Trump is in so far over his head and the real shameful aspect of this is that he is too dim, too arrogant and too self-absorbed to even know it. In addition to that he's being poorly advised by bottom of the barrel administration picks who are not doing him any favors.

 

It's really quite thrilling to see Harvard fighting back, fortunately they are in a position to do so and nearly  the entire educational establishment is rallying behind them and against the "let's try to destroy the American educational system goon".

 

In addition he's being completely outplayed by China, Xi has a much better hand than Trump and Trump runs the risk of losing his base, losing his popularity, and very possibly not even lasting the entire term, if he keeps up this nonsense against China. Trump is a terrible poker player and unfortunately that's a game that requires some intelligence and savvy, none of which Trump has, and in addition Trump is burdened by the fact that he cannot even negotiate his way out of a paper bag. 

 

The art of the deal? 

More like the art of making America considerably less relevant, and spurned by the world. Good work Disaster Don! 

6 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

Of the 6 names mentioned in that post, 4 of them have documented mental issues. The other 2 I don't know, so can't comment on their mental condition, but birds of feather ................

 

But how can you describe the Vice President of America and one the richest men in the world as "bottom feeders"?

 

Do you know what a bottom feeder is?

1 minute ago, BangkokReady said:

 

But how can you describe the Vice President of America and one the richest men in the world as "bottom feeders"?

 

Do you know what a bottom feeder is?

 

Maybe you take some reading classes, because I didn't mention anything about bottom feeders.

 

I said 4 of those mentioned have documented mental issues

5 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

Maybe you take some reading classes, because I didn't mention anything about bottom feeders.

 

You replied like you were the OP.  Who cares about your bogus claims?

5 hours ago, Cameroni said:

Lol, another opinion piece. From MSN no less.

 

China is going down, on her knees. China will kneel before America. And beg for mercy.

Still going with that “master plan” nonsense I see. 
Just exactly at what point in the whole “everyone will bend the knee” delusion will you finally admit he is wrong? When inflation hits record heights? When American business start feeling the real affect of his insane policies and start going out of business in droves? When GDP is hit so bad? When the stock market continues to drop or when the bond market tanks?

These are all happening right now but yeah, you stick with the “if you dont understand then you’re just not a genius like Trump” approach. 
It would almost be worth seeing all this just to rub your nose in it but the consequences for the world are just too great and we hope saner minds will eventually prevail. 

24 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

You think that the Vice President of America and one the richest men in the world are "bottom feeders"???  🤦‍♂️

YES I do!

And that is me being polite about them!

21 minutes ago, johnnybangkok said:

Still going with that “master plan” nonsense I see. 
Just exactly at what point in the whole “everyone will bend the knee” delusion will you finally admit he is wrong? When inflation hits record heights? When American business start feeling the real affect of his insane policies and start going out of business in droves? When GDP is hit so bad? When the stock market continues to drop or when the bond market tanks?

These are all happening right now but yeah, you stick with the “if you dont understand then you’re just not a genius like Trump” approach. 
It would almost be worth seeing all this just to rub your nose in it but the consequences for the world are just too great and we hope saner minds will eventually prevail. 

 

Lol, how is he wrong? He is executing a plan to reshape global trade, devalue the dollar and STILL keep it as a reserve currency. And in the process bringing competitor China to her knees, ie shaving points off their GDP, when they can least afford it.

 

How is he doing anything wrong, pray tell? You're a just a biiased hater who can't see the big picture. America needed to rebuild manufacturing. Just as it needed to curb its bureaucracy. Everything Trump is doing is very good indeed.

 

Inflation?  You thiink you can pin that on Trump? Maybe look at the last 15 years. Not a chance. Insane policies? Reshaping global trade in America's favour is insane? Maybe if you're not mentally competent it can appear so. To the rest of us it is extremely sane.

 

The stock market correctoin was just a correction, it wasn't even a crash technically. Besides the shares were overvalued, it had to come down. The bond market was spooked by the Germans announcing massive debt to rearm, nothing to do with Trump.

 

It looks like indeed you don't understand what's going on and you're not a genius. That would explain why you're not in the White House and Donald J Trump is. And thank God for that.

36 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Xi has a much better hand than Trump

 

How do you figure this?

 

Falling domestic demand, women not having children creating a demographic time bomb, real estate sector crumbling, house prices falling, biggest market worth 400 billion USD taken away.

 

How pray tell does Xi have the better hand, lol?

7 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

He is executing a plan to reshape global trade, devalue the dollar and STILL keep it as a reserve currency. And in the process bringing competitor China to her knees, ie shaving points off their GDP, when they can least afford it.

