Tariffs will revert back to their April 2 rates on Aug. 1 for countries that fail to nail down new trade deals with the United States, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday, just three days before the Trump administration’s initial July 9 deadline for tariffs to return. Bessent told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the Trump administration would be sending out letters to 100 smaller countries “saying that if you don’t move things along, then on August 1st, you will boomerang back to your April 2nd tariff level.” The announcement effectively pushes back the tariffs that were originally set in April but had been suspended until July 9, a window the Trump administration used to pursue an ambitious round of dealmaking with other countries aimed at reaching deals to stave off the return of tariffs of between 10 and 50 percent on dozens of countries. It comes as Trump administration officials increasingly hint at difficulties in nailing down deals. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/06/bessent-trump-tariffs-deadline-august-00440522 Let me know when countries should start taking these tariff threats seriously. Maybe they really mean it this time, right?
I loved this part of the article. Trying to make it look like TACO Trump TACO again. In the interview, Bessent said that the August target is “not a new deadline” for negotiations. “We are saying this is when it’s happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that’s your choice,” Bessent said.
Trump's position on tariffs reminds me of the old joke about the weather, "wait long enough and it's sure to change".
Yeah they may be a bit wishy washy on tariffs, but they remain steadfastly committed to communism. “Going back to the first Trump term, Tim Cook has continually asked for more time in order to move his factories out of China,” Navarro said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” “I mean it’s the longest-running soap opera in Silicon Valley.” Trump in May warned Apple would have to pay a tariff of 25% or more for iPhones made outside the U.S. In separate remarks, Trump said he told Cook, “I don’t want you building in India.” Trump advisor Navarro rips Apple's Tim Cook, saying he's not moving production out of China fast enough
After making a great deal with Vietnam -- where Americans pay 20% more for shoes, clothes, TV and whatever else we buy from there, and the Vietnamese pay 0% more for the small amount of stuff they buy from America -- they are spinning this as "opening markets to American companies". But since I (or anyone I know, for that matter) don't sell stuff to Vietnam, I'm failing to see how this benefits me. I can see how it harms me, though...
Waiting for Trump to announce his deals with other countries similar to the deal with Vietnam. His supporters will laud the deals as more examples of winning while American consumers will be paying the price. I wonder how long Trump's gullible supporters of MAGA nation will continue falling for the Donald's absurd narrative that it's the exporting countries that pay the tariffs when the reality is that it's American consumers and/or to the extent that they absorb some of the costs American corporations.
It's socialism for rich people... "If we all chip in and pay a little more at the store, then maybe some poor CEO can buy another Lambo".
Tariffs have already hit me personally with a prescription medication I take. It's made in Germany and just went up $200 for the 90 day cash price. With insurance I'm paying about $80 more. I suspect that we haven't seen the tariffs hit it's full affect yet, as some are still paused and retailers are stocked up. Still pisses me off that I'm getting taxed on health related items. That's why tariffs are dumb and have been slowly going away in the 20th century.
It looks like neither the markets, nor other countries, pay any attention to TACO Danny's clownish prattle about tariffs any more. Trump threatens more countries with tariffs as high as 30% https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/09/economy/tariff-letters-trump
He's obviously an economic imbecile, initiating a tariff "strategy" in order to increase his personal leverage in his transactional approach to "governing", frequently solely for personal gain. And it's obviously fun to post pictures of his stupid, sorry a$$ as Grandpa Simpson, or a TACO, but ....... ... there's more here. And it's bad. He's pretty obviously attacking Brazil in an effort to impact their judicial system, specifically for the benefit of fellow right-wing fascist criminal Balsonaro. Which is precisely what he recently tried to with Israel, trying to impact their judicial system, specifically for the benefit of fellow right-wing fascist criminal Netanyahu. In other words, he's using the power of the federal government for thoroughly unethical, if not outright criminal, ends. His criminality simply knows no bounds. But should we have expected differently? Trump accuses Brazilian authorities of ‘witch hunt’ against ex-President Jair Bolsonar SAO PAULO (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday criticized Brazilian authorities over what he called “a witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro and said he will be “closely monitoring” his trial. In his first such comment since Bolsonaro’s trial began, Trump said in a social media post that Brazil “is doing a terrible thing in their treatment” of his ally. He added that Bolsonaro “is not guilty of anything, except for having fought for the people,” and compared the Brazilian’s situation to his own. https://apnews.com/article/trump-bo...coup-attempt-166511973afd56e55dcea061de7bdfee
