Tariffs are, of course, taxes.
Just the same as other taxes called by different names, such as the Social Security “contributions” workers are forced to make. Changing names does not change the effect.
Assuming the taxes are imposed.
But – as regards the taxes called tariffs – what if they are threatened rather than actually imposed?
Trump has used the threat of tariffs to coerce foreign leaders to accede to his demands, as for instance that the government of Mexico help staunch the human tsunami of “refugees” across the Southern border. The president of Mexico agreed recently to supply 10,000 soldiers to police the Mexican side of the border after Trump threatened to tax Mexico via tariffs.
The same threat seems to have prompted Nissan to consider shifting production from Mexico to America.
“From Mexico to the U.S., we are exporting a significant number of cars this fiscal year. . . 320,000 units are exported from Mexico to the U.S. and if the high tariffs are imposed, we need to be ready for this,” said Nissan’s CEO Makoto Uchida the other day. “Maybe we can transfer the production of these models elsewhere . . . we will think how we can make it a reality while monitoring the situation.” 
This could mean the importation of thousands of manufacturing jobs.
Even more might follow as a result of similar pressure brought to bear on other automakers such as GM and Ford and Stellantis that have extensive manufacturing operations in Mexico.
But while this would be good for America – because it’s a good thing for American workers to be manufacturing things – it’s a crude solution to the underlying problem that’s the reason why so many manufacturing operations have left this country over the past 30 years.
That reason being the cost of manufacturing things in America, which is chiefly a function of regulatory compliance costs.
Two examples come to mind that relate to the cost of manufacturing vehicles. The first is the cost of painting them – in this country. You may remember when you could a decent paint job done for a couple hundred bucks at a MAACO or even Earl Scheib (for less). That was back in the ’90s.
Have you looked into what it costs to get a car sprayed today? A gallon of just the paint costs close to $100 – and it takes about two gallons of paint to spray a typical small car. The paint now costs more than it used to cost to paint the car.
Then add the cost of painting, which now requires a lot of special – read, expensive – equipment (including spray guns and booths) to comply with the regulations. That’s why it costs thousands rather than hundreds to spray a car. Whether it’s MAACO or Ford that’s doing the spraying. The cost of this is reflected in what it costs to sell a new car – and to respray one that needs respraying (and you pay for that anticipated cost via the cost of the insurance you’re forced to buy).
How about chrome-plating? Seen any lately?
You may have noticed that even six figure cars no longer have chrome-plated metal. Instead, they have chrome-painted plastic. Including under the hood. No more chrome engine dress-up. Just a sheet of ugly black plastic – even if you paid six figures.
Ask someone who owns an older car that came with chrome-plated metal bumpers o engne dress-up pieces what it cost to get those parts re-chromed. There are very few places left in the United States that do chrome-plating work – because of the regulations that have made it too expensive to chrome parts in the United States.
There are also OSHA – workplace safety – costs. And “safety” is very expensive in the United States. Of course, “safety” is more about compliance, just the same as it is with regard to the regs that go by that name that all new cars must comply with, too. These latter regs have added thousands to the price of every new car, as have what are still absurdly and dishonestly styled “emissions” regs that have almost nothing to do with pollution anymore (and haven’t for decades).
But there are secondary, hidden costs that aren’t as visible as all those air bags and remote back-up cameras and turbo-hybrid-direct-injected-engines that have pushed the cost of a small family crossover to $30,000 – and the transaction price of the average new vehicle to $50,000. And increased the cost of insurance “coverage” by 25 percent over just the past two years.
It is what it cost the manufacturer to manufacture the vehicle – in terms of “safety” and “emissions” compliance.
Those regs have become so onerous – and expensive – that manufacturers have moved their manufacturing operations out of America. It is less expensive for them to manufacture a vehicle in a foreign country and then ship it to America for sale. Trump’s threat to impose a 25 percent tariff-tax on such vehicles serves to eliminate any cost-savings achieved by manufacturing vehicles in Mexico, say. But it does not address the costs of regulatory compliance in America that have made it too expensive to manufacture things in America. 
If Trump wants Americans to be able to afford vehicles made in America, the way to do that is not to add more tax-costs to the sticker price.
It’s a matter of reducing regulatory compliance costs for the manufacturer. Henry Ford was able to sell cars his workers could afford because he was able to afford to sell them at a price his workers could afford.
That’s how you make America great again.
. . .
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Good article. I am cautiously optimistic tariffs will be used strategically. We have endured decades of one way abuse of them against us. Tit for tat is a good thing if it re-shores American manufacturing. As for the regulatory “Deep State”, this is the area of most opportunity. Especially, as you know, the EPA and CAFE rules among many others. The complexity of sensors, modules etc. in new cars driven by regulations is expensive and often limits our ability to both import and export. So much for free trade. Give it some time and keep doing what you do. We deeply appreciate your perspectives and writing. Thanks.
Thanks, Ray!
I will.
Tariffs are just a camel’s nose under the tent for a federal VAT.
