Canada and Mexico. Our next-door besties. But Trump literally doesn’t know the meaning of the word “friend.” Others exist only to manipulate and exploit.
Thus the extreme tariffs singling out, of all countries, Canada and Mexico. Gut punches to their economies, veritably acts of war, treating them as enemies. Not only savaging our good relationships, but our own economy into the bargain. Potentially destabilizing the global one, courting a financial crisis and recession. For what?
Financial markets had been kidding themselves that all Trump’s tariff talk was just some calculated negotiating gambit. Even my beloved Economist magazine persists in ascribing strategic thinking to him. In fact he’s a psycho profoundly ignorant of world realities. When the markets woke up that “tariff man” was no mere cosplay, they tanked.
A tariff is a tax on imported goods, paid by the importer. Who’ll either recoup the outlay by raising their prices, or else (often) forego importing. That’s what damages the target countries. The idea is to “protect” (i.e., coddle) domestic manufacturers by making competing goods unavailable or costlier. So consumers pay more, either through covering tariff costs, or lessened competition. And other businesses too pay more for their raw materials. Steel tariffs “protect” U.S. steel makers but screw manufacturers that use steel in their products. Made costlier too, and less competitive. Hobbling the whole economy.
Bad enough if this concerned only America’s own tariffs. But their target nations are (predictably) retaliating, compounding our economic damage by crippling our ability to export goods to them.
Such a tariff binge and trade war was a factor in The Great Depression. While Adam Smith told us back in 1776 that if another country can sell us something cheaper than we can make it ourselves, we should buy theirs and shift our efforts into different products.
Trump is dumping a panoply of nations we’d worked so hard since WWII to cultivate as global partners . . . in favor of aligning with Russia (and maybe soon China). But here’s the difference. All those prior friends were allied with us because of shared values and interests, that could be advanced through cooperation. Putin and Xi won’t see us that way. Not as true friends but patsies. Playing Trump for the fool he is, who sells us out for the flattery he so pathetically craves, while America gets nothing.
So Trump is throwing Ukraine, and all the principles we’d fought for, under Putin’s bus. To preen as a “peacemaker,” never mind that it’s actually a surrender. President Zelensky, after Trump and Vance’s shameful battering at Friday’s meeting, showed himself the bigger man by making conciliatory, emollient statements (even burbling about Trump’s “strong leadership”), trying to get relations back on track. Trump was having none of it, responding by dissing Zelensky yet again, suspending aid and even intelligence sharing. Trying to ensure Russia’s victory.
Cartoon by Pamela Kirsch
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Oh, and one other country he aligns with is Israel, smiling at the Netanyahu government’s blood-soaked pogrom destroying Palestinian lives. Even pushing his own ethnic cleansing, to kick out all Gaza residents.
Will he next make “friends” with China by giving them a green light to invade our (former) ally Taiwan?
We keep hearing, about so many travesties, “This is not what we voted for.” Well, hello — yes we did. Cluelessly, stupidly, insanely. This is what happens when you get your “news” from Tiktok, and elect a convicted felon who tried to overthrow the government.
Last night, spouting a stream of bizarro alternate reality lies, that vile man was showered with delirious applause in Congress.
This is one very sick country. I can’t see how we’ll ever climb out of this hole. Stick a fork in America, it’s done.
