Tariffs - the most beautiful word in the dictionary

Trump: "I'm putting tariffs on you."
You: "Okay, I'll reciprocate"
Trump: "How dare you! In that case it's only fair that I increase my tariffs to ridiculous levels, to match the tariffs that you're unjustly imposing on me!"
You: "Okay. Can I speak to your grown-up, please?"

Well, the last isn't quite what happens, but everyone is thinking it.


1,409 to go
 
Sarkus said:
Well, the last isn't quite what happens, but everyone is thinking it.
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Yeah it does have a "where the hell will this end" feel to it.

Me: Wild Turkey please.
Shop keeper: £745.49 please.
Me: Apologies just the one bottle not the crate.
Shop keeper: That is one bottle sir.
Me: Fuck, tariffs?
Shop keeper: Yeah.
Me: Ok I'll leave it.
Shop keeper: Ok that will be £20.
Me: Eh? You said it was £745?
Shop keeper: No sir that is just for walking in. No one is buying anything due to the tit for tat price increases so I have to charge now for people just coming through the door.
 
Seattle said:
I think drinking is going down in the US and up and Canada and the UK.
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It's been a challenge to stay ahead of the US in drinking, but we've been there since, well, forever. ;)

To be honest, I'm not sure we'd miss any US ales, as we brew plenty of our own excellent stuff, and for lagers we have the rest of Europe to pick from. I also know most of my friends, while liking some of your bourbons (or whatever you call them over there), would much rather have something from Scotland or Ireland. Even a blended variety. (Personally I can't stand the taste or even smell!). And as for wines, I'm happy to leave you to your Californian stuff. Nappa valley is okay, but vastly overpriced for what you get. While the UK isn't renowned for its wine-growing, we have rather easy access to the best of Europe (and, admittedly, some of the worst, such is our demand for cheap rubbish) and our commonwealth countries on the other side of the world keep us stocked up with decent stuff as well. So, that leaves... ??
Welcome to your self-imposed sobriety! ;)

Oh. Wait. That's a good thing, right? :eek:

:D
 
Sarkus said:
It's been a challenge to stay ahead of the US in drinking, but we've been there since, well, forever. ;)

To be honest, I'm not sure we'd miss any US ales, as we brew plenty of our own excellent stuff, and for lagers we have the rest of Europe to pick from. I also know most of my friends, while liking some of your bourbons (or whatever you call them over there), would much rather have something from Scotland or Ireland. Even a blended variety. (Personally I can't stand the taste or even smell!). And as for wines, I'm happy to leave you to your Californian stuff. Nappa valley is okay, but vastly overpriced for what you get. While the UK isn't renowned for its wine-growing, we have rather easy access to the best of Europe (and, admittedly, some of the worst, such is our demand for cheap rubbish) and our commonwealth countries on the other side of the world keep us stocked up with decent stuff as well. So, that leaves... ??
Welcome to your self-imposed sobriety! ;)

Oh. Wait. That's a good thing, right? :eek:

:D
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I've never been much of a drinker but I've noticed that even in large cities that dedicated liquor stores frequently go out of business. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with it now being commonly available in grocery stores but my impression is just that drinking is also less popular but I don't know. A quick Google search indicated that this may be true but I haven't looked too deeply into it.

My impression from reading, from friends, etc. is that Germans like their beer and in the UK drinking is more of a "hobby" that in most places I've lived in the US.
 
Seattle said:
I've never been much of a drinker but I've noticed that even in large cities that dedicated liquor stores frequently go out of business. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with it now being commonly available in grocery stores but my impression is just that drinking is also less popular but I don't know. A quick Google search indicated that this may be true but I haven't looked too deeply into it.

My impression from reading, from friends, etc. is that Germans like their beer and in the UK drinking is more of a "hobby" that in most places I've lived in the US.
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What varieties of alcohol can and cannot be sold in grocery stores varies from state to state, but there's a lot of data that suggests that younger people are drinking a lot less than previous generations. Maybe it's something to do with the legality of marijuana? I don't know.

