Is President Trump an Idiot? Or does he think we are?

[VitaMan]

Trump now trying to undo pardons issued by a past President ?


He really is an idiot.


And now is saying he was elected 3times.

[Why_Yes_I_Do]

American tariff on Germans cars imported = 2.5%
German tariff on American cars imported = 25%

Do the math thing.

[HDGristle]

Originally Posted by Why_Yes_I_Do

American tariff on Germans cars imported = 2.5%
German tariff on American cars imported = 25%

Do the math thing.

You'll want to go beyond that simple math and also address size and standards. It's something that has eluded Trump on the issue of American car sales in Germany.

Part of why he's an idiot trying to use tariffs as a hammer for every issue

[Schwarzer Ritter]

Originally Posted by VitaMan

Trump now trying to undo pardons issued by a past President ?


He really is an idiot.


And now is saying he was elected 3times.

Get with reality. Trump is saying the pardons are like annulled marriages, they were never real because Biden didn't sign them. Huge difference.

[DEAR_JOHN]

Originally Posted by winn dixie

Is President Trump an Idiot? Or does he think we are?

Trumpf is an idiot!

Let's see, President Trump went to Fordham and graduated from Penn-Wharton with an economics degree. Plus it's speculated he has an IQ of 156.

So, since he's an idiot, how about enlightening us with your education and IQ, Unless you can come close to his, it's really not fitting to call him an idiot. Stephen Hawking and Isaac Newton could talk shit about him being an idiot, but I really don't think that some Trump hater on a hooker board would qualify.

[Why_Yes_I_Do]

Originally Posted by Tiny

...The Trump administration is telling us that we're imposing tariffs on Canada to stem the flow of f******* and illegals. Bull shit. Do they really believe we're that stupid?...

Well... take a simple tariffs Econ 101 course.

Would you believe these insane tariffs that the U.S. is bullying Canada with?

250% for milk?
291% for butter?
208% for whey?
241% for CHEESE?

Oh wait - those are actually tariffs that Canada imposed on the U.S. last year.

Kaizen D. Asiedu - Tariff Econ 101

[HDGristle]

Did those tariffs kick in on all imports or is there a quota threshold that must be hit first?

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Why_Yes_I_Do

American tariff on Germans cars imported = 2.5%
German tariff on American cars imported = 25%

Do the math thing.

First and foremost, WELCOME BACK WYID. Apologies for the belated greeting, I haven't been around here as much as usual.

They're actually 10% on American cars exported to Germany. If Trump placed a 10% tariff on German cars, that wouldn't be idiotic. I might disagree, but it wouldn't be stupid.

Kneecapping the North American car industry with 25% tariffs on imports of raw materials (i.e. steel and aluminum), parts and finished vehicles would be idiotic. It would make our auto manufacturers uncompetitive in world markets. It would raise prices on consumers. And it would probably destroy more jobs than it would create.

Originally Posted by Why_Yes_I_Do

Well... take a simple tariffs Econ 101 course.

Would you believe these insane tariffs that the U.S. is bullying Canada with?

250% for milk?
291% for butter?
208% for whey?
241% for CHEESE?

Oh wait - those are actually tariffs that Canada imposed on the U.S. last year.

Kaizen D. Asiedu - Tariff Econ 101

Obviously you're not lactose intolerant like I am.

Nobody in Canada pays those tariffs because they're only imposed on imports above a baseline or quota. And we don't produce and export enough to exceed the quotas.

Furthermore, the Trump administration negotiated the dairy tariffs in the 2018 USMCA. And Trump signed the agreement. Like I said, just as you couldn't trust Trump the businessman, you can't trust Trump the president. He doesn't keep his word.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/10/polit...eck/index.html

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by DEAR_JOHN

Let's see, President Trump went to Fordham and graduated from Penn-Wharton with an economics degree. Plus it's speculated he has an IQ of 156.

So, since he's an idiot, how about enlightening us with your education and IQ, Unless you can come close to his, it's really not fitting to call him an idiot. Stephen Hawking and Isaac Newton could talk shit about him being an idiot, but I really don't think that some Trump hater on a hooker board would qualify.