Please produce an official white house statement that supports that comment!

37 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

 

You replied like you were the OP.  Who cares about your bogus claims?

 

You must be struggling with your MAGA level IQ if you don't know how to read a post. And my claims are not bogus, since they have been well documented from different credible sources over the past months.

Ignorance is bliss

 

6 hours ago, bannork said:

'Complete meltdown': Top Pentagon staffers fired as 'chaos' engulfs Hegseth’s inner circle

Politico reported Friday that three senior Pentagon officials have now been fired as part of the leak investigation: Hegseth senior advisor Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll — who was Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg's chief of staff — have all been officially terminated. 

Additional firings may be announced soon. According to CBS senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs, "at least one uniformed Pentagon official" was also fired in addition to Hegseth's top aides.

 

 

Terminated, an emotive phrase, sounds more dramatic than what it actually is.

 

 

6 hours ago, rough diamond said:

One thing is for sure is that there is NO point in any country retaliating with tariffs against US built merchant ships as there are virtually none.

Too few shipyards and skilled workforce in the US now.

 

 

 

Offset the charges by reducing costs of flags of convenience.

19 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

He is executing a plan

 

Hahaaha, Trump has a plan? At midday he doesn't even remember what he had for breakfast.

 

You should take up a job as standup comedian

15 minutes ago, rough diamond said:

Please produce an official white house statement that supports that comment!

 

He is executing a plan to reshape global trade

 

he clearly has no plan, any fool can see that. i also doubt he even has the capacity to make a plan.

5 hours ago, bubblegum said:

So you are thinking the USA will get China on its knees. Hmm have a lood at BYD mage factory and tell me how the US is going to compete.

 

 

 

The sensible response is to do what the West does best; innovate. The old Henry Ford approach to mass production is dead. Let China invest resource into building massive complexes to build lots of the same thing.

 

One innovative approach is microfactories, coupled with additive manufacturing (for example, 3D-printing) and AI. The West has spent 200+ years building infrastruture. We have a lot of under used real estate, as legacy industries have faded, eg Detroit. Covid has left a surplus of commercial property.

 

Microfactories are factories which are low  volume, but high variety. You make things that people want. A factory in California isn't making things what people in New York want. A factory in New York does that. If the factory is down the road from me, I am not waiting on a 3 week lead time for the factory in California to build what I need, then find a shipping slot in an very complex logistics chain, nor do I need the local distributor having to maintain a ruinously expensive inventory where the numbers are based on a bet.

 

In the medical world, we now have personalised medicine. At one point, that meant, if you had cancer, undergoing various tests, called companion diagnostics, to work out which medicine works best for you. Now it means extracting your cells, and synthesizing a treatment just for you. Its happening now.

 

We have personalised products already; you can order a coffee mug with a holiday snap on it etc. With additive manufacture, the whole concept of tooling goes out of the window. We fully monetize our innovation.

 

Currently, we design a car. We arrange for that car to be made in another country. A factory is built, tooling and presses purchased. Before you know it, knock-off Range Rover Evoques and fake i-phones appear. The fakery might be even coming from your own factory, from the other half your JV partner never lets you see.

 

With additive manufacture, the tooling is code. You don't want that factory making 3-d printed phones, delete the code, remotely lock the machines. If you have anyone in that factory, they will have no clue how to get the thing going again. They are left with a lot of scrap that is quickly written down.

 

Its not a model that can be easily replicated by someone else. China will find it very difficult to make something that exactly fits that New Yorker's requirements, because they are in China. They could do it if they choose to fit out a microfactory in New York; all very fair competition.. In China, their massive factories, with employee towns become obsolte. To implement the microfactory model, they need a diverse consumer market. We have that. They don't. Oh they have a consumer market, but they want lots of the same thing. We all want different things. I want a pair of trousers that actually fit without a belt to hold things up.  I want a car that I can park in my city, not park in some other city on the other side of the world. I don't want a fridge, where I have to leaf through 50 different languages before I find the English bit. And speaking of food, I want to do my bit supporting the local farmers, and apologies, not subsidising the Aussie ranch owner, but I don't want to do that in a way thats turning the clock back 100 years  and poking around at slabs of fly encrusted meat at the local market, where its "cash only mate".

 

 

Anyway there could be other approaches. We need to play to our strengths, and being imitators isn't one of them

45 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

 

How do you figure this?

 

Falling domestic demand, women not having children creating a demographic time bomb, real estate sector crumbling, house prices falling, biggest market worth 400 billion USD taken away.

 

How pray tell does Xi have the better hand, lol?

