President Trump and US politics catchall

[Flockwitt]

Ooof. Zero ships left for the USA on Friday from China. If it wasn't for the Covid extremes it would have been pretty much inconceviable. That's catastrophic stuff for a bunch of companies on both sides of the Pacific. The tariffs are too high to do business and everybody is just finger-crossing that a deal is brokered or a pause done. About the only silver lining is that it's May. There's genuine financial pain for people and companies behind this figure.

All utterly pointless. Feck Trump and the horse he rode in on.

[Biffer]

Ooof. Zero ships left for the USA on Friday from China. If it wasn't for the Covid extremes it would have been pretty much inconceviable. That's catastrophic stuff for a bunch of companies on both sides of the Pacific. The tariffs are too high to do business and everybody is just finger-crossing that a deal is brokered or a pause done. About the only silver lining is that it's May. There's genuine financial pain for people and companies behind this figure.

All utterly pointless. Feck Trump and the horse he rode in on.

Even if they come to a deal tomorrow, it’ll be a couple of months at least before you’d get stuff arriving in the us in any worthwhile quantity.

[fishfoodie]

Ooof. Zero ships left for the USA on Friday from China. If it wasn't for the Covid extremes it would have been pretty much inconceviable. That's catastrophic stuff for a bunch of companies on both sides of the Pacific. The tariffs are too high to do business and everybody is just finger-crossing that a deal is brokered or a pause done. About the only silver lining is that it's May. There's genuine financial pain for people and companies behind this figure.

All utterly pointless. Feck Trump and the horse he rode in on.

Even if they come to a deal tomorrow, it’ll be a couple of months at least before you’d get stuff arriving in the us in any worthwhile quantity.

Plus as the experts have pointed out, now is when they'd usually be ordering stuff for Christmas, so manufacturers can plan to fill orders, so this fuckwittery has now cratered, Back to school, Black Friday, & Christmas for retailers in the US !

[Hal Jordan]

Well, he's out of jail and making money (which he'll burn through like he uses it for fuel), so that's OK. Fuck everyone else in the entire world.

Merrick Garland was a gutless coward for not dragging Trump's arse to the clink.

[Flockwitt]

Ooof. Zero ships left for the USA on Friday from China. If it wasn't for the Covid extremes it would have been pretty much inconceviable. That's catastrophic stuff for a bunch of companies on both sides of the Pacific. The tariffs are too high to do business and everybody is just finger-crossing that a deal is brokered or a pause done. About the only silver lining is that it's May. There's genuine financial pain for people and companies behind this figure.

All utterly pointless. Feck Trump and the horse he rode in on.

Even if they come to a deal tomorrow, it’ll be a couple of months at least before you’d get stuff arriving in the us in any worthwhile quantity.

Plus as the experts have pointed out, now is when they'd usually be ordering stuff for Christmas, so manufacturers can plan to fill orders, so this fuckwittery has now cratered, Back to school, Black Friday, & Christmas for retailers in the US !

Yes and no. That’s what I meant by it being May. There is still time for companies to re-act in time for Christmas orders and/or a bunch of product development is underway behind the scenes which will still meet the time line. But the window is rapidly closing. And when that window closes and the product programs get cancelled and the forecasts are slashed again there will be another bit of bad news for the end of year stock market reports.

[fishfoodie]

Even if they come to a deal tomorrow, it’ll be a couple of months at least before you’d get stuff arriving in the us in any worthwhile quantity.

Plus as the experts have pointed out, now is when they'd usually be ordering stuff for Christmas, so manufacturers can plan to fill orders, so this fuckwittery has now cratered, Back to school, Black Friday, & Christmas for retailers in the US !

Yes and no. That’s what I meant by it being May. There is still time for companies to re-act in time for Christmas orders and/or a bunch of product development is underway behind the scenes which will still meet the time line. But the window is rapidly closing. And when that window closes and the product programs get cancelled and the forecasts are slashed again there will be another bit of bad news for the end of year stock market reports.

Yeah, but what is "react" ?

