Trump on car tariffs: “I couldn’t care less if they raise prices”

Consumers will have to pay the price of the president's unnecessary trade war.

See full article...

 

[rochefort]

He's at least 174 years too late for that.

"Born in England and raised in South Africa..."

Starting to see a pattern.

 

[TheDudeAbides]

The war might be unnecessary but there is thought put into all this and it has a goal. Of course cutting off the flow of cheap goods from foreign countries will raise prices, half of the articles covering these tariffs act like this is some shocking news that people don't understand. But the idea of enabling manufacturing to be viable in the US again for things that have been routinely sent outside the country to places that pay their labor poverty wages I think is a good goal.

If paying the cheapest possible price for everything in your life is your primary concern then you probably don't care about the bigger picture of any of this.

This is so tone deaf it is almost laughable. Clearly you have no concept of how many people in this country are living paycheck to paycheck. Every dollar counts for those folks. A lot of Americans earn less than a living wage.

Everyone should want to pay the cheapest price they can for ANY good or service. Paying more for the sake of it, is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. And that is saying a lot.

It does not matter if it is eggs, cereal, milk, or a new car. Most people cannot afford it and have to make some really tough choices that you apparently do not have to make. They have to decide what they will not pay this month. Maybe it is a utility bill, refilling a prescription, skipping some meals so their kids can eat.

You clearly do not get it.

 

[Jeffro-Tull]

Americans, you really have to be doing a whole lot more to prevent the backslide of your country.

Call your representatives, every single day! Protest! Talk to your friends, colleagues, neighbours!

This shit isn't normal! It isn't just going to go away on its own! In fact, it'll get worse the less you do to stop it!

There’s still a not-insignificant amount of people who are still on board with his bullshit. And I don’t mean just Musk and Thiel and the like.

Last week when I went to work, two coworkers were wearing “45/47” hoodies that had November’s electoral map on the back, with a slogan that was something to the effect of “better coverage than 5g. Can you hear us now?”

Two of them! On the same day! Plenty more that happily voted for Trump and Stefanik and Tenney but happened to wear different clothes that day.

Unfortunately, it’s going to need to get worse for these people to change their minds. And if they don’t, then we’ll just be stuck in this same “decline for four year, decline stops for four years, decline resumes” cycle.

 

[KoshcheiTheDeathless]

His big gamble is whether it's worth hundreds of billions to completely upend the supply and manufacturing chain to build cars entirely in the US for an exclusively American market. Americans are generally only rich in terms of credit and are now isolated economically, so manufacturers would effectively be selling the depreciated cars back to themselves post-lease in the US if they went this way. It'd probably be a better idea to move everything outside the US, and then just take the 25% hit once by selling international models to America.

 

[CraigJ ✅]

If he keeps this up, Trump won’t get reelected for that third term he keeps talking about.

He won't need to - there won't be any elections.

 

[rochefort]

Those probably go straight into the bin. They want your support not your opinion.

This is unnecessarily cynical. The point is not to convince a Congresscritter, it's to scare them with the prospect of losing their jobs. Anyone willing to make the effort to write a letter is someone very likely to vote.

 

[theOGpetergregory]

Oh, he's bought plenty of cars in the past. In fact, $50 says that some time in the future (once it acknowledges cars built after the war), Pebble Beach will give this Diablo the grand prize at the concours d'elegance, because those people love giving best in show to cars driven by famous or important Nazis.

https://www.barrett-jackson.com/sco...ps-1997-lamborghini-diablo-vt-roadster-274648

This Lamborghini has had two owners since Trump's ownership. CARFAX shows mileage inconsistency on 08/09/2003.

Wow, it looks like he even cooks the books on the odometers of the cars he owns!

 

[tsl]

Typical businesses make 6% to 10% profit. Trying to suggest that any significant portion of this will be absorbed by the manufacturer is just BS. Pretty much ALL of the increased costs will be borne by the consumer. Prices will rise, sales will tank, layoffs will follow. Basically a recipe for creating a recession.

I'm going to call it the Trumpcession.

