Buckle Up, American Goods Are About to Get Expensive

[Puer Aeternus]

Yes of course the tariffs were going to make things worse. But we have been living in a buffer period where companies rushed to purchase a lot of extra inventory to keep prices lower before the tariffs applied. This has produced the illusion that the tariffs might not inflate things like they were expected to.

 

However more and more companies are running out of this cheap inventory. Over the coming months, you're going to see stores making increases. Not only will it increase the price of imported goods, it will increase the price of EVERYTHING. Why? It makes sense to spread out the increase to other goods where they won't be noticed as much, rather than only raising the price of the imported ones.

 

Which doesn't even mention how this opens the door to price gouging. These companies are going to try and eat as little of the tariffs as possible. You will ultimately be the one paying for this economic policy.

 

https://youtu.be/URSgDL2ltkY?si=DYTWTS6Nj0XGER3x

 

[Hardkill]

Yep. 

All because of Trump's idiocy, ego, and insanity.

You know, if he really wanted to add more tariffs, then he should've done them more incrementally to begin with, kinda like he did during his first term.

Edited May 19 by Hardkill

[Jodistrict]

Of course prices are going to rise under tariffs.  To make the prices low again, American manufacturers would have to make the products at the same expense as China does using slave labor.   Maybe it would be better for people to consume less and have an economy based on ethical principles.  

[BlessedLion]

On 5/19/2025 at 11:44 AM, Jodistrict said:

Maybe it would be better for people to consume less and have an economy based on ethical principles.  

In AMERICA!? Hah. Good luck

[Joshe]

On 5/19/2025 at 1:44 PM, Jodistrict said:

Maybe it would be better for people to consume less and have an economy based on ethical principles.  

That was never the point of the tariffs. They were pitched as a way to strengthen the economy, not to launch a moral crusade to Make Americans Ethical Again. Lol. But of course, the best the right can muster to defend this disaster is, “Well, maybe we shouldn't be such consumers anyway.”

Funny how that willful ignorance is the same willful ignorance that fuels toxic consumerism itself. Ignore the consequences, reject reality, and pretend virtue while actively participating in the very thing you claim to oppose.

[Jodistrict]

1 hour ago, Joshe said:

That was never the point of the tariffs. They were pitched as a way to strengthen the economy, not to launch a moral crusade to Make Americans Ethical Again. Lol. But of course, the best the right can muster to defend this disaster is, “Well, maybe we shouldn't be such consumers anyway.”

Funny how that willful ignorance is the same willful ignorance that fuels toxic consumerism itself. Ignore the consequences, reject reality, and pretend virtue while actively participating in the very thing you claim to oppose.

I don't think the right cares about that ethical argument.  It is just an observation that globalism depends on labor arbitrage and what they call “free” trade, which means trade without tariffs.  But a nationalist might favor tariffs to bring jobs back to the nation.   

[Apparition of Jack]

America isn’t the wealthiest country on earth because it produces a bunch of cheap socks and wall clocks for its citizens. America is the wealthiest country on earth because it control and unparalleled global trade network that it sits at the top of, allowing it to purchase socks and wall clocks from countries that produce it for much cheaper.

 

America is basically the Capitol district from the Hunger Games. What Trump is trying to do is turn all the Capitol socialites and businessmen into the coal miners and fishermen from Districts 11 and 12, lmao. It’s up there with Caligula declaring war on the sea with “out of touch edicts from corrupt despots”, lol 😂 

Edited May 21 by Apparition of Jack

[Jodistrict]

13 hours ago, Apparition of Jack said:

America isn’t the wealthiest country on earth because it produces a bunch of cheap socks and wall clocks for its citizens. America is the wealthiest country on earth because it control and unparalleled global trade network that it sits at the top of, allowing it to purchase socks and wall clocks from countries that produce it for much cheaper.

 

America is basically the Capitol district from the Hunger Games. What Trump is trying to do is turn all the Capitol socialites and businessmen into the coal miners and fishermen from Districts 11 and 12, lmao. It’s up there with Caligula declaring war on the sea with “out of touch edicts from corrupt despots”, lol 😂 

If America loses the knowledge of how to manufacture, it is a national security risk.  The ideology of globalism weakens nations in order to create a global system (e.g., open borders, etc.).   Thus, what we are seeing is a struggle between globalism and anti-globalism (i.e., nationalism).   The global system (created after World War II) actually favors the American Empire.    Bolsen offers an interesting argument that Trump is dismantling the American Empire and repositioning the nation state of America to live in a multipolar world.  It’s interesting to consider.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE7UwSc_Z6s

[Puer Aeternus]

Good news! Interested to see how this plays out.

 

[Basman]

The cost of tariffs are just going to be passed on to the customer. The silver-lining is that it will hopefully lead to disillusionment with Trump and authoritarian grandstanding as people's quality of life are noticeably worsened.

Everyone in the know knows it is a disaster but for Trump it is about creating an atmosphere of control where you have to bend and kiss the ring or get punished.

 

Edited June 1 by Basman

[BlueOak]

I've had a lot of arguments in the past with right-wingers where they stated they cared more about having a more single race or culture, than they did a better quality of life, a labor force from immigration. I mean its easy to say that but it'll be different to live it, when you can look at another country with the benefits of a healthy labor force supporting the economy. I am not even talking about cheap labour, just a functioning economy with its needs filled, cheap labor only happens when there is an abundance of it in the first place.

Then again, if the right continue their trajectory, they can only go further fascist or into full-on white supremacists. The point is the right are somewhere between nationalists and fascists now, with left being largely conservative-aligned in many countries. And fascist ideologues can tolerate economic misery for their worldview to be affirmed.

Edited Thursday at 09:17 PM by BlueOak