Just for a starter. 

 

China's response to U.S. tariffs stems from its focus on economic resilience and long-term strategy. Several reasons highlight why China adopts this firm stance:
1. Economic Diversification: China's economy is not solely reliant on exports to the U.S. It has strengthened trade relations with other countries and regions, such as the European Union and ASEAN, diversifying its economic partnerships to reduce dependence.
2. Domestic Market Growth: With the world's largest population, China has a substantial domestic market that supports economic stability. Increased consumption and investment within the country provide a buffer against external challenges.
3. Innovation and Self-Reliance: China has been heavily investing in technological advancement and manufacturing capabilities, aiming to reduce reliance on imported goods and improve self-sufficiency.
4. Global Trade Networks: Initiatives like the Belt and Road project foster international economic cooperation, creating alternative trade routes and opportunities.
5. Strategic Reserve Management: China's ample reserves of essential materials and goods allow it to withstand short-term trade disruptions.
Ultimately, China's resilience is rooted in strategic planning, diversified economic activities, and its ability to adapt to global shifts.

 

And none of this takes into account the massive reserves China holds in US bonds, their unwillingness to continue to finance US debt as is the case with many other nations now, and their extraordinary hacking abilities which could potentially cripple the US Military. 

 

I could go on. 

7 hours ago, bannork said:

The Trump administration on Thursday announced new fees on Chinese-built and Chinese-owned ships docking at U.S. ports. The fees are part of a broader effort to weaken China's dominance in shipbuilding and maritime transport, after U.S. trade officials concluded that China’s shipbuilding sector benefited from unfair competitive advantages.

Chinese-run ships will face charges of $50 per net ton on each trip to the United States beginning in mid-October. That will increase to $140 in three years. Additionally, even non-Chinese carriers using ships built by that country face fees of $18 initially, and that, too, will rise.

"Because Chinese ships make up a large and growing share of the global fleet, carriers will invariably pass on the costs to customers," the Wall Street Journal warned,  "None of this industrial policy is likely to make American shipbuilding great again. Like the tariffs, they will be a deadweight on the U.S. economy."

'Deadweight on the economy': WSJ's conservative editors warn Trump 'whacking' Americans

 

 

Or, the Chinese vessels will bypass US port and just head to a port in Canada or Mexico. 

Not the ideal solution, but just a small  diversion would hurt the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The intent of  charging the fees on any ship built in China will hurt US commerce. Alot of the smaller mid level cargo vessels are Chinese built now because the profitability wasn't there for domestic ship builders. 

 

Trump really doesn't consider the consequences of his actions.

1 hour ago, johnnybangkok said:

Still going with that “master plan” nonsense I see. 
Just exactly at what point in the whole “everyone will bend the knee” delusion will you finally admit he is wrong? When inflation hits record heights? When American business start feeling the real affect of his insane policies and start going out of business in droves? When GDP is hit so bad? When the stock market continues to drop or when the bond market tanks?

 

Its the Black Knight theory

 

 

 

Is it the "Tis But a Scratch" or "Its just a flesh wound" stage?

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Trump is a terrible poker player and unfortunately that's a game that requires some intelligence and savvy, none of which Trump has, and in addition Trump is burdened by the fact that he cannot even negotiate his way out of a paper bag. 

 

Terrible poker player?  You must be kidding!

 

He's like the only man in the world ever to go bankrupt running a casino.  And he did it six times.

 

And the cherry on top is that he had one casino go bankrupt three times.

 

I don't know about you, but shirley, that's the man I want tearing down the world economy to rebuild in his image!

 

Winning!©

4 hours ago, rough diamond said:

Apples and oranges!

 

 

And the problem with those PPP rankings, China can really only go up. The US can go down.

 

Plus all thse foreigners living in Thailand suggests living standards might not be hunky dorey back home for many.

 

 

13 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

NY Times headline now:

 

Supreme Court, for Now, Blocks Deportations of Venezuelan Migrants
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented

 

 

This order was issued by the US Supreme Court at (not their usual time) 1 AM EDT:

 

The Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court.

 

https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/041925zr_c18e.pdf

 

12 hours ago, bannork said:

'Complete meltdown': Top Pentagon staffers fired as 'chaos' engulfs Hegseth’s inner circle

Politico reported Friday that three senior Pentagon officials have now been fired as part of the leak investigation: Hegseth senior advisor Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll — who was Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg's chief of staff — have all been officially terminated. 

Additional firings may be announced soon. According to CBS senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs, "at least one uniformed Pentagon official" was also fired in addition to Hegseth's top aides.

