‘Art Of The Deal’ Strikes Again

Art of the deal! Donald Trump agreed to pause most tariffs on China for 90 days in exchange for -- d

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17 thoughts on “‘Art Of The Deal’ Strikes Again

  1. Two comments:
    1. Americans don’t care about this- so long as they can continue to get cheap stuff from China. They generally do not care about “Made in America” if it costs more.
    2. Even if tariffs are zero, if Xi tells the Chinese he will punish them if he finds out they are using an IPhone- then the Chinese won’t buy IPhones.

  2. Financial nihilism at its best. No one has to believe anything but that Trump Inc will make the vol and then fix vol. “Better buy stocks!” It’s fiat diplomacy and as long as markets play along, the truth doesn’t matter. Until it does, and if you believe it or not, it will be Biden’s fault.

  3. “It goes without saying that Trump comes away from the weekend discussions looking ridiculous for having lowered tariffs on China by — checks notes — 115ppt for exactly nothing in return.”

    There are reports that some progress was made on the fentanyl issue. Part of the GOP two-part approach to reducing demand, along with cutting funding for addiction treatment centers.

  4. On another note, does this mean that those deficit hawks will have to reduce their estimates of revenues from import taxes? Which must be offset by further cuts elsewhere to get the tax cuts approved?

  5. If I remember correctly, it wasn’t long ago that the negotiator in chief claimed that the bigger the tariffs the faster countries line up to kiss his ass. Such a big ass and so much kissing, I guess he just couldn’t take it anymore. Just maybe, Trump has the first Musk AI chip implanted in his brain. That could explain the daily hallucinations he spews forth which forces his handlers to use pretzel logic to counteract them.

  6. It would appear that the long forecasted “War on Christmas” will finally come to bear this year. The war being between the haves and have nots in retail. Those who are front running tariffs now will be able to sell the 2 dolls instead of 30 at whatever price they choose.

    Being the only game in town those who can sate the eternal need to buy kids crap they want but don’t need, better known as paying homage to birth of the Christ, will surely be the victors.

  7. This seems like a mutually beneficial non-outcome: the Chinese get a good enough outcome for nothing and Trump gets renewed for another season of Tariff Man. The media’s surely going to do their part making this all seem exciting and rational so that their star can keep grabbing our brains by the p***y. Maybe I’m not plugged into the MSM enough – can’t do it anymore – to have a feel for how much of the discussion is “WTF is this guy doing?” as opposed to “He’s doing big stuff!!!” but ten years later it still feels like his BS gets digested through the media into something 45% of the country can live with. You alluded to this in a recent article, but it’s almost like this was designed by a reality TV grasper. His presidency is one never ending media stunt designed for god knows what end. I guess to launder dollars through go-fund-me sites dressed up as meme coins and to have endangered species steaks with the biggest ass holes in the ROW. And yet, as a TV show, it apparently is still hitting; and he read the room, nobody liked the tariffs, so now we get episodes about how he is vanquishing the tariffs. Cue positive stock market headlines, distorted data for both parties, and another televised meeting replete with makeup studios, wardrobe closets, and extravagant sets. So big!

    1. Agree 100%. It’s a never-ending reality TV show, and a never-ending grift. On today’s episode, our hero is gifted a $400M+ ‘palace in the sky’. Genius move by the Qatari royal family, btw.

  8. Bloomberg probably fairly typical of media take, excl Fox:

    “The deal ended up meeting nearly all of Beijing’s core demands.”

    “Xi Jinping’s decision to stand his ground against Donald Trump could hardly have gone any better for the Chinese leader.”

    1. “Trump told reporters that tariffs on China wouldn’t return to 145% even in the event that no deal is reached within the 90-day pause. In that case, he said that tariffs could still go “substantially higher.”

      1. “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the lead U.S. negotiator, told Bloomberg News after the deal was announced that while negotiations are ongoing, the 34% tariff level—set by Trump on April 2—“would be a ceiling” and it is “implausible” that the tariffs would go below 10%.”

        The additional fentanyl 20% could be negotiated away – trade you, fentanyl for dysprosium – leaving China tariffs at 10% to 34%?

  9. 90 days also gets us to about the time when the government needs to pass a new spending bill. Stay tuned for next season of “Idiocracy: the reality TV show!”

NEWSROOM crewneck & prints