Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

In this Discussion

Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.

    Support MFO

  • Donate through PayPal

American businesses reel as Trump tariffs start to bite

Following are edited excerpts from a current NPR report:
It's not just American consumers who will feel the impact of tariffs — the tariffs will be costly to American businesses, too. Most will try to pass the cost of the tax on to consumers but many will likely have to absorb some of the cost themselves. And businesses have also been operating in a state of limbo, unsure of when or whether the import taxes would take hold.

"Customers are pausing on new orders as a result of uncertainty regarding tariffs," one factory manager told the Institute for Supply Management for its monthly survey on manufacturing conditions.

Randy Carr runs a business based in Ft. Lauderdale that makes embroidered emblems for sports teams and work uniforms. Much of the manufacturing is done in Mexico. Carr said he'll try to pass the new import tax along to customers by raising prices, but assumes he'll have to bear some of the cost himself. As a result, he's temporarily halted investment at his factories in Texas and Georgia. "We have a plan to deal with it, but honestly it's punitive to my staff and the growth of the business, because it's just another form of a tax," Carr said.

Canada and China swiftly responded with tariffs of their own on U.S. exports. Mexico promised to do the same in the coming days. Those tariffs could hurt American producers. China, for example, imposed retaliatory tariffs on products including corn, cotton, soybeans and pork.

Bob Hemesath, who raises corn and hogs in Decorah, Iowa, worries about the potential fallout for rural communities across the country: "There's a lot of jobs associated with agriculture and agricultural trade," he said. "Once you lose those export markets, it's awful hard to get them back." A trade war during Trump's first term in office hit agricultural exports so hard, the federal government ended up making farm relief payments of more than $60 billion — much of the money brought in by tariffs on imports from China. Trump's new tariffs could also drive up the cost of potash fertilizer, much of which comes from Canada.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce — which has welcomed much of Trump's pro-business agenda — urged the administration to backtrack quickly on the trade war: "Tariffs will only raise prices and increase the economic pain being felt by everyday Americans across the country," Neil Bradly, the chamber's chief policy officer, said in a statement. "We urge reconsideration of this policy and a swift end to these tariffs."

Meanwhile, stocks tumbled Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling nearly 600 points as of midday. That followed a 650 point drop on Monday, after Trump said there was "no room left" for a deal to avoid the tariffs.

Comments

  • edited March 4
    Following are edited excerpts from a current report in The Washington Post:
    China imposed tariffs of up to 15 percent on a raft of U.S. farm products and blacklisted more than 20 U.S. companies, marking a major escalation in a brewing battle between the world’s two largest economies. The move targets some of the United States’ most important exports to China, including soybeans, meat and grains. China is the largest market for American farm products, accounting for 17 percent of total U.S. agricultural exports in 2023, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

    China last year imported almost $20 billion in soybeans, corn, cotton and the other U.S. farm products that will be subject to the new tariffs, according to USDA data. Those products accounted for about 80 percent of all U.S. agricultural exports to China.

    By late afternoon, futures tied to wheat and corn had shed about 2 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

    The tariff news sent the U.S. major indexes reeling for a second day in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 670 points, or more than 1.5 percent, to close at 42,520.99. The S&P 500 shed 1.2 percent to settle at 5,778.15, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped more than 0.3 percent to end at 18,285.16.

    The new U.S. measures will result in levies as high as 45 percent on some Chinese goods that were already targeted during Trump’s first term, including home appliances, electronics, clothing and machinery.

    Best Buy shares tumbled 13.3 percent after its chief executive said the Trump levies made price increases “highly likely” for Americans. Other consumer goods companies also slumped, including Wayfair and Whirlpool, which fell 8.1 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively. VF Corp., which lists Vans and Timberland among its labels, slumped 7.4 percent.
    In other news, Investopedia is reporting that Tesla shares fell Tuesday, with the stock losing about a third of its value since the start of 2025.
  • Stock market drops like a rock, so of course he's going to backtrack. The stock market is his favorite indicator of 'popularity' remember....

    https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/2025/03/04/lutnick-says-trump-considering-some-mexico-canada-tariff-relief/
  • Dump is going to say that he scored HUGE CONCESSIONS while exiting out the back door. YUGE! (but not really).

    All fluff, no substance.
  • edited March 5
    The stock market is experiencing a garden variety correction, after 2 consecutive +20% years. Perfectly normal. Perfectly ordinary. Stock markets correct. They do so regularly when monetary authorities are not constantly trying to 'manage' them.

    I welcome the opportunity to buy quality shares in a mini- (or bigger-) panic. I've heard of people who "bough high and sold low". They didn't seem to enjoy the experience. Selloffs are an opportunity.
     
    Nattering nabobs with their hair on fire screaming the sky is falling good for a laugh. Kinda like Dem congresspeople self-identifying as "False" during Trump's speech.
  • Denial is not a river in Egypt.

    Even the Orange blob himself admits tough times ahead. But what does he care.
  • Do you not hear yourself? "Orange Blob". Do you not comprehend how off-kilter that sound? Silly name calling. Ad hominem attacks. The rhetorical style reminds me when I was 10 years old on the school playground.

    Seek help.
  • Edmond said:

    Silly name calling. Ad hominem attacks. The rhetorical style reminds me when I was 10 years old on the school playground.

    HA! Might have rubbed off on some of us from your GRAND LEADER. Sleepy Joe, Crooked Hillary, Ron DeSanctus.

    But you have a point - he should seek help. Lots of it. Kind of hypocritical if your party leads with this, but we are used to that.
  • edited March 5
    And we are used to people who hate Trump more than they love their country...

    To your point.

    I'm not registered to any party. So you are assuming facts not in evidence, and are wrong, objectively in that assumption.

    I've always found Trump's rhetorical name-calling grating. I object to his rhetorical style. So no hypocrisy there... Although you seem to object to his grating rhetorical, while defending the analagous rhetorical style if it suits you. So who owns the hypocrisy here?
  • Stay used to it.

    And nobody buys your deflection away from Russian influence. Do you not find it odd that the US suspended Russian offensive cyber operations this week?

    Our national security is at risk more than ever. We can trust Putin? I can't even take Dump seriously.

    This is not normal.

    Go back to your Fox News, Edmond.
  • edited March 5
    JD_co said:

    Stay used to it.

    And nobody buys your deflection away from Russian influence. Do you not find it odd that the US suspended Russian offensive cyber operations this week?

    Our national security is at risk more than ever. We can trust Putin? I can't even take Dump seriously.

    This is not normal.

    Go back to your Fox News, Edmond.

    JD, its interesting that you seem to feel people who disagree with your perspective are a)foreign operatives, and b) should "go away".

    No. and no. Is it still winter, because I am seeing snowflakes here...

    As for foreign interference in our political/election processes, Israel is far more invasive in US politics than all other countries. It own Congress (both parties), and most presidents beginning with LBJ. Their influence has dragged us into most of the wars in SW Asia. Yet no criticism of that foreign influence. Without discussion of Israel's undue influence, I find the whole "Russia, Russia, Russia" thing unserious

  • instead of feeding the troll, let's find common ground.
    we are equally amused at the heap of pain on lower income MAGA, despite no chance they are capable of attributing any of it to the gop or trump (as shown by trump re-election...where are all their riches from trump 1.0 ?)

    hell, it only took $2b in fanboy losses for trump to make $100m of fees in his crypto scam ! time to scale up bigly.
Sign In or Register to comment.