The latter raises SO much money that once it is implemented it will be with us forever.
[…] Guest Post by Eric Peters […]
You said; “A gallon of just the paint costs close to $100”. In reality, a “pint” of color can cost as much as $350 in the automotive industry. That does not include reducers, hardeners, sealers, clear, etc. It easily costs well over $2000 or more in just the “liquid” that gets applied to an overall refinish. With and average price point paint line.
I always hear older guys saying kids dont want to work. they act like they didnt raise them they were dropped off by spaceships. who will work in any new factories? not their kids so there will be another influx of millions of non whites to work in factories that probably will never get off the ground with all the regs insurance taxes utilities govt parasite over seers
So true WRT: (re)chrome plating. To restore old chromed bumpers, for example, costs, even adjusted for inflation, more than they listed for in the STEALERSHIP’s parts catalog when new! Reason? When you ship the piece(s) to the “shop”, which is actually a broker, he in turn waits until there’s enough for a reasonable batch, then the whole lot gets shipped to MEXICO, in some “Maquildora”, where the cleanup (de-rusting) and re-replating actually happens. No shop could operate even in Arizona or Texas w/o the strict OSHA and EPA compliance fees and paperwork; it’s easier to just sub the chop to a willing shop across the border.
Perhaps the main reason companies build products outside the US is the lower cost of production…labor. Look at I-Phones made in China using ultra cheap labor that sell for a mint and that millions of people gobble up anyway in the US.
In the longer run, government cannot force companies to produce products in a specific country. Companies will figure ways around tariffs and you can bet the consumer will pay for those tariffs, not the manufacturer or the importer or anyone else.
Then again, with so much fraud in government spending and tax dollars flying out the door to who knows where, if consumers had some of that money they could almost afford higher prices.
RE: ” Look at I-Phones made in China”
I wonder why they are not made in places such as Vietnam or Bangladesh where labor is even cheaper than in China?
Chicoms keep the corruption costs in line. They HAVE corruption and bribery, of course, but if it gets out of hand, the offender gets charged with some economic crime, and after a kangaroo court trial, is shot in the back of the head, and his family billed for the bullet. Viets, Burmese, Malays, have only a NOMINAL government that THINKS it’s in charge, in reality, the same crime families and warlords that have run these places since the dawn of time still call the shots.
when will people stop with the anti China propaganda. Chinese workers make enough to live good lives. US is a 3rd world country compared to China
During Trump 1.0 Mexico moved 10,000 troops to the border for free. That had no effect on immigration.
Uder Biden Mexico moved 15,000 troops to the border. Had no effect on immigration
Under Trump 2.0 Mexico says it will move 10,000 troops to the border. Will have no effect on immigration once again!
Immigration has already been reduced over 90% merely by enforcing existing laws. Biden could have done that too, but did not want to. The alleged 2025 Mexican army (probably a national guard) move is just political theater.
Threatened tariffs on Mexico and Canada are illegal based on Trump’s own 2018 USMCA law and are unconstitutional new taxes — Congress is in charge of taxes. Not that TRUMP CARES ABOUT Congress or the Constitution.
Hi Richard,
The time for caring about the Constitution passed a long time ago. To play by the rules when playing with Leftists is suicidally stupid. You deal with Leftists by destroying them.
Yes, exactly. One weakness of conservatives is that a lot of them literally look at the Constitution as being sacred. It is NOT sacred. In other words, it is not a holy standard of action. The Constitution is a secular agreement, a sort of peace treaty between government and the people. Breaking a treaty only takes one party to it to go rogue and the libs did that long ago.
The simple fact it, the Left refused to play by the rules of the Constitution. But now they expect every advantage from ever nuance of the law. When the opposition refuses to play by the rules, they cease to be mere opposition and become your enemy. They need to be removed by any means necessary.
Once the Libs went full throttle on the lawfare they crossed a line. They went from persuasion into coercion. The power of the Law is the power of the Gun. When they started sending heavily armed SWAT Teams to innocent people’s homes, they initiated armed warfare against We The People. They are traitors and should be hanged. Whatever it takes.
No worry, the retarded parasites (women and effeminate men) will vote the Democrats back in and they will reverse everything the first day. No way energy companies will invest in energy production when they know this will happen in four years. No way manufacturing will move back to the USA. We will just have higher prices for lower quality crap.
You may be right, Chamy –
In which case, we have four years to get ready. Enough time to organize your assets such that they can’t be easily stolen and reduce your cost of life such that you’re largely immunized from what may be coming.
I myself hope Trump goes Franco-Pinochet on the Left as this is the only way to deal with the Left. Helicopter rides, anyone?
Trump received 54% of the male vote
Do you claim all the other me are effeminate?
Any evidence or just your imagination?
Yes, any man who voted for Kamala must be defective in some substantial way. Either they are on board with radical leftism, or they are ignorant of politics and so vote as their wives do.
Men do not behave in this manner.
