Trump was urged to reconsider by the Japanese prime minister after receiving a phone call informing him that his tax policies were incredibly unsatisfactory. We also have a positive connection with Japan, he said. Trump later said to reporters on Monday,” We’re going to keep it that way.” Trump announcedContinue Reading
PUBLISHED: 8 Apr 2025 at 03: 30
A senior official has emphasized that the government’s approach to conversations over US tariffs may be guided by a “know your army, know yourself” approach, which seeks to determine Thailand’s strengths and situation thoroughly before engaging in dialogue.
Supavud Saicheua, the director, stated that the Thai authorities is preparing to discuss lowering trade tariffs and boosting American purchase. This action is in response to the 36 % increase in trade tariffs set to go into effect tomorrow.
Importing US agricultural products, which will then be transformed into food items for trade to other nations, is a key plan. Thailand has a major advantage in this field thanks to its breadth of experience in food handling. He stated that in order to help this plan, the government intends to establish business alliances with US states with significant agricultural industries.
He also made it clear that the government will provide short-term money as an incentive to support businesses affected by the price increases. To assist these businesses in finding other markets for their exports, a expenditure of 3 billion ringgit will also be allocated.
Mr. Supavud emphasized that the US’s price increases are motivated by three main goals: reducing industry imbalances, generating more revenue to lower the US budget deficit, and encouraging US businesses to re-engage with American manufacturing. He did point out that entering agreements without delay, as some nations like Canada and Vietnam have done, may not be the best course of action. These nations are also subject to higher taxes despite having trade surplus with the US.
He claimed that the Thai authorities had developed actionable strategies. The main thrust of the plan is to change trade and economic ties to make use of both countries ‘ advantages, such as the Thai company that processes US agricultural products.
This approach includes addressing items that are incorrectly labelled as coming from Thailand in order to lessen the negative effects of US tax policies. Additionally, it aims to boost Thai investment in the US and boost agricultural imports, especially in those areas where Thailand is unable to produce domestically, quite as energy-related goods.
The Thai government’s agreements with the US will proceed through a systematic, step-by-step approach, Mr. Supavud continued, making sure that both nations ‘ last contracts are beneficial.
Your technique has been revealed, Italy. You have been “looting, pillaging, and plundering” your transatlantic alliance for generations, all for your own gain. Not thinking that America leads the world on almost every aspect except justice while your business has scarcely grown for 20 years. You deserve to be punished in Donald Trump’s story economics.
How should all Europeans then respond to the alleged economic war declaration made by our ally and, equally important, to the very personal decision by the world’s largest economy to adopt an economic strategy that was last used by India’s post-colonial communist government in the 1950s in a large nation.
The concept is to replace local production for imports by imposing high trade barriers, as in communist India. This concept remained impoverished for four years in India.
It will now make Americans poorer and raise the cost of producing both domestically and abroad, easing the competitive pressures that had originally caused the US to be so active.
The difference between 1950s India and America is that the size and importance of the US economy mean that the rest of the world may also experience significant changes.
Giorgia Meloni told the , Financial Times , on March 28th that it was” childish” and” superficial” to think that Italy might have to choose between the United States and Europe. This was the first interview she gave to a foreign publication since entering Palazzo Chigi two and a half years ago.
Trump may have to reevaluate her own strategy now that she has acted in a wildly childish and superficial way by imposing his 20 % tax on US imports of European and other European products.
Trump’s tax statement included many islands inhabited only by penguins, and there was much that was immoral about it. He claimed to have consulted a prominent businessman, Lee Iacocca, the former CEO of Chrysler, the company that is now a part of Stellantis, about his plans, but as Iacocca passed away in 2019, that discussion had had taken place sometime ago.
However, we shouldn’t let these oddities detract from his actions. Trump has demonstrated that America can no longer get trusted as an alliance or companion, not to mention the direct financial impact of this tax strategy.
For long-standing safety allies like Japan and Europe’s NATO members, this is surprising. But it is particularly painful for poorer nations like Vietnam and others in Asia who had a proper economic and security mate that would prevent them from becoming reliant on China.
The transfer taxes he has imposed may increase trade barriers in America to their highest levels since the 1940s. Based on the bilateral balance in goods trade between the US and each country, the formula used to calculate the 20 % tariff on goods from the EU, 24 % on goods from Japan, and 46 % on goods from Vietnam is an unscientific invention. Does the fact that Italy is prospering by plundering the earth mean that it had a merchandise trade deficit of €55 billion in 2024? If so, some Italians have noticed.