For a lot of them it's going to be a choice between throwing all their money on Red & spinning the wheel & praying; or just keeping their money in their pockets & not gambling on the hubris of an imbecile !

They are dealing with someone who has no conception of how their business works, & has no interest in being educated as to the fundamentals.

If you're a farmer in the US, you can't just, "react", to his idiocy now, & plant something you can sell to somewhere else other than the Soya you have planted & planned to sell to China; the die is cast, & if nothing changes between now & harvest you're fucked !!!!

If you're a factory in China punching out Barbies for the US, you can't just retool & start stamping out something for sale in Europe, you'll have to spend a lot of money on the off chance, so you're better off laying people off, or cutting hours & producing what you know you can sell, & then hoping you'll get a decision you are confident enough in that you can pivot off.

That's the real issue for the global economy, it been left in the hand of someone with the attention span & intellect of a senile pigeon, so who the fuck knows what he'll say or do in a hours time, let alone a months ????

Uncertainty FUCKS Business !!!

[Flockwitt]

Absolutely. It’s why the shipments are being cancelled. Businesses don’t know if Trumps tariffs will be 20% or 200% tomorrow.

[Yeeb]

Slight sidetrack but was at a kids bday party and got speaking to the only other man there who was the guy running the Photo Booth thing. Nice guy, British & American parents , after about ten mins chat he starts saying a few things that made even I think ‘hmm that’s a bit weird’, and then about 15 mins later in still comes the unsurprising relevation he’s a huge Trump fan. Spoke to him as amused me greatly how pleasant , forthright and detailed were his explanations for every topic under the sun, yet being an absolute mentalist. It’s rare that I talk to people in real life that unintentionally amuse me, but it was such entertaining bollocks I could not stop listening.

Made my speil about micks / unfunny saffas / pool shitters etc seem very tame and sane in comparison. How tariffs work was a complete gem of failure to understand who pays what , how not necessarily every product currently imported into the US has a domestically available equivalent etc

I hadn’t met an actual Trump fan before that I know of, but some / many / most of them must clearly be as crazy as this Photo Booth guy.

[SaintK]

Nothing to see here!

Donald Trump has indicated he is ready to accept a luxury plane being offered to the US president as a gift from Qatar’s royal family, almost immediately igniting accusations of bribery and corruption as well as commensurate criticism. Earlier on Sunday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, ABC reported that the Trump administration was girding itself to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8, a jumbo jet from the Qatari royals that was estimated to be worth about $400m and which has been described as a “flying palace”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news ... ift-qatar

[Flockwitt]

And the tariff drop with China comes as a 90 day pause. Sold as a win... when all it's doing is adding uncertainty. You're supposed to forecasting and purchasing for the Christmas surge over this period - now you're potentially screwed if you do and screwed if you don't. What a shite sandwich.

[Biffer]

Nothing to see here!

Donald Trump has indicated he is ready to accept a luxury plane being offered to the US president as a gift from Qatar’s royal family, almost immediately igniting accusations of bribery and corruption as well as commensurate criticism. Earlier on Sunday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, ABC reported that the Trump administration was girding itself to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8, a jumbo jet from the Qatari royals that was estimated to be worth about $400m and which has been described as a “flying palace”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news ... ift-qatar

Are Qatar not a supporter of the Houthis?

[Biffer]

And the tariff drop with China comes as a 90 day pause. Sold as a win... when all it's doing is adding uncertainty. You're supposed to forecasting and purchasing for the Christmas surge over this period - now you're potentially screwed if you do and screwed if you don't. What a shite sandwich.

Guarantees the ports in LA, San Francisco and Seattle will stay pretty empty

[Uncle fester]

And the tariff drop with China comes as a 90 day pause. Sold as a win... when all it's doing is adding uncertainty. You're supposed to forecasting and purchasing for the Christmas surge over this period - now you're potentially screwed if you do and screwed if you don't. What a shite sandwich.

You work in supply chain/logistics?

[Flockwitt]

And the tariff drop with China comes as a 90 day pause. Sold as a win... when all it's doing is adding uncertainty. You're supposed to forecasting and purchasing for the Christmas surge over this period - now you're potentially screwed if you do and screwed if you don't. What a shite sandwich.

