Trump Starts Global Tariff Wall, Thailand Hit with 36% Tax

[soalbundy]

4 hours ago, LosLobo said:

Trump’s tariffs—aka taxes—mirror Hoover’s 1930 Smoot-Hawley disaster. Supposed to protect U.S. industries, they instead raised costs, triggered retaliation, failed to revive manufacturing, and helped plunge the world into the Great Depression.
 

His obsession with trade deficits is pure economic illiteracy. A deficit isn’t a loss; it often signals a strong consumer economy. But bully Trump sees it as a scoreboard, and his policies will backfire—hurting businesses, consumers, and global trade, potentially steering us toward another depression.
 

But hey, when has he ever let history or basic economics get in the way of a bad decision?

Give him some credit, he owned a casino and filed for bankruptcy, that takes some doing, I thought the house always wins.

[kwilco]

35 minutes ago, chrisbangkok said:

Why would there be , you don't offend the person that's bankrolled you for the last few decades .

It'll be change of name to Comrade Trumpivich soon in the White Kremlin 😀

 

you are stating the "bleedin' obvious" - you seem to be one of those people who doesn't think a joke is funny until they have explained it.

[ukrules]

2 hours ago, Screaming said:

Thailand just capitulated! Trump is making America great again. MAGA

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/2994532/thailand-will-negotiate-with-us-on-tariffs-says-paetongtarn

 

 

 

There won't be any negotiation, if they lower the taxes the reciprocity will be automatic, at least for now.

I would like to point out that what Trump did here was actually very generous - he only applied a 50% reciprocity.

Why would he do that?

I suspect it's because if these countries do not alter their tariffs then the rest will come.

So for Thailand that rate could double.

No negotiation required, just act and reciprocity will be delivered.
 

This is the exact kind of thing I've been wishing for for a very long time and as far as I'm concerned it doesn't go far enough - there should be full reciprocity for all things - like citizenship for example - if there's some arbitrary number per year like 100 then that number should exist in the US as well. Same for permanent residency, land ownership rights, etc.

All countries should do this.

[vinny41]

35 minutes ago, Bannoi said:

The best way to predict the future is to study the past.

 

Trump is repeating the policies of the 1930's not a particularly good idea.

 

I've just looked according to Trump the UK imposes 20% tariffs on goods from America that is a lie.

 

What he is refering to is the 20% VAT that is in effect a sales tax that is imposed on just about everything sold in the Uk no matter where it originates from even domestically produced.

 

The EU has VAT as well Trump is obviously not being truthful with the figures or he's too thick to understand which I doubt, more like he's playing to the MAGA faithful and those either too stupid to understand or just accept everything he says as gospel

 

When other countries retaliate and impose their own tariffs things are going to get very expensive in America of course that also means a lot more money going to the treasury collected from ordinary Americans that are paying the higher tariff prices.

 

The result of all that will enable Trump to give massive tax breaks to the millionaires and billionaires that bankrolled him.

 

 

"I've just looked according to Trump the UK imposes 20% tariffs on goods from America that is a lie." you are correct with your statement it actually 30% that the UK imposes on goods from America 10% tariffs plus 20% VAT

Importing a car from the UK to the USA charges were December 2024 import tariffs 2.5% value of car plus 0.5% harbour tax total 3%

Importing a car from the USA to the UK 10% import tariff of the value of the vehicle plus 20% Vat Total 30%

[Digitalbanana]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Donald Trump has announced retaliatory tariffs on countries with which the U.S. has a trade deficit. The new tariffs, starting at 10%, affect a wide range of countries, with Thailand facing a 36% tariff.

The Donald is literally holding up a sign full of lies. The column labeled "Tariffs Charged To The US" including for example 72% for Thailand is complete lies. 72% is a trade imbalance, not tariff! Some idiots think this is one and the same thing. The reason why Thailand sends more stuff to the US than the US sends here is common market sense, something a Donald follower does not seem to possess.

This is BS and DECEPTION at the highest level, as it doesn't get any higher than the White House. The trade imbalances described as "tariffs" by the White House in this context are based on goods only, not goods and services. This selective focus allows them to maximize the perceived deficit, justify higher tariffs, and target physical imports, but it also opens them up to accusations of cherry-picking data. If you’re looking at real-world trade, like a Thai person buying from Amazon, the situation is more complex—services (like Amazon’s cloud computing) and digital goods might not face tariffs at all, while physical goods could face the 7% import duty, which is unrelated to the White House’s 72% figure.

