• @BilboBargains
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    73 hours ago

    These trade moves have the same implicit assumption. That US trading partners can’t buy the same thing elsewhere for a cheaper price. Feels like this is a problem that solves itself.

    • @SkyezOpen
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      31 hour ago

      Art of the deal, donny boy.

  • @[email protected]
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    8 hours ago

    US trade delegate Jamieson Greer has called on American companies to report unfair trade practices by partner countries, according Budliger Artieda. This applies in particular to G20 countries and states with a strongly positive trade balance with the US.

    You would not expect an efficient world market to have a zero bilateral trade balance between each pair of countries in it.

    Say we have a world with three countries.

    Country A is good at producing apples and consumes a lot of beans.

    Country B is good at producing beans and consumes a lot of cherries.

    Country C is good at producing cherries and consumes a lot of apples.

    No country on there should have a zero bilateral trade balance with any other country. Country A should run a deficit with B and surplus with C. B should run a deficit with C and surplus with A. C should run a deficit with A and surplus with B.

    You could, with sufficient regulation, prevent that from happening, but you’d be giving up the gains you get from comparative advantage.

    • @[email protected]
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      73 hours ago

      It is actually even more stupid. If Country A invests into Country B, then Country A has a trade surplus with Country B. However it also owns the investments, which means profits from the investment in Country B should be send back to Country A.

      That is exactly what happened with the US. They invest a lot abroad after WW2 and are now living of the capital they own abroad.

      • @[email protected]
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        2 hours ago

        And even if someone makes a fortune abroad, they’ll still generally invest their profits in Wall Street.

        And even if they don’t, their country will buy US dollars to keep in their reserves and buy oil.

    • @[email protected]
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      63 hours ago

      I mean A could sell apples and buy cherries from C and then sell the cherries to B and buy their beans. That would make a zero sum with both countries. Sure it results in the same end result but with more shiping cost. I think the problem is that many people don’t understand, that a deficit in trade is nothing negative, you are not losing money as a country because you are still getting products.

      Nobody complains, that we (as people) have a trade deficit with supermarkets, why don’t they employ us at least for the money we pay in groceries!?

      • @[email protected]
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        22 hours ago

        Trump is the only person I’ve ever heard complain about the trade deficit. I don’t think even the crazy libertarians ever talked about it. It’s just such a weird obsession of his.

        • @rottingleaf
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          41 hour ago

          “Even the crazy libertarians” should be the group least concerned with mercantilist tomfoolery.

          It’s just that the crazier and the more consistent a libertarian is, the less they are interested in mainstream politics and related personalities. It’s a hermit ideology in some sense, a full P2P society.

          About trade deficit - in general you all are correct, but in specifics it’s bad when a country doesn’t produce something important or a whole family of something important and imports that something important from potentially hostile nations. That’s why before Brezhnev USSR’s elite would try very hard to have basic production of every kind of necessary goods inside USSR.

          I’m just not sure what they are trying to prepare for and how do they expect to fix the core reasons for production of various things having moved out of the USA>

          • @[email protected]
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            31 hour ago

            Yeah, true about the libertarians, they wouldn’t be the group that would be talking about that.

  • @andrewth09
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    89 hours ago

    2000% tariff on American made watches to Switzerland

  • @[email protected]
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    6213 hours ago

    The Orange Moron is doing a really good job at uniting and integrating former allies against him

    “But we certainly can’t be accused of being unfair. Switzerland has unilaterally abolished its industrial tariffs, we have no pharmaceutical tariffs. US companies can export their products to Switzerland duty-free,”

    • @[email protected]
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      4713 hours ago

      And in the same quote:

      we have been doing exactly what President Trump wants for a long time

      And I believe her.

      So how did CH get on that list?

      US trade delegate Jamieson Greer has called on American companies to report unfair trade practices by partner countries

      So some businessperson with a grievance decides what gets onto some government list? Truly an oligarchy.

      That said I’d like to know a bit more about the whole (yet another) international debacle.

        • @Sludgehammer
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          119 hours ago

          Trump is the epitome of the Republican sentiment “Unless I have privilege I’m being oppressed”

        • @[email protected]
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          58 hours ago

          Also Trump views VAT

          I don’t know about that. The problem is that you cannot take Trump statements as straightforward representations of his views. He says plenty of things just because they’re politically useful, without regard for truth.

      • teft
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        1513 hours ago

        I wonder what the plan is when one oligarch needs the country’s product and another wants the country tariffed. I guess whoever has the larger bribes wins?

    • @LordR
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      912 hours ago

      It is as if the Cheater in Chief is turning everything to shit that he touchess. I can’t wait for the 30’000% tariffs on Swiss gold or whatever his idea will be.

  • @RonnyZittledong
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    4313 hours ago

    When we have absolutely no allies left except Russia, America will truly be great again.

      • @rottingleaf
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        11 hour ago

        A comrade-in-shit rather.

        Trump won’t be able to wreak enough havoc in all his remaining life to make it possible for Russia to be a puppetmaster for the US. Make it a bit more like Russia is the worst scenario.

    • @[email protected]
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      212 hours ago

      That’s good because it means there won’t be anyone in the way of a socialist revolution, comrade!

    • @Valmond
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      1012 hours ago

      -“Trade deficit went down 50%!!”

      (Trade went down 60%)

    • ALQ
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      1012 hours ago

      I’d prefer if someone managed to Robin Hood those accounts, instead.

  • @[email protected]
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    1812 hours ago

    Where are our right wing assholes now who said they would prefer trump? Trump would be better for Switzerland? Fucking SVP morons

  • @aleq
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    1113 hours ago

    I mean sure, why the fuck not? Who’s left at this point?