Guarantees the ports in LA, San Francisco and Seattle will stay pretty empty

Probably be a surge now to get what goods they can in while they can I'd suggest. The shipping companies won't be playing nice either. $$$...

[Uncle fester]

Nothing to see here!

Donald Trump has indicated he is ready to accept a luxury plane being offered to the US president as a gift from Qatar’s royal family, almost immediately igniting accusations of bribery and corruption as well as commensurate criticism. Earlier on Sunday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, ABC reported that the Trump administration was girding itself to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8, a jumbo jet from the Qatari royals that was estimated to be worth about $400m and which has been described as a “flying palace”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news ... ift-qatar

Imagine this was being gifted to a dem president!

[tabascoboy]

Nothing to see here!

Donald Trump has indicated he is ready to accept a luxury plane being offered to the US president as a gift from Qatar’s royal family, almost immediately igniting accusations of bribery and corruption as well as commensurate criticism. Earlier on Sunday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, ABC reported that the Trump administration was girding itself to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8, a jumbo jet from the Qatari royals that was estimated to be worth about $400m and which has been described as a “flying palace”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news ... ift-qatar

Imagine this was being gifted to a dem president!

[Flockwitt]

And the tariff drop with China comes as a 90 day pause. Sold as a win... when all it's doing is adding uncertainty. You're supposed to forecasting and purchasing for the Christmas surge over this period - now you're potentially screwed if you do and screwed if you don't. What a shite sandwich.

You work in supply chain/logistics?

Had a career in product development and supply out of Taiwan and China.

[Biffer]

And the tariff drop with China comes as a 90 day pause. Sold as a win... when all it's doing is adding uncertainty. You're supposed to forecasting and purchasing for the Christmas surge over this period - now you're potentially screwed if you do and screwed if you don't. What a shite sandwich.

Guarantees the ports in LA, San Francisco and Seattle will stay pretty empty

Probably be a surge now to get what goods they can in while they can I'd suggest. The shipping companies won't be playing nice either. $$$...

I mean, 30-40 day shipping time, plus manufacturing time, plus all the other orders/contracts stuff, might be tight-ish? Plus the roll the dice possibility of someone having a hissy fit and slapping them back up while they're mid pacific

[Uncle fester]

And the tariff drop with China comes as a 90 day pause. Sold as a win... when all it's doing is adding uncertainty. You're supposed to forecasting and purchasing for the Christmas surge over this period - now you're potentially screwed if you do and screwed if you don't. What a shite sandwich.

You work in supply chain/logistics?

Had a career in product development and supply out of Taiwan and China.

Cheers
Good to have an informed view on the subject on the forum.

[Flockwitt]

Guarantees the ports in LA, San Francisco and Seattle will stay pretty empty

Probably be a surge now to get what goods they can in while they can I'd suggest. The shipping companies won't be playing nice either. $$$...

I mean, 30-40 day shipping time, plus manufacturing time, plus all the other orders/contracts stuff, might be tight-ish? Plus the roll the dice possibility of someone having a hissy fit and slapping them back up while they're mid pacific

There'd be a back log of goods now to go. People who slammed the brakes on as soon as the tariffs hit in one form or another. Parts sitting in warehouses accumulating but not actually put down the production line etc etc. 17 days is about the quickest the trip can be made HK to Long Beach. Most full containers will do twenty something. There's risk sure, but there's no option. The hole in the cash flow is as bad or worse as having to pay extra and accept some loss, loss versus at least your operating costs are being paid.It's the non-shipment that's the complete killer. Banks are going to be super wary financing issues here too, everybody getting caught left and right.

[sturginho]

You work in supply chain/logistics?

Had a career in product development and supply out of Taiwan and China.

Cheers
Good to have an informed view on the subject on the forum.

I come here for the badly informed speculation, not this facts bollocks

[Uncle fester]

Had a career in product development and supply out of Taiwan and China.

Cheers
Good to have an informed view on the subject on the forum.