 

But the main criminal in that fiasco was Hegseth along with the other senior folks who using SIGNAL for classified chats should ALL be terminated IMHO.

Hegseth got his job because he is a "disrupter" and now he's just doing the disrupting.

7 hours ago, MicroB said:

 

 

Offset the charges by reducing costs of flags of convenience.

A flag of convenance is an insurance job unrelated to the country the ship was built in,

9 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

 

You think that the Vice President of America and one the richest men in the world are "bottom feeders"???  🤦‍♂️

 

This gives you zero credibility.  🙄

 

I did not write the OP. Where does the article claim Vance is on of the richest men in USA?

25 minutes ago, rough diamond said:

A flag of convenance is an insurance job unrelated to the country the ship was built in,

 

I know.

 

It costs about $6m per year more to flag a US vessel. A container ship will typically have to pay $3-4m per US port call.

 

There are 200 US flagged container ships, of which 30 are US made.

 

Vancouver Port and Manzanillo are going to do really well out of this. Los Angeles and Long Beach account for 40% of trade into the US by sea.

 

I forsee the effective end of the US flagged merchant fleet. The two main west coast ports have a combined revenue of $1.5bn. The two ports handle 4000 vessals a year. Call it $400k per ship. Fees are now increasing 10x. Canadian and Mexican stevedores and drivers are going to earn a lot of overtime. Increase truck traffic at the border will ironically  result in increased illegal migration, and further increases in the cost of border patrols.  It will be like the mess after Brexit, x100, when the UK had 30 miles of stuck trucks at the border because of insufficient numbers of inspectors. And that will impact traffic both ways. Containers going in have to go out, loaded.

 

Ports in Europe are now congested with Chinese shipping transferring cargoes. With a $3m charge, it might become worthwhile to transfer the cargo to some crappy clapped out American made ship to avoid the charges. Make sure that American made ship sails in with a red flag on the stern.

10 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Just for a starter. 

 

China's response to U.S. tariffs stems from its focus on economic resilience and long-term strategy. Several reasons highlight why China adopts this firm stance:
1. Economic Diversification: China's economy is not solely reliant on exports to the U.S. It has strengthened trade relations with other countries and regions, such as the European Union and ASEAN, diversifying its economic partnerships to reduce dependence.
2. Domestic Market Growth: With the world's largest population, China has a substantial domestic market that supports economic stability. Increased consumption and investment within the country provide a buffer against external challenges.
3. Innovation and Self-Reliance: China has been heavily investing in technological advancement and manufacturing capabilities, aiming to reduce reliance on imported goods and improve self-sufficiency.
4. Global Trade Networks: Initiatives like the Belt and Road project foster international economic cooperation, creating alternative trade routes and opportunities.
5. Strategic Reserve Management: China's ample reserves of essential materials and goods allow it to withstand short-term trade disruptions.
Ultimately, China's resilience is rooted in strategic planning, diversified economic activities, and its ability to adapt to global shifts.

 

And none of this takes into account the massive reserves China holds in US bonds, their unwillingness to continue to finance US debt as is the case with many other nations now, and their extraordinary hacking abilities which could potentially cripple the US Military. 

 

I could go on. 

What you're discussing is the Chinese mindset. A long term perspective.  Even if we assume some or all what you say is true, the real and immediate issues facing China may overwhelm that mindset, at least over the short term.  And don't forget, China has a recent history of not keeping its promises about international trade.  What have they done?  They say yes to some deal, and then they don't do much.  Business as usual, more or less.  Whether it's deals they made with Trump during his first term, or the agreement they made when joining the WTO, China agrees to one thing, and then often does another.  Or, they comply, but only a little.  I could go on with other examples, but you get the picture. 

 

What happens next?  Don't forget the concept of "face" in Asia.  You might be told "yes," and then nothing happens.  It happens every day, even with trade agreements. 

 

Short term internal politics may well force China into making a deal with Trump. That has happened before.  How Trump prevents the same or similar outcome?  That's why Trump is focused on the overall balance of trade and not simply tariff levels on different categories.  

 

I'm not sure what will happen next, exactly, but look for a deal sometime soon, even if it's illusory. 

10 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Just for a starter. 

