was to show there was little support for the US position.  That's what happens when a dummy takes on all his enemies at the same time.  He must have never read any Sun Tzu.  

2 minutes ago, Westside said:

You know this how? Making ***** up again seems to be a leftist agenda. Pretty pitiful.

It's literally what the pathological blonde bimbo liar and Bessent said happened.  I didn't make anything up.  They did. 

[4th&long]

1 hour ago, Westside said:

Frank has never been right in his life. Neither has any of the leftists in PPP.

Your track record sucks big time!

 

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

5 hours ago, B-Man said:

 

The tariffs threat is still there.

They continue to line to make deals.

 

But you knew that.

 

 

The Tariffs worked as planned.

 

. 

Spot on B. 

[All_Pro_Bills]

1 hour ago, daz28 said:

One is the truth; the other is what they're selling as the truth to save face.  The dumping of the bonds was to show there was little support for the US position.  That's what happens when a dummy takes on all his enemies at the same time.  He must have never read any Sun Tzu.  

I understood it to be forced liquidation of highly leveraged Treasury bond positions of some large hedge funds rather than China selling.

 

And if it proves to be the case, what did they buy with the proceeds? Selling treasuries for dollars and selling the dollars for what? Or just holding the dollars? Maybe Gold from today's early morning action.

 

Or maybe rumors of China experiencing a dollar liquidity problem are correct? And the selling has more to do with stress in China's markets than responding to Trump?

 

Lots to think about and understand.

[Doc Brown]

7 hours ago, Roundybout said:

Nope. He saw the market tanking and blinked. 
 

He also keeps kicking our credibility in the nuts but that’s a separate issue.

I'm just happy he was given an off ramp to stop the bleeding by focusing on China.  Stuff will still cost more but taking them on is worth it imo.

[daz28]

17 minutes ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

I understood it to be forced liquidation of highly leveraged Treasury bond positions of some large hedge funds rather than China selling.

 

And if it proves to be the case, what did they buy with the proceeds? Selling treasuries for dollars and selling the dollars for what? Or just holding the dollars? Maybe Gold from today's early morning action.

 

Or maybe rumors of China experiencing a dollar liquidity problem are correct? And the selling has more to do with stress in China's markets than responding to Trump?

 

Lots to think about and understand.

Yes it is. I read a lot of the bond selling was in Japan.  

3 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

I'm just happy he was given an off ramp to stop the bleeding by focusing on China.  Stuff will still cost more but taking them on is worth it imo.

The only problem is taking the manufacturing from China is a pipe dream.  

[Joe Ferguson forever]

He  lost. The good ole boys (D edition) were talking tonight.  Bond market caused the fold by trump.  t bill's yield went up due to Japan and Euro dollars leaving T bills.  They can do it again.  China didn't even participate.  We don't hold the best hand.  This sucks...nobody had a good answer as to what to invest in.  It's unknowable with this asshat in control.

Edited Thursday at 02:30 AM by Joe Ferguson forever

[Big Blitz]

2 minutes ago, Joe Ferguson forever said:

He's lost. The good ole boys (D edition) were talking tonight.  Bond market caused the fold by trump.  t bill's yield went up due to Japan and Euro dollars leaving T bills.  They can do it again.  China didn't even participate.  We don't hold the best hand.  This sucks...nobody had a good answer as to what to invest in.  It's unknowable with this asshat in control.

 

That’s a lie.  Its China. 
 

 

TOKYO, April 9 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato on Wednesday ruled out using the country's U.S. Treasury holdings as a bargaining tool against President Donald Trump's decision to slap tariffs against imports from Japan.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/japan-rules-out-using-us-treasury-holdings-counter-trump-tariffs-2025-04-09/

 

 

 

Continue watching CNN

 

[Joe Ferguson forever]

14 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

That’s a lie.  Its China. 
 

 

TOKYO, April 9 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato on Wednesday ruled out using the country's U.S. Treasury holdings as a bargaining tool against President Donald Trump's decision to slap tariffs against imports from Japan.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/japan-rules-out-using-us-treasury-holdings-counter-trump-tariffs-2025-04-09/

 

 

 

Continue watching CNN

 

nah, I'll listen to the banker in my bookclub.  And what about China?  Ya think if pushed hard enough, the Japanese or any country buying US debt won't retaliate?  They'll use every weapon available as will trump.  He and you both need to read the "Art of War".  Much better than the other bs art book.