Hi Richard,
The men who voted for Harris are communists – whether they admit to it or understand it being beside the point.
those guys are raised by single mothers go to school where 85% of teachers are man hating female communists.
Thought of your comment while reading this bit:
‘How Do You Explain This?’
“Our society has become a slave to the state by virtue of government-controlled schools. Children suffer, parents feel helpless, and scores of good educators feel trapped in a system that never should have existed in the first place…”
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/02/l-reichard-white/how-do-you-explain-this-2/
That about forty-six percent of so-called males voted for Harris should be disturbing enough. As for the “Flea-Male” (Female) vote, well…at some point, something’s going to have to be done about that national suicide note called the Nineteenth Amendment.
[…] Read the Whole Article […]
[…] Read the Whole Article […]
At least another promise is energy dominance. The cost of manufactering in just about every step of the way is impacted by electricity costs, and shipping of anything via diesel costs. I have no doubt that will play a role. From plant building approvals and everything, you are correct he is not doing enough.
Hopefully the guys comissioned by the Executive Order are not sitting on their hands, and instead are making a list and checking it twice that FMVSS and the like are naughty, not so nice.
I see you have taken your TDS medication Eric, it’s called Once Daily Winning! A little red pill…
libido domanandi
Without killing off the administrative state and their terroristic regulation they call “laws”, a tariff is just another tax that will lower everyones living standard. Businesses went offshore over the last 30 years for a reason and if that reason is not destroyed then we will all suffer.
That’s true, Chamy –
A tariff is just a tax by another name.
Since Government produces nothing, and seems to take everything it can get its filthy paws on, ANY revenue is a “tax”, Eric. It comes down to, what movement of monies and/or goods shall be taxed? I’d favor tariffs IF we repealed 16A and did away entirely with Federal Income Taxation. The states that do tax incomes now would be forced to repeal them, since their residents wouldn’t put up with it.
A great alternative history tome came out about 37 years ago, “The Domination” Series. Call it fictional South Africa, even more “raciss and she-itt” than the Apartheid regime we all knew and loved, on STEROIDS. Although some of the author’s assertions seem ludicrous, I like how the fictional Draka state is financed…as well as having title to the lands, which are perpetually leased to Citizens (a white European club, naturally) for no money, on the basis that they’re put to productive and sustainable use (i.e. plantations), which produce, aside from domestic consumption, earns foreign currency, various enterprises, from heavy engineering, to mining, etc of Africa’s enormous mineral and hydro wealth has part of their respective stocks owned by the State as well. So, in effect, the Domination is managed rather than governed. This works well for the Citizen caste, as there’s still quite the thriving small business enterprises for those that don’t inherit the plantation.
Service to the State (i.e. the white citizen caste), Glory to the Race! (self-evident).
Remember when the Clinton parasite and his mockingbird media pounded into the voting retard’s heads that a tax is now called a contribution? It worked. Clinton was a master at manipulating the stupid people.
audi has lots of recalls right now for electric car batteries that could may might burn the passengers alive. nice! what a crock of crap. their cars cook people alive. a rolling microwave over with all the electronic gizmos in them. i have a nephew who owns one his wife just died of sudden cancer…gee i wonder where it came from?
they also owns the dealerships in that they do audi’s bidding. not the other way around. the dealers keep parts/tools. and training per audi requirements. doesn’t matter what the customer or dealer wants. the dealer is as much under the manufacturers control as the customer is. the customers vehicle get updates and constant monitoring for the electric vehicle. privacy doesn’t exist.
making it so the manufacturer owns the dealerships as much as they own their vehicles. the customer never owns them. the manufacturer does. don’t update or program your car stops. do what your told or they shut off your car.
much like the batteries that have to programmed to vehicle. my nephew works for a dealership and drives their electric cars on test drives hates it too.
the technicians are just extensions of the manufacturer. no independence is allowed. not from the tech and not from the dealership. ruled with an iron fist.
which means they will drive out the dealerships and the independent car owners. parts of the constant monitoring and control. and soon there won’t be any independent owned cars if they have their way they will be an extension of the manufacturers. never owned. only leased.
we will own nothing according to their corporate model.
Trump loves sending people checks with his big signature on it. Stimmies, so to speak, might be making a comeback back sooner than you think:
Trump says he’s weighing giving 20% of DOGE savings to Americans
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/19/elon-musk-will-check-with-trump-on-idea-for-tax-refunds-from-doge-savings.html
Saw that too. Increase the money supply = raise prices,… as if they didn’t know.
They want an A.I., just like in China, only better. [ = A.I. driven Social Xredit Scores & a more powerful & expansive surveillance State, + A.I. medical system/Doctors who don’t say, “No”?]
Or, how ’bout replacing the civilians working in .gov with A.I. & contractors? Faceless, nameless & unaccountable ‘Yes men’ X10? …Good times.
What we All – REALLY NEED – is more MnRA Vax in all the livestock people eat. You know, the Vax shots with the blank inserts. …That’ll fix everything?
Pork – check.