 

[carldjennings]

"I couldn't care less"

Sums up Trump's presidency. Markets, take note and start applying moron premiums.

edit. Here's the appropriate quote: "Everyone is calling it the — I don’t want to say this, it’s too braggadocious, but we’ll say it anyway — the Trump effect."

I find it hard to believe that Trump made this statement. It uses "couldn't care less" correctly.

 

[KoshcheiTheDeathless]

Typical businesses make 6% to 10% profit. Trying to suggest that any significant portion of this will be absorbed by the manufacturer is just BS. Pretty much ALL of the increased costs will be borne by the consumer. Prices will rise, sales will tank, layoffs will follow. Basically a recipe for creating a recession.

I'm going to call it the Trumpcession.

People are calling it the "greatest Depression". They're saying it's going to be a great Great Depression.

 

[Mechjaz]

As I understand it (and I might be wrong) there is literally no car 100% manufactured in America with all-American parts right now. I wonder how expensive that car will ultimately end up being? I suspect it will coincidentally end up being barely cheaper than the tariffed cars.

Even Matchbox and Hot Wheels are imports :/

 

[carldjennings]

Billionaire who's likely never had to buy a car before in his life doesn't care that he's causing auto prices to rise substantially for reasons that make no actual economic sense. Why? Who knows. Next week I'm sure he'll suggest that folks simply take their helicopters to work, because that's how normal people commute.

Didn't he just buy a Tesla?

 

[ktmglen]

And wait until they howl about parts for their tractors suddenly and massively increasing in price (assuming the parts are even available any more)

They'll howl, but unfortunately, they're all too dimwitted to put cause and effect together. Sigh.

 

[KoshcheiTheDeathless]

Didn't he just buy a Tesla?

Did he? He was sitting in one and commented that "it's all computer". Beyond that, who knows?

 

[Melon of Troy]

Won't these manufacturers just try to wait out Donnie?

Why invest billions in an unneeded factory when even if he cancels elections he can only last a few years longer.

The next republican will likely be pro-business, and drop the tariffs swiftly.

 

[AusPeter]

Wait till you see what this will do to your insurance rates:

• More expensive parts
• Higher car repair shop rates because mechanics are extra busy with people hanging on to their old cars
• Higher car rental rates for the time your car's in the shop

Higher insurance premiums would mean more people would (illegally) drop their coverage, meaning more uninsured people on the road, which would lead to even higher premiums for those who still pay it.

All that's some positive news feedback!

 

[Chuktuds]

The war might be unnecessary but there is thought put into all this and it has a goal. Of course cutting off the flow of cheap goods from foreign countries will raise prices, half of the articles covering these tariffs act like this is some shocking news that people don't understand. But the idea of enabling manufacturing to be viable in the US again for things that have been routinely sent outside the country to places that pay their labor poverty wages I think is a good goal.

If paying the cheapest possible price for everything in your life is your primary concern then you probably don't care about the bigger picture of any of this.

holy shit dude.


The vast majority of people have finite dollars to spend. If cars cost more, they have less to spend on other things. If they spend less on other things, the business that sell those other things make less money and layoff staff. When staff get laid off they have no money to spend on anything. When that happens often enough it's called a depression. Those are bad things FYI. Trump seems to be trying to create one.

 

[gregorerlich]

Oh come on.
VW sells rebadged Fords in Germany.
I agree with your point about colonialism, but this blanket "US cars bad" attitude is so ignorant.

I don't believe that's entirely accurate. VW has only sold one rebadged Ford in Europe (VW Sharan/Ford Galaxy minivan), and it's no longer in production. I can't imagine that was any significant fraction of VW's portfolio.

And if you re-read my comment, nowhere did I say "US cars bad". They're fine, I've driven American cars, I don't love them in general but they're fine. The point isn't whether they're bad or good, it's whether they're competitive. Germany (and France and every other country) have lots of options for cars, so if they're not buying American cars, it's because they have better options. Even Americans drive a ton of Toyotas and Subarus and Nissans and BMWs and Mercedes and Hyundais and Hondas... Lots of options. If people aren't "taking" your cars, it's because your cars aren't competitive.

 

[rochefort]

Let's also not forget that service work pays better than manufacturing.

Tell it to a janitor or call center worker.