 

Edited Thursday at 02:48 AM by Joe Ferguson forever

[The Frankish Reich]

5 hours ago, 4th&long said:

 

Now that's my vision of a Great America!

[The Frankish Reich]

My scorecard: 

- Prediction CORRECT

- Timing off by about 48 hours

 

I'll take the win.

You're welcome.

Now go back to listening to your damn fool tweeters.

[US Egg]

11 hours ago, Pokebball said:

Trumps goal is obvious, to me anyways. His goal is to take down China, not everyone else.

Uh-oh? I just started feeling like I’m getting a bad cold. 😷

[Doc Brown]

12 hours ago, Pokebball said:

Trumps goal is obvious, to me anyways. His goal is to take down China, not everyone else.

Why the 25% tariffs then on Canada?

[SectionC3]

7 hours ago, Joe Ferguson forever said:

He  lost. The good ole boys (D edition) were talking tonight.  Bond market caused the fold by trump.  t bill's yield went up due to Japan and Euro dollars leaving T bills.  They can do it again.  China didn't even participate.  We don't hold the best hand.  This sucks...nobody had a good answer as to what to invest in.  It's unknowable with this asshat in control.

I think China leaving the T-bills is one of their nukes in the whole thing.  What MAGA would learn, if it wasn't wrapped up in video games and porn, is that the world economy is a lot more interconnected than it would like to admit. 

 

Also, with respect to someone else's comment about tariffs working as planned, I'm still confused as to what the point of all of this is. (I suspect Trump is, too.)  I thought tariffs were supposed to re-shore American jobs. Or maybe they were to stem the flow of fentanyl.  Or maybe it's to rebalance trade.  It seems like none of those things is accomplished through this pause.  Which makes me think that there was no point to the tariffs in the first instance.  

 

Here's the prediction.  In the end, Trump will extract some trade concessions from some of the countries (maybe even the place inhabited by the penguins).  But they won't do a thing to re-shore American jobs, or stop fentanyl, or even rebalance trade because I understand his worries to be with respect to the flow of American goods, not American services.  And, what will happen, to the extent we still have some degree of reciprocal tariffs, is that middle America still will face a Trump tax increase. 

[All_Pro_Bills]

8 hours ago, Joe Ferguson forever said:

nah, I'll listen to the banker in my bookclub.  And what about China?  Ya think if pushed hard enough, the Japanese or any country buying US debt won't retaliate?  They'll use every weapon available as will trump.  He and you both need to read the "Art of War".  Much better than the other bs art book.

 

Ask your banker buddy if he expects the Fed to step into the market and initiate QE operations if they believe the Treasury market, and more importantly the consortium of Treasury dealer banks, are put at genuine risk. Of course they will which is why I don't worry to much about this other than the potential for dollar devaluation and possible inflation as a consequence of creating all that liquidity. But outright default or market failure? Not likely. 

 

What China is, and has been doing, is buying large tonnage of gold. Around 500+ tonnes per some sources. Recently, allowing insurance companies to allocate reserves to physical. In all that I think they're sending a message that the majority of market participants are ignoring or missing. 

Edited Thursday at 10:48 AM by All_Pro_Bills

[SectionC3]

52 minutes ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

Ask your banker buddy if he expects the Fed to step into the market and initiate QE operations if they believe the Treasury market, and more importantly the consortium of Treasury dealer banks, are put at genuine risk. Of course they will which is why I don't worry to much about this other than the potential for dollar devaluation and possible inflation as a consequence of creating all that liquidity. But outright default or market failure? Not likely. 

 

What China is, and has been doing, is buying large tonnage of gold. Around 500+ tonnes per some sources. Recently, allowing insurance companies to allocate reserves to physical. In all that I think they're sending a message that the majority of market participants are ignoring or missing. 

So now you want more inflation?  To what end?  And I take your point to be that the market won't fail, but things will still be more expensive if this gambit doesn't work.  It's a moving target with MAGA.  One day it's fentanyl.  The next day it's a trade imbalance.  Then tariffs are most beautiful.  Then they're not.  Things were bad under Biden, but we're cool with making them worse for middle America under Trump and raising taxes at the same time.  This is just a stupid, pointless fiscal policy untethered to reality or any kind of reasonable economic theory.  

5 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

Why the 25% tariffs then on Canada?

Nobody knows the answer to that question.  Not even Trump in that scrambled egg brain of his.  It's pointless to ask. 