Beef – check.
Chicken – check.
Not all of ’em, but give them time.
Be-cause, “Don’t be stupid: Skipping your COVID booster could reduce your IQ”
Oct. Freaking 14, 2024 & this sheet still rolls:
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-10-14/covid-intelligence-iq-symptoms-booster-vaccine-health
All brought to you by Mr. Beautiful Q. Wonderful, father of the Fauchie ouchie & our overlords & their minions heavily invested in Big Pharma & Big Ag.
They can keep mine. Apply it toward the debt. This country owes $36 trillion dollars. The gravy train needs to stop. This “rebate” only works one way…income capped (meaning the people who actually pay taxes won’t receive it) and only those who pay little to no taxes will.
That’s like giving some money to a drunken sailor with the intention of having him pay down his bar tab.
Elon is a total fraud.
Who else can manufacture a device that can auto-immolate and walk away with billions, guilty of manslaughter to boot?
Bueller?
Voodoo economics Version 2.0
Gaff Elon!
On tariffs as domestic manufacturing policy – if buying USA is good, then buying only from your state is better, and buying only from your town is best.
Of course, if we did that, we would have much less choice and higher cost.
Same with the “Buy American” mantra.
One thing is for sure, tariffs can’t be continually used as a threat or suppliers will start to look for more stable markets.
On tariffs as govt revenue – compared to income tax, I suppose I favor it as I can choose not to buy some things.
Though all prices will rise with tariffs, and those who export will be hit in foreign markets.
Those who buy inputs and products from overseas will subsidize those who benefit from the tariffs.
There is no perfect solution if govt is to take our money. Lesser of evils.
Seems like that’s The Goal: “much less choice and higher cost”.
I keep trying that whole, “Buy Local” thing, & every time I do, I feel like I got ripped off, stood up & ignored. YMMV.
I wonder, RE: “On tariffs as govt revenue – compared to income tax, I suppose I favor it as I can choose not to buy some things.”
What if, the tariff taxes bleed off onto everything else & you wind up paying double what you do now?
Both an income tax – & – increased prices in everything?
If the steel & iron to make the oven costs double, what do you think the baker will charge for bread?
Idk. Idk.
An argument could be made that Trump’s initiation of the tariff war with China in 2018–and his incessant antagonization of that country–was a major catalyst behind China’s launching of the Covid war (a war they clearly won). It’s extremely difficult to outmaneuver the sinister wisdom of the Chinese, and Trump showed he clearly doesn’t possess that capacity. One can only wonder what China will do for an encore now that Trump is at it again.
RE: “China’s launching of the Covid war”
You’re buying into that?
Seems like you’re letting yourself be played.
Why so? Did not the Chinese initiate the first lockdowns? And did not the U.S. emulate that policy? I’m not talking about the “virus” itself (which for all intents may not even exist). I’m saying China laid out the policy blueprint and the U.S. copied it.
Moreover, did not China send those fake videos of people supposedly dropping dead on the street from “Covid,” and did not the U.S. media publicize those videos in order to whip up the public into hysteria? Again, China clearly, demonstrably initiated the scamdemic narrative. That’s a 100% provable fact.
The engineered virus was outsourced to China. With a little research, you can figure out from whom and where it was outsourced.
That’s a non-disprovable hypothesis. At any rate, it doesn’t matter where the “virus” (which likely never existed) was first developed. The point is that China laid the blueprint for the execution of the policy response. Hence, for all intents and purposes, it originated in China and was (politically) weaponized against the U.S.
Hmm, “the U.S. media publicize those videos in order to whip up the public into hysteria”… China did that?
‘Sinclair’s Soldiers in Trump’s War on Media’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fHfgU8oMSo
RE: “I’m saying China laid out the policy blueprint and the U.S. copied it.”
In light of the Sinclair video, whom do you suppose directed the copying?
Consider: “It is no mistake that nearly every policy China is implementing is a direct copy of policies suggested by the WEF and institutions like the Imperial College of London back in 2020 at the start of the outbreak.” – Brandon Smith, ‘Why China Sucks: It’s A Beta Test For The New World Order’
Too little, late for Dodge?
https://www.motortrend.com/news/dodge-cheap-sports-car-report/
“McAlear continues, wishing for a sports car that avoids the cost and complexity of frills like heated seats or advanced safety features, instead focusing on cost—and performance.”
We’ll see.
Let’s see, I type “great depression and tariffs” into DuckDuckGo and get Duckassist answer:
“The Great Depression was significantly impacted by high tariffs, particularly the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which raised import duties and led to retaliatory tariffs from other countries. This resulted in a dramatic decrease in international trade, exacerbating the economic downturn.”
I like to call Trump tariffs a “wave repeat” of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. For whatever reason, history repeats itself (or rhymes). Certainly we are on the precipice of a great world wide economic downturn if Trump amps up tariffs when the world is hundreds of trillions in debt. You can not just slow/stop trade when everyone owes trillions and trillions and trillions – that is like slamming on the brakes when doing 200 mph going into a curve in the road. A massive train wreck is coming.
