Trump's Addled Tariff Rant
Plus: Another Deplorable Week in Review
We’ll get to the Trump’s tariff meltdown in a moment, but I wanted to share my favorite email of the week with you:
“Charlie, you have my eternal gratitude and appreciation. I could never even begin to tell you how much your support over these past few years has meant to me and how much it continues to mean to me. — Judge J. Michael Luttig
My response:
Dear Judge Luttig:
I am speechless (which is unusual for me). You are the one who deserves the gratitude for your fearless and eloquent defense of American values. You cannot know the number of us you have inspired. When the history of our time is written, you will be remembered as the critical voice -- who gave us courage when we most needed it.
So thank you in return. All best wishes, Charlie
**
Judge Luttig’s gracious note reminded me that we are not in this alone. We may be a small band of brothers and sisters, but if we stick together, we can win this long twilight struggle. And I am deeply honored to stand with heroes like Judge Luttig…. and with you all.
Happy Sunday.
**
Apparently, Donald Trump is going through some things.
As we noted yesterday, SCOTUS is breaking bad on his lawlessness; Moody’s is calling BS on Trumponomics; and even Republicans are gagging over his brazen airplane bribe.
And then on Saturday, the ferrets who power his economic ideas scattered in confusion, and the president posted this ALL CAPS attack on Wal-Mart:
I won’t attempt to sane-wash Trump’s meshuga bleat about Wal-Mart, but let’s try to de-complexify it.
Our conservative free-market neo-Marxist president is now trying to dictate price controls to private companies, while railing against corporate profits. Beyond that, his position seems more a bit addled.
Why, after all, is Trump insisting that Walmart “EAT THE TARIFFS” if — as he has repeatedly told us — “a tariff is a tax on a foreign country”? Hasn’t the man who told us that Mexico would pay for the Wall, reliably assured us that China and other countries would “pay to do business” with us?
Weren’t they supposed to be the ones who EAT THE TARIFFS?
**
Last week, Walmart CFO John David Rainey warned that the tariffs would force the company to raise prices despite a 90-day reprieve that lowered duties on Chinese imports to 30%. (Other countries face a new 10% tariff.)
“We’re trying to navigate this the best that we can,” he told CNBC. “But this is a little bit unprecedented in terms of the speed and magnitude in which the price increases are coming.”
Do the math here: By some estimates, Wal-Mart imports about $49-$50 billion worth of goods from China. With Trump’s 30% tariff that means that the company would have to “EAT” about $15 billion — or nearly the company’s entire net profit.
So what does this mean for consumers? Higher prices for food — bananas, avocados, and coffee for starters. Higher prices for gaming products, iPhones, clothes, car-seats, an baby gear. Higher prices for back-to-school supplies, and higher prices for toys, since 80 percent of the toys sold in the United States are made in China.
A few days ago, Trump seemed to acknowledge his hit on Christmas when he said: “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know? And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”
But now, the president seems to be in full panic-mode — and shedding any pretense that he’s a free-marketer. The irony, it burns:
Economist Justin Wolfers “Capitalism™ is the President telling an individual corporation how to set its prices.”
Conservative Heath Mayo: “The leader of the Republican Party is now blaming companies for raising prices in response to his Republican tariffs, threatening to use state power to punish companies large and small that adjust their prices to stay in the black. If you support limited government and free markets, not sure how or why you would continue to vote for this.”
Hedge fund founder Spencer Hakimian: “Communist in Chief now telling Walmart to lower its profit margin and stop making so much money. Bernie Sanders is so proud.”
ICYMI: a week of sane, sober, snarky commentary
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday dog
In his final months, Pete waited patiently every day for me to walk him downstairs. And three years ago today, I installed some runners on the wooden stairs to make it easier for him to go up and down.
I can't afford a paid subscription, so I'm leaving this brief comment to thank you. And tell all the pups in your life "hi" for me.
History will look back very kindly on you and the judge. Some of the folks who I read for so many years, such as the Wall Street Journal editorial page and national review? Not so much.