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First impacts of tariffs

I’ll start off by admitting that I got a C- in economics and considered that a minor miracle. But…I don’t see how clamping down on exports of an entire country (which American consumers are going to pay for anyway) is going to have any impact on the flow of drugs.

There’s a pretty simple reason that drugs are flooding into the US - people are buying/using them. There’s a strong market. Pinching off a bit of the supply is going to do two things - drive up the price, and force smugglers to get more creative. Without doing anything to impact the demand, monkeying with the supply is pretty futile.

I guess the theory is that if people have to pay more for avocados and maple syrup, they won’t be able to afford meth?
Yeah drugs flood the country because there’s a lot of money in this country and the consequences for holding or dealing are worth the risk for junkies and dealers. These tariffs won’t do shit. If the idea is to starve out the druggies, congrats you just increased auto thefts, burglaries, robberies, muggings, along with the prices the rest of us pay for shit they steal. Brilliant.
 
That’s where private contracting is less maddening than public. Procurement rules pretty much force public entities to allow themselves to get hosed. As if being forced into prevailing wage - which is a huge crock - wasn’t enough, it also locks in bid pricing on the low end (not the high), punishes changes in scope, and is soft on deadlines.
If a public bid went back to the table to renegotiate when costs went down, it would lead to an immediate lawsuit and a trial by public opinion that the agency wouldn’t win. If a corporation did the same thing, well, that’s just business.
DOT contracts have escalators for fuel and oil that giveth and taketh away.
 
I agree that where there is demand, profit motive will provide a product. And I suspect demand in the good ole US of A isn’t going away anytime soon, no matter what Nancy Reagan said. The other thing not going away is the political pressure to rid the US of drugs.

The way I look at it is kind of like NATO defense spending. The border is a line on a map. It can be secured on either or both sides of the line. But if it’s only be done on one side, the other side is getting a free ride. So, I think it’s fair for Canada and Mexico to contribute to border security similar to NATO countries contributing to defense. If Canada doesn’t spend the two percent (and Canada is one of the worst NATO countries for spending) it means Canada is getting a free ride on national defense. Universal healthcare and the public pension gets funded instead. If Russia decides to invade Cape Columbia (I looked up Canada’s northern most point), guess who’s launching the cruise missiles at the Ruskies? I guess there has been a surge of crossings at the northern border. I kinda doubt the Mounties are doing much heavy lifting on border security.

Now, Mexico is a lot messier, for a lot of reasons. One of the big things is Mexico needs to secure (and keep secure) its own southern border. That stems the flow of migrants from Central and South America. Trump wants remain in Mexico back too. He seemed to get what he wanted on both those points in his first term.

And of course, the USMCA hitting its “joint review” in 2026 should not be overlooked. The parties are supposed to discuss revisisions, and each must submit a notice to extend the agreement, or it will ends in 2036. Trump will obviously leverage that to the hilt.
Mexico won’t be able to secure a border - any border -no matter what we do to them economically. Their government doesn’t even control most of their country.
 
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Mexico won’t be able to secure a border - any border -no matter what we do to them economically. Their government doesn’t even control most of their country.

This is from 2019, Mexico deployed 6,500 national guards to its southern border.


The Mexican government pulled the plug on remain in Mexico in 2023. And it looks like Trump is getting what he wants (or at least some of it).

 
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This is not a Tariff War, but a Drug War. 10,000 Mexican Troops to the Border.

Corruption in the Mexican government and military are rampant. Cartels and drug lords can pay soldiers more than the government can/will to convince them to look the other way.

And if they don’t take the money, the cartels can kill them or their families without repercussions.

I’m not sure exactly what the answer is, but I have zero confidence in putting the responsibility on Mexico.
 
Corruption in the Mexican government and military are rampant. Cartels and drug lords can pay soldiers more than the government can/will to convince them to look the other way.

And if they don’t take the money, the cartels can kill them or their families without repercussions.

I’m not sure exactly what the answer is, but I have zero confidence in putting the responsibility on Mexico.
Where there is demand they will find supply. May have to come up through Florida or any port out west. Increases the price so maybe they go back to home cooking in places like Stanwood
 
That will be one big F’n blue state. Wonder how many electoral college votes our new citizens will get?!

Proposed state names:

Really far North Dakota
New Canada
Fck It’s Cold
Forest Trump will say it isnt really a state, it is like Puerto Rico
 
That will be one big F’n blue state. Wonder how many electoral college votes our new citizens will get?!

Proposed state names:

Really far North Dakota
New Canada
Fck It’s Cold
Based on rough math, I think if Canada was a state they'd get ~49 electoral votes. 40 million Canadians, added to 335M Americans = 375M. 375M divided by 435 seats in the House = 1 house seat per 862069 people. 40M divided by 862,069 = 46.4 House seats, rounded to 47. Plus two senate seats = 49.

Realizing this isn't reality at all, but Canada would be interesting as an addition. It would be the biggest electoral prize, because California would lose ~7 votes and drop down to 47 total. But you probably couldn't campaign in only 1-2 metro areas and be confident of carrying it. In California, if you carry LA and the Bay, you carry the state. In Canada, you don't have the major population centers that are going to outweigh the rest of the electorate.
 
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Women with hairy armpits. If that’s your thing.

I’m guessing France would say “no” anyway. Have you heard those Quebecers try to speak French? Hideous.
Maybe they have another Statue of Liberty sitting around somewhere for such an occasion? Maybe a matching Statue of Servitude would be a more appropriate name?
 
