Trump's Tariffs Set to Make History and Break a System MAGA Loathes

[Zorro]

His plans have sparked fears of a US recession and a global slowdown, as well as the end of a post-war order.

Nearly 100 years ago, the US enacted a tariff law that set off a global trade war and prolonged and deepened the Great Depression.

Now President Donald Trump is betting the world has changed enough that history won't repeat itself.

He is set this week to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs and other levies on what he has labeled “Liberation Day” — a move expected to cover a broader swath of trade than the infamous 1930 Smoot-Hawley duties that have long served as a cautionary tale about protectionism. It’s part of Trump’s wider project to dismantle the global trading system the US helped build out of that era’s wreckage, on his belief that Americans got a raw deal.

“The world has been ripping off the United States for the last 40 years and more. And all we’re doing is being fair,” Trump said in a weekend interview with NBC News.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-03-31/trump-s-reciprocal-tariffs-risk-us-recession-trade-turmoil?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc0MzQ1OTkxNCwiZXhwIjoxNzQ0MDY0NzE0LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTVTBBQzRUMVVNMFcwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJDNjgyQTUwQzJCRDM0MTFCQTgwQjEwQjZEQjczQzM1MSJ9.iUxzItYyZ6KdEhR53GtzBl4Ne-5RvK405smZTwR4FNw

[PJMcK]

1. Trump always talks about fairness

He has no idea what that word-- or most any other-- means.

The (sort-of) man is an idiot.

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. No he did not do this

Now President Donald Trump is betting the world has changed enough that history won't repeat itself.

That requires knowledge and intellect, he has neither. He is simply doing these because he plans on putting the tariff monies in a special fund that only he has access to. To steal it.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Who writes this garbage? As if MAGA is a thinking entity.

I'm sure some powerful oligarch dictates it to make money, but MAGA is comatose for the most part.

[LymphocyteLover]

5. Right? Like they have any understanding of our complex global trade system?

Trump doesn't even understand it!!!

All they know is Trump says it's bad so it must be smashed and he's their guy.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. tRump isn't betting. He hasn't considered Smoot-Halley at all. Enterprising reporter should ask him about it by name. nt

[lees1975]

6. One decently educated reporter could point out that this is a big lie.

He keeps insisting, because his populist ignorant base doesn't know any better, that we are being ripped off by the world on trade.

Not true.

That's all the media has to say. He's dead wrong.