This is getting out of hand. The Mango Mandarin wants to put tariffs of 25% in place for imports to us from any country that buys oil from Venezuela. How is he going to know? Is he going to put agents in Venezuela to travel with each tanker full of oil to see where it’s going to go? This is a bit excessive, don’t you think? Come on now! I cannot believe the cheek of this man!
Does he really think countries aren’t going to buy the oil? Especially if it’s less expensive than other places? I would guess countries that send us imports could find other buyers if tRump is going to be that much of a dick about it. He thinks it’s going to make the US more powerful. What’s actually going to happen is that we‘ll become more and more isolated because our President is an imbecile. We’ll be losing money hand over fist.
I can think of any number of ways this is going to hurt us. How about what I think is a big one? If we start losing imports, what might happen to our exports? If there’s a part missing there’s not much that can be done quickly. It would mean going through the whole process to find someone else to make it for us. And if we piss off THAT country, well, it just keeps going downhill from there. How about countries slapping tariffs on *our* exports to them? Or *they* could just find other suppliers and there we go with another loss. Our country is already being hurt by runaway inflation with the potential for a recession. It doesn’t need any help to get worse!
From CNN: “Venezuela has been very hostile to the United States and the Freedoms which we espouse. Therefore, any Country that purchases Oil and/or Gas from Venezuela will be forced to pay a Tariff of 25% to the United States on any Trade they do with our Country,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Trump claimed, without evidence, Venezuela has “purposefully and deceitfully” sent criminals, including violent individuals and members of gangs like Tren de Aragua, to the United States. He does go on and on about criminals, doesn’t he? That’s yet another one of those ideas that is stuck in his head with superglue.
The more he does this off again on again with tariffs, the more it’s going to drive our business away when they get tired of the nonsense. And we’re already losing tourist money, as I discussed yesterday with travel warnings by *other* countries. Hell, *I* am tired of it. There’s no stability. The erratic changes are making us guess every. damn. day. what prices are going to go up next. It’s ridiculous, not powerful. Agent Orange thinks it makes him mighty when it just makes him look petty. But he *won’t* see what is actually happening and the ruin it’s making of our country. He and his oligarchs don’t care as long as they somehow make money off it. How it must irk the Confused Carrot, to see all the money *he* can’t get his hands on. So the baby continues to cry and stomp his feet but fewer and fewer countries care anymore. One of these days, no one will care. I’m not sure he’ll ever notice. But in the meantime, the rest of us will get screwed.
*****And now, please read a very special request from our awesome boss******
Zoomers, if you can hunt through the sofa cushions for spare change, we could use it. We are in month five of depressed traffic while a depressed nation tunes out. I have every belief that the disenchanted will tune back in and some point and return to the fight but until that happens, the bills keep coming and we need help. Thank you. Ursula
This move against Venezuela, and countries that dare to do business there, is an absolute guarantee of those ripples of unintended consequences one hears about when idiots run the country.
The United States of Trump (™️) imports a lot of Venezuelan crude and many of our refineries are built to handle that crude specifically. But, Trump wants the socialist government of President Maduro to fail. So, his plan will harm refineries in the US. Chevron is being hit especially hard and has been ordered, ordered!, to lose business in Venezuela. China buys Venezuelan oil so Trump is going to add a 25% “secondary tariff” (wtf?) on all goods from China because it has the audacity to conduct global business without first asking permission fom King Donald I, His Majesty of the US of T, and Monarch of The Big Blue Marble! So, good luck on affording that new TV because you pay that tariff…you do, China doesn’t and Xi once again directs his smirk toward us. So, consumers in the UST lose buying power, anyone employed in fossil fuels could lose employment, countries that need to have business partners other than the confusing mess in the UST (™️) will have few peaceful options, Chevron takes a huge hit (were they one of the oil companies that gave a $1B bribe to Trump’s campaign?–oops! face palm!), and Venezuela’s economy crashes! Whee, all that winning! Except when Latin American countries fail, people flee. They flee north. They flee to the US! So, Trump is closing down the crude oil pipeline from Venezuela and opening up an immigration pipeline! And then it is a bigger “invasion” of Enemy Aliens who need to be stopped and rounded up and shipped out to El Salvador at a huge transportation cost and the payment to El Salvador’s prison camps which is happy to house them at only $1600/month per prisoner!! Ripples! They happen! When they are big enough, they cause wakes in the water and eventually everyone gets drowned! Glug much?! 🌊
The circular economy known as the Law of Unintended Consequences following on from Royal tantrums