[digger70]

48 minutes ago, Dibbler said:

Do you not understand that it matters not whether Thailand or any of the countries on the list previously or currently imposed any tariff at all on the US. Even countries that do not export to the US at all, even jurisdictions that don't even have a human population like Macquarie and Heard Islands (populated entirely by penguins), were also targeted with a tariff. The tariff are completely random and have nothing to do with reciprocity or value of existing trade to the US. The orange maniac and his financial gurus have made it all up!

If you believe that than there's something wrong with you.  

[Yagoda]

32 minutes ago, animalmagic said:

The aboriginal people of america do not seem particularly free or unoppressed.

They have casinos they can do anything they want and feel any way they want. Ka-ching on the slot machines and black check tables

[billd766]

4 hours ago, lordgrinz said:

 

Those of us with cash on hand will buy up all the discounted securities.

And how many trillions of $USD do you have cash in hand?

[glennamy]

Maybe the tariffs levied against US goods need to be addressed. All these people are bleating but say nothing about their imposed tariffs.

 

This will not affect Americans at all. Just stop buying their goods and produce them in-house, thus boosting the US!

 

Thailand, like all other countries, will negotiate a deal.

 

 

BTW, I'm not American.

[jonclark]

9 hours ago, hotsun said:

A photo for you to understand. Americans are the white guy there in the middle, the rest of the world are the two girls

But the most important and unanswered question in your analogy is..did the guy in the middle (america) have a good night? Was he milked for all he was worth? And did he like it? 

[SHA 2 BKK]

46 minutes ago, Thaindrew said:

well you need to put 10% on now as its all reciprocal apparently

Nope.  Australia wont do that.  It’s a tax on Australians.  We don’t believe in Taxation Without Representation.   

[digger70]

41 minutes ago, Thaindrew said:

its been shown the average Thai import tariff on US goods is less than 10%, the new rates are nothing to do with recprocal tariffs, he has calculated the trade gap as a % and levied half of that as a new tariff on top of existing tariffs - he hasn't called it that though of course but thats what the analysis of the figures show. So now Thai should actually increase tariff rates to make the tariffs reciprocal

That seems a bit strange  if I import a car  it will cost about 200% of the cars value so a 30K car cost 90 K. 🙏 

That's more than 10%  , Someone is getting a lot of Money.😇

[Thaindrew]

21 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

"I've just looked according to Trump the UK imposes 20% tariffs on goods from America that is a lie." you are correct with your statement it actually 30% that the UK imposes on goods from America 10% tariffs plus 20% VAT

Importing a car from the UK to the USA charges were December 2024 import tariffs 2.5% value of car plus 0.5% harbour tax total 3%

Importing a car from the USA to the UK 10% import tariff of the value of the vehicle plus 20% Vat Total 30%

its the importer that pays the duty and VAT, its not imposed on the US - so yes the importer pays the VAT, when he sells the car, he collect VAT on the sale, and sends the govt the difference so as to claim the original VAT back - its the same as sales tax, US has plenty of that right?

[sambum]

9 hours ago, Jingthing said:

At this rate no republican legislator will be having a town hall ever again. 

Yes, Trump won, but almost nobody voted for what he is actually doing.

Bait and switch. It's time for Americans to take to the streets. 

 

"but almost nobody voted for what he is actually doing."

 

As happened in the UK with SIR Keith "All - ALL pensioners will be better off under Labour" Starmer - all lies and deceit!

[ukrules]

4 minutes ago, glennamy said:

Thailand, like all other countries, will negotiate a deal.

 

Very little to negotiate here, reduce tariffs on one side and they will come down on the other side - do nothing and there's plenty of room for them to increase and match it 1:1 which would be double the current rate.

 

There may be other things to negotiate with from the Thai side though - like that $280 million 'consulate' they built in Chiang Mai

[black tabby12345]

Does he really know Who Pays the Tariff?

 

It is the importers of the foreign goods.

Not the exporters.

 

So higher tariff means, greater amount of financial burden(Import Taxes) on own population.

 

 

[tomazbodner]

32 minutes ago, jas007 said:

What's made in America these days, in any event?

Microsoft Windows, Office, Azure cloud, Google cloud, google ads, Amazon, AWS, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Netflix, Disney Hotstar, HBO, Apple Music, Apple TV, Boeing aircraft, military equipment and weapons, agricultural products like potatoes, apples, oranges, pistachio, almonds, peanuts, processed fruits like juices, cereals, etc., cosmetics,...

 

Where US is most vulnerable however are not their products but services. Should some significant tariffs hit the service sector, all those millionaires around Trump would very quickly turn against him.