Sorry, I'm the one who created the confusion. In the OP I didn't literally mean Trump was an idiot. Rather, I meant his proposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico were idiotic.

If you believe what you read on the internet, Trump's IQ is anywhere from 73 to 156. It's certainly higher than 73 and lower than 156.

[Why_Yes_I_Do]

Originally Posted by Tiny

...Obviously you're not lactose intolerant like I am...

We used to smuggle margarine into Wisconsin from Illinois when we were younger. I'm sure they would be doing same for our 51st state these days.
Pay it forward...

[Why_Yes_I_Do]

Originally Posted by Tiny

First and foremost, WELCOME BACK WYID. Apologies for the belated greeting, I haven't been around here as much as usual...

It's refreshing to hear from a voice of reason and you too.

[Texas Contrarian]

Originally Posted by Tiny

They're actually 10% on American cars exported to Germany. If Trump placed a 10% tariff on German cars, that wouldn't be idiotic. I might disagree, but it wouldn't be stupid.

Yes, Germany follows the rest of the EU and imposes a 10% tariff on US cars. And although I don't favor a 10% tariff on German cars (especially since I like many of them, especially the BMW M5 "Competition Edition!"), I agree that it would be less ridiculous than so many of today's proposals. However, in any event, we are unlikely to export very many vehicles to Germany, as HD noted:

Originally Posted by HDGristle

You'll want to go beyond that simple math and also address size and standards. It's something that has eluded Trump on the issue of American car sales in Germany.

Yes, Donald has lamented at times that we don't export many cars to Germany. But that isn't because of tariffs or any other non-tariff barrier. The simple fact is that the American industry doesn't produce vehicles that suit Germans' needs or fancies.

Viewing the bigger picture, I still think the whole tariff push, for the most part, is tilting at windmills that aren't going to yield. We are not going to bring back large-scale manufacturing of any sort of low value-added stuff like apparel, textiles, cheap toys, cheap sneakers, mass-produced electronic devices, basic raw materials, and the like. That's not where we shine or enjoy anything remotely resembling a comparative advantage.

The areas where we have a large competitive advantage, and in fact large trade surpluses, are in the services sector -- technology, the medical space, finance and financial services, entertainment, etc.

And as is flatly obvious, countries that maintain trade surpluses in any areas with the US are going to lash out in any way they can if high tariffs are imposed on their goods, and there will be no winners. If we play our hand poorly, it may look like we entered into the game of "chicken" to which I alluded earlier in this thread, and no one swerved.

Another thing that should be remembered is that without running large trade deficits, it might be a bit difficult for us to run anything remotely close to our gigantic fiscal deficits. The offset to the trade deficit is the capital account surplus, and "exported" dollars come back to the US in the form of capital flows and, among other things, undergird the global market for US Treasury issuance. (See: "Triffin dilemma")

And I'll join Tiny and say: Welcome back, WYID!

[Salty Again]

... Really now, T.C.?

Canada and Mexico are not starting to swerve?

#### Salty

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Texas Contrarian

Another thing that should be remembered is that without running large trade deficits, it might be a bit difficult for us to run anything remotely close to our gigantic fiscal deficits. The offset to the trade deficit is the capital account surplus, and "exported" dollars come back to the US in the form of capital flows and, among other things, undergird the global market for US Treasury issuance. (See: "Triffin dilemma")

Ignoring the difference between the current account and the trade account, I believe you could express the identity you're talking about as follows,

Trade Account = Private Savings + (Government revenues - government expenditures) - Investment

If you're going to maintain a trade surplus, then the sum of private savings and the governments' budget surplus must exceed investment.

So are we going to be able to get Americans to save enough money and get our governments to run big enough budget surpluses to fund investment spending? Fat chance of that! Ergo we're going to have trade deficits. And those renminbi, yen and Euros will keep flowing our way.

[Schwarzer Ritter]

Ever hear of the Ford Focus? The diesel powered one? They are in Europe where they are produced but we can't import them here. Some environmental regulation passed under Clinton about diesel cars. Never mind it gets about 60 mpg and is quite a nice looking vehicle. Care to explain?

Car & Driver, 2015