I don't drink but my understanding has always been that non-micro brew American beers generally taste like how hamster or mouse pee smells. (It was made that way to appeal to "the ladies" during WWII, when all the men were deployed overseas.) Probably not a big market for that stuff in Europe.

But from my experience, they drink a shit-ton in the UK and Scandinavia.
 
parmalee said:
What varieties of alcohol can and cannot be sold in grocery stores varies from state to state, but there's a lot of data that suggests that younger people are drinking a lot less than previous generations. Maybe it's something to do with the legality of marijuana? I don't know.

I don't drink but my understanding has always been that non-micro brew American beers generally taste like how hamster or mouse pee smells. (It was made that way to appeal to "the ladies" during WWII, when all the men were deployed overseas.) Probably not a big market for that stuff in Europe.

But from my experience, they drink a shit-ton in the UK and Scandinavia.
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I think weather has a lot of do with it. Big downtown areas in poor weather areas tend to be drinkers although I think Seattle drinks a little less than average.

Beer doesn't really taste good to me. If I'm at an outdoor cookout and someone hands me a beer I'll drink it. If I'm at someone's house for Thanksgiving and they fill my wine glass, I'll keep drinking for a while.

Left to my own devices, I'll buy 1, 2 or no bottles of wine in a year.

I have a climbing buddy here in Seattle that is from Germany. He would rather drink his lunch than have a hamburger and a beer.

Generally I think it's probably just a healthier, more outdoor oriented group in Seattle. I used to visit a friend in NYC and it was a drinking crowd.
 
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gmilam said:
Wonder what the postal requirements are to mail liquor.... Swap you bourbon for single malt.
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Best beer in the world is Belgium and costs went through the roof to bring after Brexit. Beer is pretty crap in the UK, there is the odd one that is ok.
New England IPA is amazing and Cloud water in Manchester tried to replicate it.
Bringing the good stuff in now will be tricky.
 
gmilam said:
Wonder what the postal requirements are to mail liquor.... Swap you bourbon for single malt.
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Last time I had wild Turkey I ended up in jail so I'll pass. Luckily for me it was in a small town where you got woke up with a cup of tea egg on toast and a good telling off from several police officers.
I walked from the jail to a chemistry lecture to receive telling off number two for stinking of alcohol from the lecturer.
IIRC we did Schrödinger's wave equation.
I felt like death.
 
Seattle said:
My impression from reading, from friends, etc. is that Germans like their beer and in the UK drinking is more of a "hobby" that in most places I've lived in the US.
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We fought a war (2 in fact, you splendid chaps helped out) and have football rivalry but getting drunk with Germans was a great experience.
 
parmalee said:
American beers generally taste like how hamster or mouse pee smells
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NEIPA Rivals Belgium and Manchester Cloud Water rivals both. The pub is an important part of British culture, the industry has suffered a lot, credit crunch then COVID closed so many that did not re-open.
We drink more when England are playing in international competitions and now we have the women's footy too.
If Trump continues with this madness we will have to stick to British stuff rather than American imports.
 
For me I would just tariff all vehicles that come from US to Canada , 25% .

I get what trump is doing , fine . But he has no idea of the implications . He does now though .

And its going to take 5 to10yrs , to change .
The infrastructure , transportation ( railways ) , pipelines , power grids , buildings will take yrs . Its going to take a good while to change .

And meanwhile Europe , Asia and Canada are changing their thinking towards the US .

In the End the US could find its self a smaller part of the global economy .
 
river said:
For me I would just tariff all vehicles that come from US to Canada , 25% .
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Why?
river said:
I get what trump is doing , fine . But he has no idea of the implications . He does now though .
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No, he doesn't, he's an idiot.
river said:
And its going to take 5 to10yrs , to change .
The infrastructure , transportation ( railways ) , pipelines , power grids , buildings will take yrs . Its going to take a good while to change .
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Change what? Biden put forth a build program but Repugnicants voted it down.
river said:
And meanwhile Europe , Asia and Canada are changing their thinking towards the US .
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As they should. Trump is insane.
river said:
In the End the US could find its self a smaller part of the global economy .
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In the end, the US will become Russia, ruled by oligarchs where one has little to no freedoms.
 
