Trump Accidentally Wrecks His Own Tariff Spin in Leaked Call - Greg Sargent

[Swede]

The moron is moroning.

In a call with auto CEOs, the president warned them against raising prices. Isn’t that an admission that his argument for tariffs is bogus?
Faced with expert opinion predicting that his tariffs will jack up prices for American consumers, President Trump has carefully considered a wealth of evidence surrounding this complex matter, and after extensive consultation with stakeholders on all sides, has concluded that his tariffs are a bad idea, after all.

Just kidding! Actually, Trump has decided to take another course entirely: Stung by that expert opinion, he’s now corruptly wielding executive power to warn the relevant companies that they’d better not raise prices after his tariffs go into effect—or else.

https://newrepublic.com/article/193352/trump-car-tariffs-vehicle-auto-ceo-wrecks-spin

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

1. News Headline: "Tariff Bites Man!"

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Which means manufacturers will lower production of expensive products because

they don't know if consumers will still buy them at higher prices.

I think I saw a report yesterday that Honda and Toyota have done just that. There is great uncertainty.

[paleotn]

6. Then again, that's generally where profit margins are better. Higher end vehicles.

They focus on SUV's and "plush" trucks due to better profit margins. Margins driven by demand because they can charge more for vehicles people want. Good old willingness to pay (WTP) in behavioral economics. That's also where they spend nearly all their ad dollars, driving said demand.

They've never made much on economy vehicles in per unit terms or in total the last 50 years. That's not what they're for. They're marketing tools, building brand loyalty, with the hopes of selling more expensive and more profitable vehicles once consumers are older and have more money. Well, credit anyway.

But to your point....Can't raise prices? (Yeah, right.) They're not going to take that in their bottom lines. They'll refigure things based on projections of most profitable vehicles and part of that is reduced overall production. Reduced production = reduced jobs = reduced economic activity and all feedback loops that entails. Coupled with the other stupid shit Donny's up to = recession or worse.

This is what happens when fucking morons dabble in business and economics.

[allegorical oracle]

14. Those tariff-driven higher prices will be a boon to the insurance companies, too. nt

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Trump not taking into account that HIS tariffs put automakers between

a literal rock and hard place.

CEOs and Boards of Directors have to choose between raising prices and losing customers who simply can't afford to purchase new vehicles and maintaining prices and losing shareholders.

As to the latter concern, if prices aren't raised to compensate for the loss of paying for the increased price of components and parts, then the value of their corporations will be reduced. Reduced value of a corporation results in lower value of their stocks. And shareholders will lose the money they've invested. And they will sell, en masse.

And adding that up, there could be a massive sell-off on Wall Street.

[paleotn]

8. Exactly.

But they're not bound to obey Donny like he's some kind of god. They'll privately tell him to fuck off and raise prices anyway. At worst, they lose some government contracts, but potentially more than make up for that by seemingly given the middle finger to a quite unpopular regime.

But to your point, artificially increasing costs with stupid tariffs mucks everything up in the end, all the way to the S&P and the Dow.

[nature-lover]

4. Politicians bowing to the oil and gas $$$.

[sop]

5. I'll never understand why Democratic presidents' executive orders and agendas are obstructed at every opportunity,

but Trump's EOs and edicts are obeyed as if he had descended from a violently trembling Mount Sinai, covered in smoke and fire, holding two stone tablets. Someone please explain this to me.

[paleotn]

9. Are they? By government agencies, yes...

By private citizens and corporations? No. End of the day, no. And there's not much the orange bastard can do about it.

[Aristus]

13. Because Trump's morally defective followers have guns, bad tempers,

and zero impulse control. They’ll shoot anyone who opposes Dear Leader, and likely won’t wait for an order to do so.

[paleotn]

7. You can't raise prices!! Yeah, right, Donny...

In an extremely complex pricing environment of producers, models, option packages and dealers, dealer incentives and good old kick backs, who's to say who raised prices on what? And how would that even be enforced? No government contracts? Good luck with that in court. Company leadership have a fiduciary responsibility to maintain profitability for their shareholders and if that means raising prices, they'll raise prices. And there's some real selling traction in being on this regime's bad side. Just look at Costco. People will buy your shit simply because they think you're giving Donny the middle finger.

End of the day, higher input costs from tariffs = higher consumer prices = lower demand (only so many sales dollars out there) = reduced production = job losses = lower demand.........and on down the spiral we go. And all because an orange dipshit still has a 3rd grade understanding of economics.

[Kid Berwyn]

10. ENDGAME: NO INCOME TAX

Tariffs, someone lectured in Remedial Economics, are one of the few income streams available to governments. Therefore, without a IRS hounding them throughout their self-pitying and underprivileged lifestyles, the Rich win and thank Putin. Again.

[multigraincracker]

11. Make the Big Three, NJ Casinos.

Every thing he touches dies

[SuzyandPuffpuff]

12. Snore

I am so bored with this asswipe I could fall asleep standing up... pure fetid filth with a single digit IQ.