The invention of central banks and fractional reserve lending was the juice that fueled world growth like never before. The downside was massive debts, that must be serviced even when growth slows or stops. This was the lesson of the Macy’s bankruptcy – they went bankrupt with record sales – they had expanded with massive debt but sales were not enough to overcome the debt payments.
Many writers are saying the Trump administration’s actions reek of panic. The United States is 36 trillion in debt, which is going up another trillion ever 90 days. Thus the panic to slash spending and stop the catastrophic rise in debt and interest payments, which have surged past a trillion a year. Interest rates are going up again (a wave repeat of the 1970s). Mortgage rates bottomed out in 2020 at 2.5% and are around 7% now. It is very possible that the next surge in rates will send mortgage rates above 8%, a shock to the housing industry, which is currently in the biggest bubble ever.
Mortgage rates are based on the 10 year Treasury, 30 year fixed follows the formula:
10 year UST + 250 basis points = 4.5% + 2.5% = 7.0%.
10 year Treasuries are in a massive upwave since the 2020 lows of 0.5%, the lowest ever in US history. Currently, the 10 year is still below the 200 year average.
How I see the 10 year annotated chart:
https://i.imgur.com/7lGR0sR.gif
Thus I expect a big surge in interest rates because that is what the chart shows, and that means a huge blow to the housing market and to the stock market is imminent. And I do not think that should be surprising, back in 1982 I went to buy my first home and interest rates were 16%, that was when the national debt had yet to pass 1 trillion. It appears a shit storm of Biblical proportions is about to hit the credit markets. High interest rates are equivalent to credit being cut off for most people.
If the 10-year T-note yield is in Elliott up wave 3 — Lord help us!
Right now, it’s a tug-of-war between new QE (such as monetizing $700 billion worth of Treasury gold — assuming it’s there) and the deflationary riptide of a weakening economy.
Two classical leading sectors — autos and housing — are sucking wind.
Peeps used to assume — based on post-Civil War and post-WW I experience — that winding down a war means economic depression.
An end to “Biden’s” Ukie war is in sight. But it won’t usher in blue skies and rainbows ahead. A price must be paid for ending the grift-based, inflationary permawar economy.
“If the 10-year T-note yield is in Elliott up wave 3 — Lord help us!”
Yes, interest rates are going up, and in a giant “megaphone” pattern:
https://i.imgur.com/fDzVe6E.png
Yes, it appears “Wave 3” is under way (although wave corrections can take a long time, so maybe not). I do not subscribe to The Elliott Wave Theorist but I am sure their chart would show a similar wave count. For those unfamiliar with the Elliott Wave Principle, you can read how it works online, wave 3 is never the shortest wave. So that means, on the chart I presented, the next upwave will be bigger than wave 1.
Good first step:
‘President Trump signed an executive order Friday to defund schools and other education agencies that require COVID-19 vaccines for students and staff.
‘HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the head of the Department of Education are directed to create a plan to end these mandates and end federal funding for entities that do not comply.’
https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5146179-trump-executive-order-school-funding-covid-19-vaccine-mandate/
Next: sue Pfizer, Moderna and J&J for defrauding the government. Bankrupt and liquidate them.
Death to the vaccinazis.
“Next: sue Pfizer, Moderna and J&J for defrauding the government. Bankrupt and liquidate them.”
That ain’t gonna happen.
After all, Trump apparently still believes he saved ‘hundreds of millions of lives’ thanks to those ‘beautiful vaccines’ and his ‘warp speed’ approval of them.
Nobody in Warshunton wants any kind of reduction in dotgimme more of your money, everybody is getting paid.
Fuels are taxed, water is taxed, your land is taxed, your dwelling is taxed, your clothes are taxed, your beer is taxed, your distilled spirits are taxed, fees for vehicles are taxes, your earned income is taxed, what ain’t taxed?
Bibi is paid with your tax dollars. Bibi is a woodtick sucking the blood and treasure from all of America and making America turn blue. All Bibi does is kill, not anything else. A scoundrel, worse than bum.
It all completely sucks big time.
well said!!
the goal is AI global governance. and elon is instrumental to make it happen. i care nothing for the alphabet soup agencies and their employees but i can see the goal. eliminate the employees, the people and replace them with a program.
no intentions of eliminating the waste, corruption or the office. oh no!! replace it with a computer who will make all the decisions for people.
it is planned. and working perfect through elon and the DOGE…i don’t remember voting for that office creation…oh that’s right…it was through an executive order. the order of the pharaoh that is trump…so let it be written….so let it be done!
How words change meaning….*regulation* in the original context of the constitution was to *make regular* trade amongst the states. That was supposedly one of the benefits of joining the United States (a club you can never leave) was that there would be no tariffs or laws restricting trade.
So, California wishes to outlaw the ICE engine by 2035, is that not making trade irregular as a turd in a punch bowl?
