For Sale: US Trade Policy

19 thoughts on “For Sale: US Trade Policy”

1. I just cannot imagine the republican reaction had Obama suggested this. They’d lose their minds. So far today I haven’t heard even a hint of concern on their part.
   Oh, and isn’t charging an export tax on US goods de facto unconstitutional?

   1. Pretty efficient echo chamber don’t you think?

2. There is a bit of Fanucci here. Just wetting the beak!

3. I’ll answer my own question regarding constitutionality:
   “No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State”. (Article I, Section 9, Clause 5 of the US Constitution)

   1. But aren’t Nvidia’s chips shipped from Taiwan?

4. I’m guessing that a lot of Trump supporters are impressed by the word ‘billion’, it must seem an incomprehensible number. If you don’t read the mainstream news then you have no idea that the Tesla board just gave Musk between 23 and 30 billion to continue to manage the company for a couple of more years. I’m guessing that Trump probably gets goosebumps thinking how he’s raking in a few more billions from one of his ‘operations’, not bad for the Capo.

5. I believe those interactions were direct, and done wittingly – much to the families’ chagrin eventually. When trouble started brewing in A.C. Trump supposedly approached the extended families in Philly, to no avail (they had figured him out) and so on to Brighton Beach, where his erstwhile Russo-philia made for easy game to the best, most magnificent mob …

6. Scotty ! Use that beam-me up thing-a-ma-jig, I want out of here!

7. And you will notice the have stopped talking about Epstein.

   1. +1

8. Well, F-35s might not work, at least not as well as (the supposedly un-backdoored) H20s.

9. When I saw your weekend comment on the skim I thought you were joking. The joke is on us I guess.

10. King of New York is one of the best movies. Even the soundtrack…

11. With Bruce Dickinson yesterday and Frank White today, you’re on a two day Walken streak!

    Whadya got for tomorrow?

    1. A 10,000-word novelette. Publishing it at midnight ET tomorrow.

       1. Looking forward to it! I was just wondering if your Walken reference streak would reach 3 days!

          1. https://heisenbergreport.com/2025/08/18/catch-me-if-you-can/

             1. This is a great movie. If you like this movie- I really think you will appreciate this book:

                https://www.michaelfinkel.com/books/the-art-thief/

12. Everything Trump touches turns into a toll booth.

    Not sure why anyone expects tariffs “to settle” at 15%, if the dealmaker himself is clearly unsure what he’s doing from one day to the next, as he’s already revealed/bragged.

    Trump’s tariff gymnastics have at least proven that the Dems and rest of Congress, courts, Mag7 and sovereigns are not only NOT challenging him much, but are mostly bending the knee. That’s an itch that never goes away for Trump, at least not for long, even if the payoff supposedly goes to the Treasury. He’s been allowed (or at least been able) to concoct a narrative that riches, both in the form of direct tributes (gifts and “investments”) and import taxes somehow paid by exporters are a direct product of his diaper tariffs. Until proven otherwise, his mostly unchallenged unilateral tariff power will remain his go-to toy like the pair of cymbals your buddy gave to your 4-year old son one Christmas as a joke. Said differently, I don’t think this is over.

    An aside – I always found it curious that many European government programs designed to promote business investment or just generally subsidize businesses were officially termed “schemes.” While that is not an inherently derogatory word, it conjures a sense of underhandedness to me and I wonder if Trump knows about this word. “I call them trade schemes, because these are bigger than trade deals, actually. The biggest anyone’s ever seen, so they don’t know what to call them. I call them schemes. It’s an interesting word, actually. Not many people know about it.”