 

China's response to U.S. tariffs stems from its focus on economic resilience and long-term strategy. Several reasons highlight why China adopts this firm stance:
1. Economic Diversification: China's economy is not solely reliant on exports to the U.S. It has strengthened trade relations with other countries and regions, such as the European Union and ASEAN, diversifying its economic partnerships to reduce dependence.
2. Domestic Market Growth: With the world's largest population, China has a substantial domestic market that supports economic stability. Increased consumption and investment within the country provide a buffer against external challenges.
3. Innovation and Self-Reliance: China has been heavily investing in technological advancement and manufacturing capabilities, aiming to reduce reliance on imported goods and improve self-sufficiency.
4. Global Trade Networks: Initiatives like the Belt and Road project foster international economic cooperation, creating alternative trade routes and opportunities.
5. Strategic Reserve Management: China's ample reserves of essential materials and goods allow it to withstand short-term trade disruptions.
Ultimately, China's resilience is rooted in strategic planning, diversified economic activities, and its ability to adapt to global shifts.

 

And none of this takes into account the massive reserves China holds in US bonds, their unwillingness to continue to finance US debt as is the case with many other nations now, and their extraordinary hacking abilities which could potentially cripple the US Military. 

 

I could go on. 

 

Thanks Mike, but some of the things you mention are not cards that Xi Jinping actually holds.

 

For instance you talk about China holding US Treasury Bonds. However, China cannot sell them in large numbers as that would raise US interest rates and make the Yuan more expensive, which would impede Chinese exports which is not what China wants.

 

You say China is not wholly reliant on exports to the US, there's the EU and Asean. However, the EU herself has slapped tariffs on Chinese products. So have Turkey, Indonesia and Brazil and many other countries. The reason is of course Chinese dumping, ie the Chinese flooding foreign markets with the results of their insane overproduction. In fact many Asean countries are now very afraid that a tsunami of cheap Chinese products will come their way since America closed its doors to Chinese products. So tariffs on Chiinese products from Asean countries look on the cards in the future. Vietnam has already said it will be willing to stop the practice of Chinese pass through exports to the US, as part of its negotiation offer to the US. Trump's tarffis have a beneficial effect for the US far and above money inflow, and they have a negative effect on China far and above the lost busines that would result in the US.

 

China continues to be highly dependent on exports by the way. It is true that the Chinese leadership, for obvious reasons, has taken steps to reduce this dependence on exports, so it came down from 35% of GDP but even in 2023 the Chinese GDP still owed almost 20% of its GDP to exports. That is 3.4 trillion USD. So yes, if that were to fall away or significantly reduce it would be a major problem for China. Despite efforts to reduce this export dependency.

 

The domestic market in China is very depressed at the moment, China is in deflation, part of the reason is China's wanton overproduction, for instance they have overproduced 1.4 billion housing units which are all unwanted and lie empty now. This has caused house values to fall in China, just as the Chinese middle class was startingj to buy houses, thereby lowering domestic demand. There is also the issue of Chinese women not having children and the graying of the Chinese population.

 

As for the Belt and Road Initiative fostering international co-operation, it has also created major disputes with other nations. The Tanzanian president John Magufuli for instance said "the loan agreements of BRI projects in his country were "exploitative and awkward". He said Chinese financiers set "tough conditions that can only be accepted by mad people," because his government was asked to give them a guarantee of 33 years and an extensive lease of 99 years on a port construction. Magufuli said Chinese contractors wanted to take the land as their own, but his government had to compensate them for drilling the project construction.

 

In fact BRI is largely a neo-colonialist project, a road that goes only one way, to benefit China. India for instance, a major opponent of China's BRI, has illustrated how China is using the "debt trap" to exploit African countries with BRI deals. Besides it is hard to see, how countries like Zambia, Romania or Bangladesh will be able to absorb significant amounts of China's insane overproduction.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative

 

Of course China will withstand the trade war, it will continue to exist, we have seen already how Russia was able to survive and grow even with crippling sanctions by the West. However, the question is how much would China have grown without the tariffs and trade war? There is no doubt at all that Trump is taking bread off of China's table and shaving many GDP points off China's economy.

17 hours ago, jas007 said:

Aa I've said, this thing with China will be over soon. Probably within a month.  At this point, why don't you sit back, watch, and see if I'm not right.  I have pretty good sources. 

What a pity that you don't name and link your sources yo your posts.

 

You seem to believe that people will accept your words as the truth. Personally I never accept the words of any Trump supporter. Their words are the same as Trump's, who is a confirmed serial liar.

8 minutes ago, billd766 said:

What a pity that you don't name and link your sources yo your posts.

 

You seem to believe that people will accept your words as the truth. Personally I never accept the words of any Trump supporter. Their words are the same as Trump's, who is a confirmed serial liar.

You misunderstand.  I don't care whether you listen to me or not.  I'm just stating my opinion.  All I ask is that, rather than argue and ask for "sources," just sit back and wait a month or so, and see if I'm not right.

 

For your purposes, my source is me.