[Digitalbanana]

Here's a full list of tariffs applied unilaterally.... some of these locations don't even possess any human inhabitants but have been hit with 10% reciprocal tariffs!

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2025/04/02/heres-the-full-list-of-trumps-reciprocal-tariffs-announced-wednesday/

[Elkski]

I 💬 NK Trump's tactic will work.  3 more years of his crazy will have the economy And more so messed up who would want to run for president in 2026.  

 

I've always thought it crazy that Thailand had such high tariffs on cars and booze.  Not sure why these were not addressed sooner.  

[Lacessit]

44 minutes ago, John Drake said:

 

It's clear. Look at the list. Southeast Asia is the target. Central and South America essentially got a pass. So did Mexico, Canada, Australia, UK, and New Zealand. I expect in those latter instances that negotiations will quickly lower them to negligible amounts.

Any reductions will be too late.

 

The consumers of many countries will follow Canada's lead, and boycott American products.

 

What does America produce that the average consumer can't buy elsewhere?

[Ajarnbrian]

31 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

"I've just looked according to Trump the UK imposes 20% tariffs on goods from America that is a lie." you are correct with your statement it actually 30% that the UK imposes on goods from America 10% tariffs plus 20% VAT

Importing a car from the UK to the USA charges were December 2024 import tariffs 2.5% value of car plus 0.5% harbour tax total 3%

Importing a car from the USA to the UK 10% import tariff of the value of the vehicle plus 20% Vat Total 30%

You’re confused. VAT is a sales tax, not a tariff. It’s imposed on all British made or imported goods. Tariffs are a tax on imports

[Cameroni]

1 minute ago, Lacessit said:

The consumers of many countries will follow Canada's lead, and boycott American products.

 

Oh no, will Thailand rename the Americano into "Thalandiano"?

 

Like Canada did with the Canadiano?

 

How will the US survive?

[ukrules]

7 minutes ago, Elkski said:

3 more years of his crazy will have the economy And more so messed up who would want to run for president in 2026.

 

That will be a job for President Vance.

[jas007]

11 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Microsoft Windows, Office, Azure cloud, Google cloud, google ads, Amazon, AWS, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Netflix, Disney Hotstar, HBO, Apple Music, Apple TV, Boeing aircraft, military equipment and weapons, agricultural products like potatoes, apples, oranges, pistachio, almonds, peanuts, processed fruits like juices, cereals, etc., cosmetics,...

 

Where US is most vulnerable however are not their products but services. Should some significant tariffs hit the service sector, all those millionaires around Trump would very quickly turn against him.

So, what's the alternative to all those tech names?  Do they have any real competition, or will people just pay the price, whatever it is?  

[kwak250]

10 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Any reductions will be too late.

 

The consumers of many countries will follow Canada's lead, and boycott American products.

 

What does America produce that the average consumer can't buy elsewhere?

US wine won't be missed

[Lacessit]

46 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Give him some credit, he owned a casino and filed for bankruptcy, that takes some doing, I thought the house always wins.

IIRC it was three casinos, which takes even more doing. Once is perhaps understandable, three times proves he is not a businessman's bootlace.

[Lacessit]

1 minute ago, kwak250 said:

US wine won't be missed

Neither will American cars, or Harleys. Except perhaps by knuckle-draggers.

[kwak250]

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

IIRC it was three casinos, which takes even more doing. Once is perhaps understandable, three times proves he is not a businessman's bootlace.

Did he try to tax 36% on all winnings?

[black tabby12345]

Major Thai exports to USA.

 

Office machines and car parts, broadcasting equipment, semiconductor devices, natural rubber...

And this kingdom is the world's 9th largest exporter to America.

 

Thailand's major export to usa - Google Search

 

So, if US cuts Thai exports by heavier import duties, supplies of these goods to Thai  domestic market will increase(therefore price will go down?).

 

I remember one similar phenomenon in the past.

When previous military regime met EU's import ban, price of Thai seafood(leading Thai exports to Europe) went down.

 

 

 

[10baht]

5 hours ago, Thaindrew said:

take a look where your MAGA cap was made, still wearing it now? 

Never wore it and never will. I think Trump is a little overboard, but truly who new these countries were tariffing the States that much. My take is drop ALL tariff except for truly national defense purposes. BUT for the not so faint of heart this is a great buying opportunity. And if any of the back of the napkin economist who think the dollar is dead: 555. I can tell by their comments they haven't a clue about what actually makes a reserve currency a "reserve currency" . If they are brave enough to suggest a new reserve currency let them speak up and I will not make too much of a fool of them.