I come here for the badly informed speculation, not this facts bollocks

You can read every other post for that.

[Yeeb]

Cheers
Good to have an informed view on the subject on the forum.

I come here for the badly informed speculation, not this facts bollocks

You can read every other post for that.

Or any Irish or bimbo thread now globus has gone to that Brain surgery intensive care unit in the sky

[Uncle fester]

I come here for the badly informed speculation, not this facts bollocks

You can read every other post for that.

Or any Irish or bimbo thread now globus has gone to that Brain surgery intensive care unit in the sky

Give yourself a little bit of credit on the bollocks spouting front yeeb.

[Uncle fester]

Nothing to see here!

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news ... ift-qatar

Imagine this was being gifted to a dem president!

Why does the richest and most powerful country in the history of the world eva need donations from lesser nations?

[Uncle fester]

His latest word salad about the cost of medicines is illuminating. His admin understands that there is a problem but severely lacking when it comes to cause and resolution.

Drugs in US are expensive because they refuse to engage in the collective bargaining that "socialist" countries do.

And also pharma companies charge whatever they think they can gouge the customer for.

[fishfoodie]

His latest word salad about the cost of medicines is illuminating. His admin understands that there is a problem but severely lacking when it comes to cause and resolution.

Drugs in US are expensive because they refuse to engage in the collective bargaining that "socialist" countries do.

And also pharma companies charge whatever they think they can gouge the customer for.

Well that & them all being in the very deep pockets of the Pharma/Medical/Health Insurance industries.

There is no good reason why insulin should have cost as much as it did in the US .... except because Politicians let all concerned gouge the patients !

We need a lot more Luigi Mangiones out there to make these people fear their customers more, so they'll sacrifice some of their bloated profits for a little piece of mind.

[Rhubarb & Custard]

His latest word salad about the cost of medicines is illuminating. His admin understands that there is a problem but severely lacking when it comes to cause and resolution.

Drugs in US are expensive because they refuse to engage in the collective bargaining that "socialist" countries do.

And also pharma companies charge whatever they think they can gouge the customer for.

Hey, they're reducing prices 60, 80 or 90%, or more if you think about it mathematically

[Flockwitt]

Until big pharma sues for price fixing and un-American stuff and it all quietly gets buried but Trump will have got his headlines.

[Uncle fester]

In defence of pharma companies (I know), bringing a drug to market is enormously time consuming and expensive, with all the cost committed up front.

And even potential blockbusters can fall at a very late stage.

They've run out of "easy" drugs to make so future drugs will become progressively harder and more expensive to develop + manufacture.

[Yeeb]

His latest word salad about the cost of medicines is illuminating. His admin understands that there is a problem but severely lacking when it comes to cause and resolution.

Drugs in US are expensive because they refuse to engage in the collective bargaining that "socialist" countries do.

And also pharma companies charge whatever they think they can gouge the customer for.

Don’t forget all the cost associated with litigation prevention, both from the supplier and the MD issuing them. It’s a v expensive part of the world to fall ill !

It’s also a factor in how certain products are not avail there if an ingredient has a 1:1000 chance in making your dick fall off - which is odd seeing their blase attitude to food agribusiness additives and practices.

[fishfoodie]

In defence of pharma companies (I know), bringing a drug to market is enormously time consuming and expensive, with all the cost committed up front.

And even potential blockbusters can fall at a very late stage.

They've run out of "easy" drugs to make so future drugs will become progressively harder and more expensive to develop + manufacture.

I think the majority of people get that developing drugs is expensive & that companies need those high initial prices to recoup their costs, but that's not true of many of the drugs being dispensed, which have long expired patents & their inflated cost is down to the insurance companies & everyone else taking a drug they pay $5 for from the manufacturer, & billing $10 for it once everyone gets their cut.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), when asked about the president’s proposal, instead touted his own bill to ban “deceptive and unfair pricing schemes” by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the “middlemen” that pharmaceutical manufacturers have blamed for rising prices.

“All you got to do is pass my PBM legislation. We’ll get drug prices down just as easily, and that’s what I’m concentrating on,” he said.