8 hours ago, Joe Ferguson forever said:

nah, I'll listen to the banker in my bookclub.  And what about China?  Ya think if pushed hard enough, the Japanese or any country buying US debt won't retaliate?  They'll use every weapon available as will trump.  He and you both need to read the "Art of War".  Much better than the other bs art book.

 

This one isn't going away. The problem we now have is that foreign leaders are much smarter than our leader.  They're not going to forget about his whimsy and his willingness to break agreements and to screw with their economies.  Underestimated in this whole thing is how badly Trump has damaged relationships with our trading partners.  And, if the MAGA response is that they aren't good partners or that we don't want them, then why pull the tariffs before a deal is cut?   Normally one keeps that pressure point if it's bad for the adversary and good for us.  But I guess it must be pretty crappy and pointless for us because he caved.  

Edited Thursday at 11:36 AM by SectionC3

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

6 hours ago, The Frankish Reich said:

My scorecard: 

- Prediction CORRECT

- Timing off by about 48 hours

 

I'll take the win.

You're welcome.

Now go back to listening to your damn fool tweeters.

Your prediction was there would be a negotiation on tariffs?  That was established.  Market volatility was inevitable…do you really think that surprised anyone at the table?   
 

Right now, I see you less as Charles, more as Murray Schwab, Chuck’s cousin who works at Famous Footwear and riffs on Chucks market analysis 10 days after it comes out.   
 

For now, your win results in you getting Employee of the Month parking between the dumpster and the pallets of MSG behind the Chinese restaurant (still sellling Fried Dumplings 8 for $7.50– tariffs be damned!). 
 

 

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

9 hours ago, Joe Ferguson forever said:

nah, I'll listen to the banker in my bookclub.  And what about China?  Ya think if pushed hard enough, the Japanese or any country buying US debt won't retaliate?  They'll use every weapon available as will trump.  He and you both need to read the "Art of War".  Much better than the other bs art book.

 

The man raging about oligarchs and authoritarianism appears on behalf of…..China.  Of course he does. 
 

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/09/politics/cnn-bernie-sanders-town-hall-takeaways/index.html

 

“We don’t have to hate China. We don’t have to hate other people. Let’s figure out a way to work together,” the Vermont independent said in a CNN town hall, hours after Trump raised his tariffs on Beijing to 125% amid a trade battle ignited by the president.

“The goal has got to be to break down these barriers that separate us as human beings — come together as Americans and come together globally as human beings,” Sanders said.

[Roundybout]

18 hours ago, Pokebball said:

Trumps goal is obvious, to me anyways. His goal is to take down China, not everyone else.

Okay, but you realize that China is less isolated than ever now?

 

All we’ve done is harm our OWN trade with China. China will seek trade elsewhere with countries willing to do business. 
 

Additionally, we’ve greatly harmed our relationships with our allies abroad, so they are much less likely to do business with us. Why would they? 

[All_Pro_Bills]

1 hour ago, SectionC3 said:

So now you want more inflation?  To what end?  And I take your point to be that the market won't fail, but things will still be more expensive if this gambit doesn't work.  It's a moving target with MAGA.  One day it's fentanyl.  The next day it's a trade imbalance.  Then tariffs are most beautiful.  Then they're not.  Things were bad under Biden, but we're cool with making them worse for middle America under Trump and raising taxes at the same time.  This is just a stupid, pointless fiscal policy untethered to reality or any kind of reasonable economic theory. 

It doesn't matter what I want and frankly I don't see how you're response has anything to do with my comments about China and the Fed. Are you confused or something? You go off on some MAGA rant that is unrelated to, well anything. Exactly what economic "theory" are you proposing we follow?

 

After some inspection of the situation, my conclusion is these tariffs are misplaced anger. China and other developing countries that ship "cheap" goods into the US are not the villain. Its the doings of American and multi-national corporations that moved their operations out of the US in pursuit of cheap labor, lax environmental standard, and favorable business rules and regulations.

 

Trump should be targeted CEO's of those corporations, not leaders of our trading partners. And instead of looking to extend his corporate tax breaks they should be threatening them with windfall profits taxes if they don't get on board with moving some operations back to the US. Using Apple as an example, they sell an iPhone that costs about $25 to manufacture and charge customers $1,000. Tax their profits at 90%, let their stock crash, and investors revolt, and see the CEO's big pay package crash in flames. That will produce the desired actions and decisions in a couple minutes.

 

 

Edited Thursday at 01:00 PM by All_Pro_Bills