No, any State outlawing ICE vehicles is committing a violation of the Commerce Clause, as it has been understood and enforced by the Supreme Court. Any action that could have or does affect inter-state commerce is defined as violating the Commerce Clause, hence folks growing their own food and deciding who their customers can be (hotel) were all activities deemed to affect or could affect interstate commerce…why does Trump et al not just sue? Gee, I wonder…can’t damage the permission slip they gave themeselves to do anything they want. Thats why.
Another one bites the dust:
‘Nikola Corp. filed for bankruptcy, culminating a long slide for the onetime darling of the electric-vehicle industry, which struggled with weak sales and cycled through CEOs in the wake of a fraud scandal.
‘The company plans to liquidate its assets after entering Chapter 11 in Delaware on Wednesday. In court documents, it listed assets between $500 million and $1 billion, and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion.
‘Nikola is the latest manufacturer to succumb to a punishing environment for EVs. Fisker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June, while Canoo announced a Chapter 7 filing Jan. 17. The Swedish battery maker Northvolt AB filed for bankruptcy protection in the US in November.’
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nikola-goes-bankrupt-punctuating-ev-122711658.html
Who’s next? Bring ’em on!
‘First of all, if you learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. Just quit digging a deeper hole.‘ — Atticus Finch to Scout [Motors], To Kill a Mockingbird
Does that mean Trevor Milton will have to return his billions?
Because Nicola was an outright fraud from the start. Remember their ‘production-ready hydrogen-powered truck’ – rolling downhill without a motor?
Yeah, I think not.
‘Tariffs are, of course, taxes.’ — eric
Moreover, Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is crystal clear about which branch of government gets to make this decision:
‘The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.’
Every increase or reduction in tariffs was made by Congress — until now. Trump is claiming authority under emergency clauses of various tariff laws to act by executive decree. But where is the emergency? And how can any business, foreign or domestic, commit to a 3 to 5-year capital investment cycle when the Orange Oracle may change the tariffs again next week?
It’s a measure of America’s constitutional decay that despite having their authority flouted and filched right under their noses, members of Clowngress offer no more resistance to Trump’s power grab than a pet gerbil.
While MAGA folks think America is becoming great again, serious countries are not managed by an orange-haired caudillo who rules by decree. Trump’s presidency has more in common with Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela than with Thomas Jefferson.
And our Maduro-style shambles already is emerging. All the Forest Service workers who maintained our campgrounds, cleaned the pit toilets at the trailhead, etc have been fired. As in the former Soviet Union, public facilities are now dirty, broken or closed. Somebody beat me to the market with these new stickers, which I’m gonna use to kick his fat ass:
https://ibb.co/d4Qr0yYt
Read my lips: no new tariffs.
A partial summation:
‘Conspiracy Theorists Were Right About Everything – Now What?’
“… It’s a cartel, an oligarchy working together to bring down the west from within and replace it with something new. A new ideology and a new economy that would effectively turn the majority of the population into unwitting serfs.” …
https://alt-market.us/conspiracy-theorists-were-right-about-everything-now-what/
Thats a solid article. Brandons best point is how almost everything in our system is fake, and the most dangerous time is when you think you are winning.
Notice how the awakening to the 2O2O election fraud is fading away? Thats probably reason number one that Trump was re-installed. In less than two years Trump will take the fall and these PTB will push us toward a kinetic engagement between neighbors in an obvious problem, reaction, solution debacle. If Trump doesn’t go scorched earth about election fraud in the next 6O days he deserves to have the mountains fall upon him.
Except for Buccees gas station, you could say the same thing about the 100k some odd privately owned gas stations around the country. This country has been filthy for at least a decade.
[This country has been filthy for at least a decade.]
Noticed it in the 1980s.
Store floors/shelves filthy. They don’t lay tile or carpet,,, just shine up the concrete. Restrooms a complete disaster and usually don’t work. People dressed in basically pajamas or other shoddy crap when in public. I won’t even go near Train/Bus stations and airports/aircraft look like bum city. Last flight I was on years ago I wished masks were available the stench so bad. The plane looked like a 4-wheeler after some off roading. Hadn’t been cleaned in years.
It seems the first thing that goes in a declining society is cleanliness and class. Disgusting….
swamprat must live in FL or sumthin’? I agree, Ken. Noticed it in the late 80’s, too. …Airport bathrooms were nice back then. At least, the ones I saw. Gas station bathrooms, fast food joint bathrooms, & ya never saw a chick walking around a store with her guy while they were wearing pajamas & slippers.
Low class & dirty = the American way.
But, I guess they are just a reflection of the empire they live under & they’re not pretending things are, as they are not. ?
Quite unlike the generations before. So, I guess you might say, they are being honest in their slobbery & filth. etc. etc. etc.
Amen, Ken –
Flying has been Soviet since the early 2000s and got much worse after Nahhhhhnnnnnlevven. It is now intolerable. A mix of disgusting in the unsanitary sense and degrading in the police state sense. I doubt I will ever fly commercial again.