The response is more in line with the pharmaceutical industry’s view of the main drivers of high drug costs.

Stephen J. Ubl, the president and CEO of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), said in a statement Sunday responding to Trump’s proposal that “PBMS, insurers and hospitals” right now “take 50 percent of every dollar spent for medicines.”

He said “the amount going to middlemen” in the United States “often exceed the price in Europe.”

...

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5296 ... cal-costs/

[tabascoboy]

Apparently this is really a thing

A known terrorist offers Trump a tower, and suddenly the sanctions disappear.

This isn’t diplomacy. It’s corruption in plain sight.

[fishfoodie]

Apparently this is really a thing

A known terrorist offers Trump a tower, and suddenly the sanctions disappear.

This isn’t diplomacy. It’s corruption in plain sight.

and Vietnam got their sanctions reduced by saying they'd fast-track planning for his hotel there, & Qatar are giving him a 747 bugged to the N-th degree, & Britain have now magically added his golf courses to the Open rotation, & the Saudis are going to invest billions in who the fuck knows what, but we can probably guess !!

He makes other kleptocracy's seem normal !

[Flockwitt]

Let’s not forget the Qatar multibillion dollar Trump golf course and resort that’s going in there.

I think it’s becoming clear Trump 2.0 doesn’t give a flying. Make money now.

[Guy Smiley]

Rachel Maddow articulates the rage...

[Niegs]

Read a bluesky thread in which someone referenced Steinbeck. Someone else said to have a look at a Jack London story that's not about dogs and all about socialism, so never got much support ... damn, from 1908:

The Oligarchy is the largest monopoly of trusts (or robber barons) who manage to squeeze out the middle class by bankrupting most small to mid-sized business as well as reducing all farmers to effective serfdom. This Oligarchy maintains power through a "labor caste" and the Mercenaries. Laborers in essential industries like steel and rail are elevated and given decent wages, housing, and education. Indeed, the tragic turn in the novel (and Jack London's core warning to his contemporaries) is the treachery of these favored unions which break with the other unions and side with the Oligarchy. Further, a second, military caste is formed: the Mercenaries. The Mercenaries are officially the army of the US but are in fact in the employ of the Oligarchs.

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

[fishfoodie]

Read a bluesky thread in which someone referenced Steinbeck. Someone else said to have a look at a Jack London story that's not about dogs and all about socialism, so never got much support ... damn, from 1908:

The Oligarchy is the largest monopoly of trusts (or robber barons) who manage to squeeze out the middle class by bankrupting most small to mid-sized business as well as reducing all farmers to effective serfdom. This Oligarchy maintains power through a "labor caste" and the Mercenaries. Laborers in essential industries like steel and rail are elevated and given decent wages, housing, and education. Indeed, the tragic turn in the novel (and Jack London's core warning to his contemporaries) is the treachery of these favored unions which break with the other unions and side with the Oligarchy. Further, a second, military caste is formed: the Mercenaries. The Mercenaries are officially the army of the US but are in fact in the employ of the Oligarchs.

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

Step forward the UAW, Teamsters & Police Unions !

[Hal Jordan]

Let’s not forget the Qatar multibillion dollar Trump golf course and resort that’s going in there.

I think it’s becoming clear Trump 2.0 doesn’t give a flying. Make money now.

Somehow he'll burn through it, he seems to have the ability to live life spending other people's cash.

[Slick]

Apparently this is really a thing

A known terrorist offers Trump a tower, and suddenly the sanctions disappear.

This isn’t diplomacy. It’s corruption in plain sight.

and Vietnam got their sanctions reduced by saying they'd fast-track planning for his hotel there, & Qatar are giving him a 747 bugged to the N-th degree, & Britain have now magically added his golf courses to the Open rotation, & the Saudis are going to invest billions in who the fuck knows what, but we can probably guess !!

He makes other kleptocracy's seem normal !

I read yesterday that the plane is being lent because the Boeings on order to replace Air Force 1 are very late and in any case it needs a refit that is unlikely to be ready before he leaves office