Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

Trump Era 2025-2029 : Stock and Economic Comment

An American importer of Chinese goods:

If you’re paying 50 percent of your product costs in taxes (in the form of tariffs), you pay that the day it arrives in the country and then what if you sell a product six months later? You have to carry that as a borrowing for six months, and that can really mount.

“That’s one of the reasons why companies are feeling a strong need to raise prices now, because they pretty much have to raise the money to finance paying the taxes, because the taxes are paid first. Income taxes are paid after you make the money. But tariffs are an asset tax. And so you pay them basically to go into business.

“So we have to raise the prices sooner than later because we need to accumulate that money so we can spend it on tariffs. That completely screws up the cash flow of your business.


“This plan is a mass self-impoverishment plan. If I have to raise my prices 50 percent, 70 percent, or whatever ridiculous number it is, what I tell people is, ‘You’re going to be paying that much more to buy exactly the same thing. And this is going to happen across a wide swath of things that you want to buy: shoes, sweaters, sunglasses, power tools, you name it.’

“The one thing I can promise you will not go up is your salary. So you have the same amount of money, just everything will cost 50 percent more. What does that mean? That means that your standard of living just dropped because you can’t afford to buy what you could buy the day before. It’s an impoverishing policy and it’s so obvious."....
 
Wall st now calling for a 180 day pause on tariffs to hash out the negotiations properly.

We'll see.
@over9k This is interesting that Wall Street thinks that extra time is needed to work out the tariffs.
According to The Trumpet all of Wall Street's ailments were caused by the previous POTUS.
So it will be hard to see him back peddelling even more to appease Wall Street.
 

China has lifted a substantial 125% tariff on U.S. ethane imports, a move that signals a potential thaw in the trade tensions between the two economic giants. This decision is particularly noteworthy as China accounts for nearly half of the annual U.S. ethane exports. The removal of this tariff opens the door for key Chinese chemical companies, such as Satellite Chemical, SP Chemicals, and Sinopec, to access U.S. ethane without the burden of prohibitive costs.

From the U.S. perspective, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been vocal about the unsustainability of China's tariffs. He argues that maintaining these tariffs could lead to significant job losses in China, estimating potential losses of up to 10 million jobs, or at least 5 million with even a slight tariff reduction. Bessent's analysis underscores the economic pressures facing China, suggesting that the burden of these tariffs ultimately falls on their economy.

The trade imbalance between the two nations is a critical factor in this dynamic. Bessent highlights that China exports nearly five times more goods to the U.S. than it imports. This imbalance places pressure on China to reconsider its tariff strategy, as the current approach could be detrimental to its economic stability.

China's decision to remove the ethane tariff is not an isolated incident. The country has also granted tariff exemptions for other crucial products, including pharmaceuticals and microchips. This strategic move aims to cushion the economic blow of the trade war while encouraging companies to identify and secure critical goods that require tariff relief. Such actions reflect China's broader strategy to stabilize its economy amid ongoing trade tensions.

President Trump's tariff strategy is rooted in the belief that economic security is national security. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a 'beta test' that exposed vulnerabilities in the U.S. supply chain for strategic goods like medicines, semiconductors, and steel. Strengthening the supply chain has become a primary objective, with the aim of fortifying it in the coming years to ensure national resilience and security.

The lifting of the ethane tariff by China is a significant development in the ongoing trade saga. It reflects a strategic recalibration by China in response to the economic pressures exerted by the U.S. tariffs. As both nations continue to navigate the complexities of global trade, such moves could pave the way for more collaborative and mutually beneficial economic relations in the future.
 
U.S and UK agree on a trade deal, U.S reduces car tariffs to 10%, UK buys $10 billion worth of military hardware from boeing.

Told you europe would start footing the nato bill with american hardware ;)


In fact from the perspective of the arms manufacturers the only thing that seems to have really changed is the customer.
 
This tariff business is getting very interesting with side deals occurring.

Can Trump despite all the negativity pull it off ?

gg
UK bends the knee.

Hyper-ventilators gonna need some paper bags.

US has stated that early movers get the best deals, the Whitehouse phones will be running hot this morning.
 
UK bends the knee.
My point exactly. I keep saying that trump is holding so many more cards than the market cares to admit.

The bond market is literally the only check there is on his power and that'll change soon enough as more and more capital starts to flow back into the safe haven that is the U.S dollar/bond market.
 
In a huge turnaround Trump now proposes to tax the rich.

Those earning more tha $2.5m a year will be hit with a 40% tax. The Republicans in Congress are none too happy. He said the rich need to take the burden to improve the standard of living of low to middle income Americans.

All on Truth Social this past hour.

gg
 
In a huge turnaround Trump now proposes to tax the rich.

Those earning more tha $2.5m a year will be hit with a 40% tax. The Republicans in Congress are none too happy. He said the rich need to take the burden to improve the standard of living of low to middle income Americans.

All on Truth Social this past hour.

gg
It's already at 37% for that tax bracket.

That would be less than the top 1% income earners, and most of them would dodge paying any tax at all.
 
Well if what The Trumpet says is "true" then it would be fair to expect a drop in the costs associated with staying healthy.
Not for Australia though, we're going to pay for it.

Big pharma is taking aim at Australia’s PBS. Could Trump force us to pay more for medicines?


What is the US’s beef?

Big pharma in the US claims Australians aren’t paying enough for medicines, considering the billions they pour into research and development, and there are too many delays in getting drug approvals.

PhRMA has asked the Trump administration to put Australia on a “watch list” and wants it to push for change, saying Australia has set the bar too high on cost effectiveness. Australia’s price reductions and “restrictive subsidy caps” meant prices were too low to support investment in innovation, it claims. There are also too many delays in approval processes, it says, adding that the PBS continues to list generic products without the patent owner’s consent.


Concerns about the US putting pressure on the PBS to get a better deal for its drug companies kicked off in 2003 when Australia and the US were negotiating a free trade agreement.

The then US president, George Bush, told the then Australian prime minister, John Howard, that Australia should increase its prices to support the high research and development costs. Some experts said at the time that the government made concessions to the US, which could undermine the PBS.
 
Not for Australia though, we're going to pay for it.

Big pharma is taking aim at Australia’s PBS. Could Trump force us to pay more for medicines?


What is the US’s beef?

Big pharma in the US claims Australians aren’t paying enough for medicines, considering the billions they pour into research and development, and there are too many delays in getting drug approvals.

PhRMA has asked the Trump administration to put Australia on a “watch list” and wants it to push for change, saying Australia has set the bar too high on cost effectiveness. Australia’s price reductions and “restrictive subsidy caps” meant prices were too low to support investment in innovation, it claims. There are also too many delays in approval processes, it says, adding that the PBS continues to list generic products without the patent owner’s consent.


Concerns about the US putting pressure on the PBS to get a better deal for its drug companies kicked off in 2003 when Australia and the US were negotiating a free trade agreement.

The then US president, George Bush, told the then Australian prime minister, John Howard, that Australia should increase its prices to support the high research and development costs. Some experts said at the time that the government made concessions to the US, which could undermine the PBS.
Not too sure but the PBS is a sacred cow here in Australia and something that The Trumpet aka the Golden Haired One aka POTUS would love to see dismantled.
 
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