Some great insight and analysis in this article. Trump certainly needs to be mindful of overplaying the tariff threat.
Of course, he probably won’t. We are going to have to get the current VP for a more balanced approach. Vance and his staff seem to be more interested in protecting jobs and deregulating sectors of the economy. He sponsored the DRIVE act which would have banned the FMVSCA (the truck safety association) from putting speed limiters in trucks
Tariffs are a tax, and the only beneficiaries are those who collect/steal them. It ain’t us.
Other factors that led manufacturing operations to leave the country were:
-The age of physical plants and equipment. Many factories, mills, etc. were more than a century old when they were closed. Part of this was that our plants weren’t bombed in two world wars. Part of this was that the cost of compliance and the intransigence of unions that got too big for their britches left little to no money available for plant upgrades or new plants and equipment.
-As previously mentioned, unions that got too big for their britches. Corruption was, and still is, rampant. Unions created situations like people being paid NOT to work, people showing up to work drunk and not getting fired for it, and strikes every 15 minutes. Those increased costs and decreased productivity and efficiency.
-Also, state and local governments that got too big for their britches, particularly in the Northeast, Rust Belt, and Left Coast. Not only did manufacturers have to contend with compliance with Uncle Sam, they had to deal with state and local compliance with burdensome taxes and regulations, as well as laws that let unions run amok in the name of “the rights of workers.”
In the 1980s, a massive malinvestment (from a workers perspective) took place with the financing of foreign plants with junk bond money. Beginning roughly in 1983, companies were rushing for the door to open up overseas operations. The plants that we shut down in 1982 were never to reopen and many more jobs lost. By 1990, 50k factories shut their doors. By 2000, it was closer to 100k. Today, the number is around 120k.
Big union bosses care only about themselves. It doesn’t matter whether they represent 10k workers or several million. They get their own cash. Thats why workers are getting screwed as they get their money off the top.
Tariffs are a good thing, but they must be used judiciously, reducing regulations concurrently
A good example of that is Nippon Steel offering to buy out US Steel and spend a fair amount of money upgrading their plants here. Pretty much everyone thought it would be a win-win for all involved but the union bosses pit the kibosh on it even though it would have benefited union workers. Really shooting themselves in the foot on that.
I swear the powers that be want US Steel to collapse and there be nothing left. Tariffs can’t save it. Japanese companies are at least committed to manufacturing in the USA. There’s no reason for them to shut down US production with all the Japanese manufacturers in the USA that need steel.
Add this to the list above about: high prices, A.I., & a Vax in every animal, “I swear the powers that be want US Steel to collapse and there be nothing left.”
Is it All going according to plan?
[…I kind of miss working in the factories with the presses & shears & other heavy metal machinery of the 1980’s, most of which was brought over from Europe from before WWII & was as old as dirt(!) but built like a tank. …I sometimes wonder what those machines are doing over in Asia & if they are having a good time. …Those machines were sooo well built.]
What if, this notion is part of a nasty charade? “Trump wants Americans to be able to afford vehicles made in America”.
“I’m pretty sure a reasonable balance can be found somewhere”.
Why would anyone expect ‘reasonable’ or ‘balanced’ from a technocratic bureaucratic empire hellbent on domination?
“we’re going to have to realize this will take decades”.
Would the more accurate expectation be: more mothering and more Lucy & the football as prices rise & the police State expands? As if that were The Plan all along?
Some people suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) while others appear to be enveloped inside a Trump Fog, perhaps unable to see a big-assed scam unfolding right before their eyes?
Consider the info in this 10 minute video from Doug:
‘They are WARNING YOU daily! ARE YOU LISTENING?’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yhz7DDNhhw
After watching that, is Trump breaking the chains, or forging them?
Just like with The Fauchie & the 2-weeks to flatten the curve, is it all a part of a pre-determined script? Idk. Idk.
Two wings on the same bird of prey?
Trump and pardner Elon don’t give two shits about America or Americans. He’ll soon come out. We are owned,,, lock. stock and barrel. Misdirection boys and girls,,, misdirection.
Hi Ken,
Have you seen this? Get a piece of the blessed cloth, just like Ernest Angley used to sell: https://www.collecttrumpcards.com/
lol…. Yep, Scam America…. OTOH maybe for a dinner with Melania!
A little lighter take on some of it:
‘What Is Something They Told You in School That You Found Out Is a Lie?’
https://rumble.com/v6mmbd0-what-is-something-they-told-you-in-school-that-you-found-out-is-a-lie.html
(Everything…… )
funny vid but true….
There is a jeweler near me who dabbles in this kind of stuff. Almost cultish in nature, the display with all kinds of Trump products takes a good chunk of his floor space. Its off-putting for a jewelry store. I still patronize him because, honest weights and measures, he doesn’t uncharge the labor, and he does quality work. He also lacks the fat fingers of many jew-lers you’d find in Sedona.
