Mailwatch(ed) Forum

.

Big market, but you'd think he was too woke for there.

Mistake or malice? Hard to tell, as always.

Grim reading for conspiriloons everywhere!
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/20381 ... source=nba

Markets- we were just joking when we rallied. Tariffs are fucking awful.

Apparently Apple has rushed 5 plane loads of iPhones into America from China double quick in order to beat the 104% tariff. I wonder how many maganuts will still think Trump is making America great again when that stock runs out and their new phone has doubled in price ?

Abernathy wrote: ↑Wed Apr 09, 2025 3:10 pm Apparently Apple has rushed 5 plane loads of iPhones into America from China double quick in order to beat the 104% tariff. I wonder how many maganuts will still think Trump is making America great again when that stock runs out and their new phone has doubled in price ?

I do wonder how much of the retail price is a markup based on what consumers are prepared to pay. I'm pretty sure it doesn't cost anywhere near £150 to make a pair of glorified daps in Vietnam, for example.
To some extent, the direct-to-market Chinese retailers have shown what you can do if you cut into the brand-name and retailer mark-ups.
I don't think the whole 100% will get passed on, but it's unlikely to be a lot less than three quarters of that.

Hmmm. Apparently, some people think that Trump may be about to declare martial law, in 11 days’ time, in order to be able to remain in office despite the constitutional limitation preventing any presidential third term.

Seems unlikely at best. Even if he were to do so, could he sustain it for the next four years and beyond ?

https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/04/09 ... UNV8FkQzTQ

Yeah, that's not happening. At least not if the plan is to remain in office after 2028. If the plan's to kick off a civil war, to which loads of Trumpers with guns would show, then it's a bit more plausible.

Now, almost certainly not. In early 2028, you never know.

Tariffs on China up again. Tariffs on everyone else dropped to 10% for 90 days.

If he only really cared about China, as this seems to imply, why not do this in the first place? Actually why bother with all the other tariffs at all?

Apparently, it is all due to Navarro.

Story goes that when he was running in 2016, Trump needed a big economic idea to make part of his platform. He dispatched one of his sons/SiLs to find something. The minion browsed Amazon and found a book called "Death by China", by Navarro. Because it had a gutsy title and cover, he chose it and got the two together.

In the book, Navarro repeatedly quotes an economist called Ron Vara, saying he's a big supporter of tariffs on everyone. Nobody has been able to track this Mr Vara down. The eagle eyed among you will notice that Ron Vara is an anagram of Navarro. In other words, a crank invented someone to cite in defence of his own shit ideas, did so with an alias Stevie Wonder could see through, and this was all eagerly lapped up by a man who has twice become president of the USA.

I seriously do not know which part of that story is the most implausible, because it all rings true to me.

The Brexit Benefit didn't last long.

I'm actually not sure. Seems like the EU is with us on 10%, but he rambled on about how China was being punished for retaliating, whereas 75 countries had been sensible in calling him. The EU was retaliating, so it's possible he hasn't noticed and reacts to that.

Did he intend to raise tariffs on Mexico and Canada just then?!

This is based on today's decision by Trump and of course Mertz is correct when dealing with a rational actor.

Trump tariffs shift shows benefits of EU unity, says German chancellor-designate Merz https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/tr ... 025-04-09/

Either one of two things has happened IMO - either Tr*mp has blinked first due to bollockings from his billionaire investor backers and is trying to spin this as some sort of benevolence except for China (which he can't back down now without looking anything but humiliated), or we've at least witnessed one of the bigglyest attempts ever at an insider trading scam (see Trumpcoin a couple of months ago).

He's utterly fucking clueless and roaring pissed on power. That's the best analysis I have seen to date, and as good a reason as any to keep well away from that "buy" button.

See also the publicly admitted shakedown of law firms.