 

[apoclypse]

I'm hoping this is a lesson that we need more checks and balances in place. Reduce the executive branches power so that they get a limited set of executive orders maybe, add term limits on SCJs. We need another sitting party, the two party system has failed us. We need tie breaking votes.

 

[nsomniture]

Sounds like feeling is the only thing that matters, and that it supersedes facts.

Having said that, there is no way that'll change without work. Educate your friends, colleagues, and neighbours. Be the voice that shows Trump's hypocrisy and his lack of caring of real Americans.

If you sit idly by you have no right to complain about the results.

Do you have any idea how utterly pointless "educating" people about this is? Trump is a known quantity and everyone's minds are made up. We lose elections despite getting more votes. And even if we win, we're not allowed to actually govern and make law. Most of that is due to demographic factors and the structure of our government, neither of which we can change.

It's exhausting trying to fight this, and we definitely don't need commentary from outside observers telling us that we can achieve change if we just work harder.

 

[GreyAreaUK]

Didn't he just buy a Tesla?

Only as a publicity stunt, and that’s assuming he even paid for it in the first place.

 

[ColdWetDog]

I know some Trump voters. They are perfectly happy with this administrations actions. Some are almost giddy with excitement. Stuff will have to get WAY worse for them to start questioning their support for Trump.

It is very early in this stupid game. Right now, the only people getting hammered are those involved in the stock market which really isn't all that big of a group and is marginally non Trump aligned. If the administration actually does put us in a deep recession or if they touch Medicare / Social Security then you might see some movement away but cognitive dissonance is strong here and we will have to be well up shit creek before anybody thinks to turn the boat around.

 

[clackerd]

So glad our family made large purchases (EV, appliances etc) in the last couple years. The next few years are going to be ROUGH with these incompetent fakers in charge

 

[Granadico]

Billionaire who's likely never had to buy a car before in his life doesn't care that he's causing auto prices to rise substantially for reasons that make no actual economic sense. Why? Who knows. Next week I'm sure he'll suggest that folks simply take their helicopters to work, because that's how normal people commute.

This reminds me of the place I bought my used car from. They offered however many years of free maintenance so I go back there every so often. There's the usual coffee table magazines so I open the first one and it's nothing but luxury reselling/trading cars that are years old and have like 200 miles on it. The first page is a splash page advertisement to buy a helicopter to "beat traffic".

 

[Uragan]

Yeah, kill all repubs and repub voters. Dont need em.

Its what you do with nazis. Have to clear them out every 100 years.

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

 

[Uragan]

Let's also not forget that service work pays better than manufacturing. A line worker making Nike shoe soles does not make the same wages--and never will--as the person who designed and marketed the shoe.

What’s wild is that if it wasn’t for the line worker making the shoes, the designers and marketing reps would never see a penny. Line workers should be paid more because of that.

 

[carldjennings]

Less than half an hour into trading and the Dow is down 1%. NASDAQ is down 3%.

Ford is down 0.3% while GM is down 0.6%

And Tesla? Down 6%.

So much winning

It was never about the economy. For MAGAts, it's about undoing decades of progress.

Child-labor laws? Workplace protections? LGBT+ rights? Women's rights? Racial equality? All going away...

 

[MRL256]

There is a difference between importing finished goods and intermediate products. The later lets you add value and that is what UMSCA (NAFTA before it) was supposed to accomplish. It was a part of a larger fortress North America the integrated trading block. He has blown that up and he negotiated the damn thing four years ago.

Pissing off everyone, everywhere all at once is not a great plan.

I will say this about Deadbeat Donald- he is not good for it.

 

[ERIFNOMI]

Its the same thing that the happened to Washington State, when the activists thought adding a carbon tax to gasoline would result in energy companies "eating the price increase." Wrong, taxes get mostly passed on to consumers. That's why all tax increases are ultimately a drag on the economy.

The Libertarians usually wait until at least page 2 before throwing their dunce cap in the ring.

 

[Sajuuk]

Won't these manufacturers just try to wait out Donnie?

Why invest billions in an unneeded factory when even if he cancels elections he can only last a few years longer.

The next republican will likely be pro-business, and drop the tariffs swiftly.