Whats next, 24K Gold dipped trading cards depicting the future Gaza skyline? Or perhaps vials containing a drop of Melania’s milk in a stylish pendant? sure to be the envy of all Trump supporters. Trump is just being true to his inner rabbi. He literally has no shame in his game.
Not only regulations but also how long will people work at these factories before they just decide that it isn’t worth the effort and move back in with mom and dad? Or at least get on TikTok and bitch about their jobs in the parking lot every day? “It’s not fair that I have to suffer all day while Makoto Uchida ‘gets’ all the profits!”
Working class dogs.
It wasn’t that long ago when Hollywood celebrated the middle class and the working man. The grunt was a hero, not a victim. That began to change in the 1980s, ironically driven in part by Donald Trump’s audacious self-promotion. By the 1990s if some character worked at all, it was in some sort of small business role with vague revenue sources and no actual work being done (mostly because by that time Hollywood was fully self-selecting and specialized to the point of not having any real-world experience in the cast and crew). The show Friends comes to mind, with no one really doing any work but somehow able to afford massive apartments in the Village.
With the rise of the international market the shift away from realism is complete. Today’s Hollywood films have more in common with Indian Bollywood epics than actual stories. No wonder US audiences are shrinking rapidly. How many superhero reboots can we stomach before the bloat causes indigestion?
I’ll believe manufacturing has returned to the US when I see the next Springsteen get a record deal.
Amen, RK –
I can’t stand these endless CGI superhero movies. They cause my brain to melt and leak out of my ears. It is healthier – intellectually – to get stoned and listen to Iron Butterfly.
I’ve been sidelined with a cold the last few days, the crud that’s going around in these parts. Been watching a lot of the old stuff on Amazon prime. Maybe I’m just getting old, but it seems like there was a pretty strong tradition of knocking down the stuffed shirts and feet-of-clay leaders right up until 9/11. Then intrenched after Obama ended the ban on the US government propagandizing the US citizenry. Now it’s just leaders are heroes and the rest of us are sheep.
Said Reverend Lovejoy when he got tricked by Bart into playing “In-Gadda-Vita” (In the Garden of Eden) by “Eye-Iron Butterfly”…after SEVENTEEN minutes…
“Wait a minute! This sounds suspiciously like ‘Rock’ and/or ‘Roll!”
https://youtu.be/ulDC1w1ydLI?si=hIYw1zlbTdID2JlV
There’s no shame in working for a living.
There ought to be a great deal of shame in being a parasite or a sponge. Or in being overly compliant and refusing to think for oneself.
Soon. The worm is beginning to turn.
For President Trumps tariffs to work it’s going to have be a multi step approach.
Start with a lower number like say 7.5% which according to a chart I saw said was what China’s average tariff was.
Step 2 realize that nothing is inherently safe and go with realistic health, safety and environmental regulations; I’m pretty sure a reasonable balance can be found somewhere between dumping cyanide into rivers and putting methane capture devices on the butt end of cows.
Step 3 of course is having an educated work force that is qualified to not only work in factory’s but capable of dealing with technological change; in other words a life time of education awaits us. Lets not forget what RAH said: “Specialization is for insects”.
Step 4, we’re going to have to realize this will take decades but the alternative will be enserfment to a foreign power.
The odds of this happening are not as high as I would like but the alternative is even worse.
Not to mention the UAW and the exorbitant cost of labor for non-skilled work. I know automation and robotics has picked up a lot of slack but, you still have Unions to deal with.
You are a little low on the paint cost, Eric. Just two years ago I picked up a couple gallons of red paint and it was right at $2,000 per gallon. That’s not a typo. It did not include the hardeners that were around $500/gal. Granted, this is top shelf stuff but, it still reflects what you are talking about.
As far as workplace regs, I doubt the Chinese have stainless steel grab handles over the urinals’ either. I’ve only needed those handles when I’ve been three sheets to the wind. Why are they GovCo mandated?
As you said Mark. Low VOC paint is super expensive and I’m not convinced it will last for decades like the older paints did. It would have to suck that after fully restoring your old car the paints peals or fades in five years.
Those grab bars are for handicapped people and those with mobility problems. Lets not forget the lieyars, you fall at the urinal and the first thing they’d say would be “Where were the grab bars”?
Gimme my Allodyne with a side order of lead-based paint.
I was fixin to say the cost of low skill labor at union rates is also a major contributing factor. Remember years ago when the Ford CEO said he wasn’t the lead of an automaker? Rather he was the lead of a big healthcare system.
Arches National Park, being out in the middle of nowhere and run by the US government, has a series of concrete pit toilets at many of the trailheads. There are so many Chinese and Indian tourists that they had to put instructions up on how to use the things. Like basics: Don’t shit on the floor then put it in the toilet. Don’t stand/squat on the toilet.
As for your example of the anti-sway bars on the urinal, that’s why you need to hire someone instead of trying to do it yourself. Everyone gets to be an expert at something. Regulations create jobs. Specialization also means job security. Great system if you’re one of the experts.