Welcome to your Liberation Day, America! :rolleyes: (Or will that be when Trump, and then MAGA, are finally consigned to the history bin?)

The tariffs he has announced could have been worse - 10% is the new default, to be applied to all imports, with higher tariffs for specific countries: 20% for the EU, 10% for UK, but Asia has been hit hard, with up to c.50% for some. Of course, there will be retaliatory tariffs imposed on US imports, and then the Dumpster will increase the tariffs he's imposing in response, and thus the cycle of stupidity continues.

The new tariffs will be charged almost immediately, so unless the exporter reduces their prices, US importers are going to be out of pocket by 10%. They'll add this to the cost of whatever they're producing/selling, and so prices will increase. The consumer may move to home-grown alternatives, if there are some, but these might well be of the same price, or even higher, than the new price of imported goods. Either way, the consumer will have to fork out more for what they want. And if they're not willing to pay for the higher price of imports, it will initially drive up the price of home-grown alternatives due to initial shortages. Inflation.
Until wages can keep up with the increase in cost of living that this will result in, the option for some will be to purchase less. So the economy could shrink and go into recession.
And thirdly, this will cost jobs. At least in the short term, until producers are confident enough to invest in home-grown manufacturing. But until then, any reduction in imports will see dockers at risk. Supply chains at risk. Manufacturers' costs increasing that they struggle to pass on to consumers. Profit margins will be squeezed, and headcount reductions quite possible.

All in all, not a rosey picture.
But not to worry: Donald says it will all be okay. He and his billionaire friends will of course be okay, so we shouldn't feel so negative. And I guess if you do complain, if you do protest about his policies, then you only have yourself to blame when they come a-knocking! ;)
 
Sarkus said:
But not to worry: Donald says it will all be okay. He and his billionaire friends will of course be okay, so we shouldn't feel so negative. And I guess if you do complain, if you do protest about his policies, then you only have yourself to blame when they come a-knocking! ;)
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Why would the billionaires be OK if margins are being squeezed and if there is more inflation (or a recession)? Or are you just saying the obvious that billionaires will be OK because they are billionaires?
 
Seattle said:
Why would the billionaires be OK if margins are being squeezed and if there is more inflation (or a recession)? Or are you just saying the obvious that billionaires will be OK because they are billionaires?
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I think the question to you should be, if you bought a house, car, furniture, appliances,, motorbike, etc. etc. etc. basically anything you buy, would you rather buy it from one company owned by one guy who charged you whatever he wanted or would you rather buy from multiple companies owned by multiple people who compete in the market?

Billionaires LOVE recessions, they can watch small businesses fail, see the markets fall and then swoop in and buy up stock at a bargain.
 
(Q) said:
I think the question to you should be, if you bought a house, car, furniture, appliances,, motorbike, etc. etc. etc. basically anything you buy, would you rather buy it from one company owned by one guy who charged you whatever he wanted or would you rather buy from multiple companies owned by multiple people who compete in the market?

Billionaires LOVE recessions, they can watch small businesses fail, see the markets fall and then swoop in and buy up stock at a bargain.
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You can do that too but if they stock market is going down, all their wealth in the market is going down too. So why does this just apply to billionaires?
 
Seattle said:
You can do that too but if they stock market is going down, all their wealth in the market is going down too. So why does this just apply to billionaires?
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With stocks: You only gain or lose when you sell. If you buy dividend socks, you continue to gain regardless of the current stock price.
What the day to day--week to week -month to month variations in stock prices becomes meaningless.
Don't worry, be happy.
 
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