After today, the most affordable exports from Mexico, China, and Canada will be meth, fentanyl, and pot.

Someone remind me - when was it that Trump was going to start reducing food prices?
Perhaps it’s because Canada and Mexican business can’t move to the US any faster?
 
Perhaps it’s because Canada and Mexican business can’t move to the US any faster?

When he was running for office, he held a press conference surrounded by groceries saying, “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One."

We know that every speech he makes is full of lies, exaggerations and bravado but what makes it sad is that you people believe him and defend his lies without any hint of awareness that he is always full of sh!t.
 
He did it.

Eggs were $10.99 last price under Biden and hard to find.

$3.43 under Trump and they’re everywhere.

Quick scan of the Safeway ad shows Boneless/Skinless chicken breast @$2.99, USDA Choice New York Strip @$7.99 and extra jumbo raw Shrimp $5.99

Your PVC example turned out to be margin padding by a contractor to a gullible audience. Why is that Trumps fault?
 
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He did it.

Eggs were $10.99 last price under Biden and hard to find.

$3.43 under Trump and they’re everywhere.

Your PVC example turned out to be margin padding by a contractor to a gullible audience. Why is that Trumps fault?

$10.99? Where the hell did you see eggs for $10.99 under Biden? Where I live, eggs were under $4 per dozen until this week.

As far as $3.43 per dozen now...where are you seeing that? Where I live, they are $4.19/dozen and it's $7.49 in Colorado where my daughter lives.

FWIW, eggs have nothing to do with either President and it's just political football to discuss it. Nevertheless, they are more expensive now than they were two weeks ago and your President is unable to do anything about it except point fingers and pretend that he didn't say anything last year.

As for the PVC comment, again...you're an idiot. When five different contractors all raise their prices by $20/lf....it's not a contractor padding a gullible audience. If their pipe supplier is telling them that PVC prices are expected to jump because of tariffs....they bid accordingly. I'm sorry that you are too dumb to understand that.
 
He did it.

Eggs were $10.99 last price under Biden and hard to find.

$3.43 under Trump and they’re everywhere.

Quick scan of the Safeway ad shows Boneless/Skinless chicken breast @$2.99, USDA Choice New York Strip @$7.99 and extra jumbo raw Shrimp $5.99

Your PVC example turned out to be margin padding by a contractor to a gullible audience. Why is that Trumps fault?
Not sure where you're shopping, but a dozen eggs still runs $7.50-8.00 here. That's pretty close to where they peaked, based on my wife's complaints...and I expect they'll go up again since they're still destroying flocks with bird flu.
 
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$10.99? Where the hell did you see eggs for $10.99 under Biden? Where I live, eggs were under $4 per dozen until this week.

As far as $3.43 per dozen now...where are you seeing that? Where I live, they are $4.19/dozen and it's $7.49 in Colorado where my daughter lives.

FWIW, eggs have nothing to do with either President and it's just political football to discuss it. Nevertheless, they are more expensive now than they were two weeks ago and your President is unable to do anything about it except point fingers and pretend that he didn't say anything last year.

As for the PVC comment, again...you're an idiot. When five different contractors all raise their prices by $20/lf....it's not a contractor padding a gullible audience. If their pipe supplier is telling them that PVC prices are expected to jump because of tariffs....they bid accordingly. I'm sorry that you are too dumb to understand that.
Maybe Uber is buying “Trump” eggs. As with Trump Steaks and Trump University it’s not cheap lining his pockets for lower quality!
 
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wow. Look at these impacts from the tariffs on Canada. No wonder Trudeau folded like a cheap deck chair. KPMG no less.

(* curious as to why ABC News headlines on KOMO radio an hour ago were still gaslighting Americans)

https://x.com/owengregorian/status/1886756890484383833?s=46
Dig deeper. Trudeau didn’t fold on shit, the border plan and exact dollar amount was already in the works and orchestrated while Biden was in office. Trudeau gave Trump the opportunity to claim a victory, which his supporters will believe he achieved. Trump got owned by someone who understands his weaknesses.

Trump was laughed at by the world his first 4 years in office. He was laughed at the last 4 years. And he’s being laughed at already less than a month into his second term.
 
That would explain it. But does each dozen come with a commemorative stamp with Trump's picture on it?
Wilcox, organic,, cage, free, pasture raised.

Pallets of them

Your buddy Laura Lumer posted a picture from Walmart yesterday @$4.12

As far as the Safeway prices, I just googled it Safeway ad pulled,it up and there it is

Agreed that a lot of people in this forum are laughing at Trump. That’s what makes it so much fun for me to post here.
 
$10.99? Where the hell did you see eggs for $10.99 under Biden? Where I live, eggs were under $4 per dozen until this week.

As far as $3.43 per dozen now...where are you seeing that? Where I live, they are $4.19/dozen and it's $7.49 in Colorado where my daughter lives.

FWIW, eggs have nothing to do with either President and it's just political football to discuss it. Nevertheless, they are more expensive now than they were two weeks ago and your President is unable to do anything about it except point fingers and pretend that he didn't say anything last year.

As for the PVC comment, again...you're an idiot. When five different contractors all raise their prices by $20/lf....it's not a contractor padding a gullible audience. If their pipe supplier is telling them that PVC prices are expected to jump because of tariffs....they bid accordingly. I'm sorry that you are too dumb to understand that.
It sounds to me like the dumb ones are the contracts people for the city. Inability to write a contract that protects both the city from paying more than they need to if prices don't rise and also protects the contractor from taking it in the shorts if they underestimate the unknown WRT possible price increases.
 
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