Do people just run garbage collection on their longterm memory every quarter or something?

Trump is the Republican party. He is simply the current figurehead of a conservative movement that dates back nearly a century to create a one-party state with a unitary executive. Tariffs serve a dual purpose: first, in combination with destroying the IRS, they revert us to a fundamentally regressive tax regime, and secondly they will almost certainly help foster a recession that oligarchs can use to consolidate even more American assets. The next Republican will change nothing, because the next Republican will be a fascist from the same fascist party with the same goals.

 

[splatadder]

I don't believe that's entirely accurate. VW has only sold one rebadged Ford in Europe (VW Sharan/Ford Galaxy minivan), and it's no longer in production. I can't imagine that was any significant fraction of VW's portfolio.

And if you re-read my comment, nowhere did I say "US cars bad". They're fine, I've driven American cars, I don't love them in general but they're fine. The point isn't whether they're bad or good, it's whether they're competitive. Germany (and France and every other country) have lots of options for cars, so if they're not buying American cars, it's because they have better options. Even Americans drive a ton of Toyotas and Subarus and Nissans and BMWs and Mercedes and Hyundais and Hondas... Lots of options. If people aren't "taking" your cars, it's because your cars aren't competitive.

To be more accurate, that wasn’t a rebadge, but a joint venture, later abandoned by Ford.
And they were all manufactured in the EU, in Portugal, most precisely.

 

[evanTO]

Do you have any idea how utterly pointless "educating" people about this is? Trump is a known quantity and everyone's minds are made up. We lose elections despite getting more votes. And even if we win, we're not allowed to actually govern and make law. Most of that is due to demographic factors and the structure of our government, neither of which we can change.

It's exhausting trying to fight this, and we definitely don't need commentary from outside observers telling us that we can achieve change if we just work harder.

You don't want commentary from outside observers, yet your country has been and continues to export this trash all over the world. Canada's democracy is under threat because of the tactics, money, and rhetorical BS that is exported by you and embraced by the Canadian Conservative Party. Cambridge Analytica and Brexit wouldn't have happened but for your exports of Facebook, Breitbart, and Steve Bannon.

You'll get our support to help fight it, but don't expect sympathy or quiet from the rest of the world on this. This is all the fault of the United States of America and it's leaders and citizens.

 

[Chuktuds]

Less than half an hour into trading and the Dow is down 1%. NASDAQ is down 3%.

Ford is down 0.3% while GM is down 0.6%

And Tesla? Down 6%.

So much winning

Thankfully for TSLA shareholders their board of directors is totally not captured by Elon and will definitely right the ship as their top priority.

 

[RickRoyLeonPrisZhoraRacha]

If you make your car in the US using nothing but US materials and parts, that is.

Also if the car contains rainbow unicorn essence.

If you made your car in the US, it would be 50% more. Because US companies expect to pay union raises, and materials that increase annually. Where is the steel coming from? Or the robots and their support in assembly line automation? Energy costs? And how about reliability?
One of the reasons I bought Japanese was, fuel efficient, reliability and easy to repair. Now, Japanese is just a global name where parts are built globally (India, Mexico, Canada, EU, US) and then assembled in the states, for US sales. Remember that Toyota got around Made In Japan tariffs by sending components to the US for assembly into a vehicle. Then Hyundai and KIA came along and were $9900 cars. They were junk with notorious transmission failures. But Hyundai got the message, and offered a 100K mile warranty...something unheard of. Then cars improved. Now, Hyundai ranks higher than Honda in sales. Why would I want a GM or Dodge product? And why doesn't the US allow HD trucks from other countries?

Just means nothing will be MADE in THE USA...it will get "Assembled" in the USA.
Look at Apple...that thinks California is a country with "Designed in California", but Assembled in China, Taiwan, Thailand, or India.

 

[Anti Jimmy]

Has Donald been in Melania's wardrobe again, strutting around in her famous overcoat?

Spoiler

 

[rochefort]

Apartheid South Africa wasn’t a thing until 1948. Trying to make a connection between Emperor Norton I and Musk is kind of lazy at best and disingenuous at worst.

So you think apartheid came out of nowhere? Interesting theory.