The Idiocy of Trump's Tariffs (1)

Yes, Trump Really Is a Moron

Trump poses a problem for bourgeois commentators, as I wrote the last time he was President. The problem is that he really is a moron. But, how can the ideologists of the bourgeoisie admit openly that he is a moron, and, at the same time, square that with the reality that, primarily, he is a billionaire, and head of a huge corporation, and, secondly, that he is, also, in large part as a result of the first, the elected President of the United States, the most powerful, economy, and nuclear armed state in the world?!

At least in some superficial, openly lying manner, the bourgeois ruling-class, and its literary agents, have always had to try to present capitalism as being some form of meritocracy, in which those that obtain great wealth and affluence, let alone political status, do so on the basis of their intelligence, skill, hard-work and ability. How is that compatible with the obviously moronic nature of Trump? It isn't. 

Trump, like the large majority of his ilk, did not obtain his wealth on the basis of any of those characteristics. It was largely inherited. It requires no great intelligence, skill, hard work or ability to take an existing inherited fortune, and to see it grow into a bigger fortune, as a result of rapidly inflating asset prices, which has occurred over the last forty years, mostly due to the actions of central banks to depreciate currencies, and money-capital, and consequently to inflate asset prices, most latterly via QE. Indeed, given significant inherited wealth, it would take considerable lack of intelligence to lose it. Trump, of course, has gone bankrupt several times, but, again, the very rich never, or very rarely, lose all of their personal wealth, due to the workings of limited liability. It is the companies in which they own shares and bonds that go bust.

Indeed, even without that deliberate asset price inflation created by central banks, the financial and property markets are no more than just a big casino, and as with any casino or other form of gambling, winning or losing can be simply a matter of luck, rather than ability, and the fact that, in the last 30 years or so, central banks did have to intervene to inflate asset prices every time they crashed, is illustrative of the fact that were the odds not fixed in that way by the central banks, and the state, large numbers of the ruling class would have faced that reality as they lost their bets, and got wiped out.

So, the bourgeois commentariat have to present Trump not as a moron, but as someone who uses that persona as some kind of clever negotiating strategy, of putting his opponents on the wrong foot, and so on. But, all of his failures during the first term, in such negotiations, his failures to do almost all of the things he promised to do, much as with all of the promises made by his UK entourage that advocated Brexit, the fact that, in both these cases, reality showed that the opposite of what they claimed was true, illustrates that this is no clever negotiating strategy. Its just moronic hot air, and stupidity, now enhanced by the fact that Trump also seems to be suffering a similar mental impairment as that which befell Biden.

Within days, Trump had failed on one of his major policy commitments, to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. And, now he has also had to capitulate in his threat of tariffs on Canada, a day after he announced them, as Canada responded by imposing its own tariffs on US imports. And, the same with his announced tariffs on Mexico. He promised 100% tariffs on China, which turned into 10% tariffs!

Canadian Bacon

Does Trump actually understand basic economic concepts? Probably not. Certainly, the majority of those that voted for him do not, as all of the various interviews with his supporters indicate, just as was, also, seen with those that voted for Brexit, and having found that they had been sold a pup, quickly came to regret having done so. The latest polling data, in the UK, shows that only 20% of those that voted Leave, now think that it was a good idea. Only 10% of voters in total think so, with the vast majority in favour of re-joining the EU, a majority which would be even greater were any of the major parties to actually campaign for it.

Already, Trump, himself, having claimed that it would be China, Canada, Mexico, the EU and so on who would have to pay the tariffs he would impose, is having to face the reality, that it is rather US importers, US companies, and US consumers that bear that cost. His “most beautiful word”, which was going to fund the government and make other taxes redundant, he, now, has to admit will cause immediate pain to the US. Too right it will.

Just as the EU had to bear the cost of higher energy prices, resulting from NATO imperialism's boycott and sanctions against Russian oil and gas, enforced by NATO's blowing up of the Nordstream pipelines, to prevent Germany resuming the flow, so, now, Trump has imposed tariffs on Canadian oil and gas imports. Seeming to sense that this would have an immediate effect on the price of petrol at the pumps, which always soon has an effect on voters intentions in the polls, Trump imposed only a 10% tariff on oil, as against the 25% he imposed on other Canadian imports. But, Canada, already, also, provides the US with a 10% subsidy in its sales of oil. So, if Canada responds to Trump's tariffs by, also, removing that subsidy, it will still mean a 20% increase in the price of Canadian oil imported to the US, with an almost immediate effect on US pump prices, which will feed through into all of its other transportation costs. After all, its not as though the US can easily make up for those Canadian imports from elsewhere, at a lower price.

Also, seeming to be sensing that he has dropped a proverbial bollock in this strategy, Trump has sought to cover his actions by claiming that its not part of a trade war against Canada and the rest of the world, but is really a punitive measure designed to get Canada to take action to prevent the smuggling of Fentanyl, and illegal immigrants into the US. That is clearly nonsense, because Canada accounts for only 1% of all such traffic into the US, according to US data. Moreover, that 1%, is itself the result not of Canadians or Mexicans, and certainly not Europeans or Chinese, but of US citizens bringing the stuff across the border!

In fact, all of Trump's statements and behaviour, as with his threats to invade Greenland, and, now, to turn Canada into the 51st state, seem to be drawn from the script of Michael Moore's film, “Canadian Bacon”, starring John Candy and Alan Alda, about a US President looking to start a war with Canada, to boost his poll ratings.

Forward To Part 2