However, the formula even asserts that the value added tax in the EU apparently represents an unfair business barrier. Due to the fact that VAT applies to all goods and services sold, whether they are internally produced or imported, it cannot be considered a business stumbling block, let alone an unjust one. Truth does not matter in Trump’s earth.  ,
[ For Bloomberg subscribers, I strongly advise my former coworker Clive Crook ‘s excellent riposte that if Trump and his advisers really believe that VAT will lead to unfair trade benefits, they should introduce one in the US and use the proceeds to lower income and corporate taxes, rather than tariffs. ]
Additionally, this promotion completely disregards the services industry, which accounts for a third of all trade. The fastest-growing component of global business has been the growth of digital solutions, a sector that America dominates.
Trump ought to beg Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, or Mark Zuckerberg of Meta to discuss how they have grown to be the richest men in the world. They might also point out that digital services are one of the most likely targets for a solid retaliatory reaction.
Not just Meloni, but many Western leaders have responded by criticizing Trump’s monetary strategy and enjoining people to avoid further aggravation by retaliation. The Wall Street tycoon Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary of the United States, must realize that the biggest tax increase since 1968 is an act of monetary self-harm, and that countries should deal to reduce these tariffs rather than risk putting them even higher.
This strategy has a disadvantage because it forces you to enter the negotiations in a poor position if you don’t fight. The key to the answer will be to show your power and utilize without promoting Trump’s own power by increasing his threat of 200 % tariffs on European beer, as he did last month. He is at his strongest when, like with any drunk, he can split his foes and sling worry into the weakest.
The most crucial step should be to coordinate trade and cooperation with unity within those alliances. The truly juvenile response would be for specific Western leaders to then travel to Washington to seek concessions, in Meloni’s words.
The best way to advance national interests will be to come to terms with allies first within the European Union, then between the EU and other blocs, on a common strategy.
While it’s impossible to anticipate a world in harmony, whether it’s through the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, or any other organization that previous American presidents worked so hard to create, it should be possible for the EU to work with Japan, for instance, and for Japan to work with Southeast Asian and Oceania, which it successfully incorporated into the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade bloc during Trump’s first term.
Trump has been discussing his protectionist philosophy for 40 years, even though he will never associate it with Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first post-colonial leader. No one should be surprised that he is putting this foolish philosophy into practice now that he feels powerful.
The best way to demonstrate that he is not as powerful as he thinks he is is is to criticize US goods and services while maintaining open markets for each other’s goods and services.
China has shied away from negotiations and is hoping for an instant resolution with Washington.
Beijing released a comprehensive package of punitive measures over the weekend that demonstrated no cause for alarm that the world’s two largest economies are on the verge of full dispersion.
Beijing” may continue to take steadfast measures to safeguard its independence, stability, and advancement interests,” according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
No hollow danger was presented by this reminder. Beijing slapped a crushing 34 % tariff on all US goods within hours, adding 10-15 % tariffs to the already-imposed ones earlier this year. This is a resemblance to the most recent US increases.
This increase is proper rather than just economic.
China stifled exports of important rare earth products, which are essential for the world’s tech and defense sectors, and prohibited them from supplying dual-use technologies to a dozen US companies, focusing mostly in aerospace and defense.
Beijing expanded its “unreliable entities listing,” properly blacklisting 11 further American companies from operating openly in China, making things even more provocative.
The developments from this weekend should be a cool wake-up call for those still hoping for a political off-ramp. Beijing’s change is no reactive; rather, it is planned.
In the face of Beijing’s rebellion, it is doubtful that Trump administration officials will loosen their position in the face of this situation, some of whom view this time as an opportunity to intensify the economic uncoupling between the US and China. In reality, additional round of US taxes are now all but unavoidable.
The financial harm is already being calculated. The US weighted average tariff rate on Chinese goods will increase to a staggering 65 % in combination with China’s countermeasures.
That would severely depress expansion for China this year, cutting 1.5 to 2 percentage points off of exports, a house crisis, and negative pressures.
China appears willing to bear the pain despite the rising growth challenges.
Why? Given that Beijing has come to the conclusion that any deal being discussed today would only be a temporary truce, not a real peace, and that the US is determined to prevent China’s rise. It is preferable in China to withstand short-term suffering than to take a long-term corporate disadvantage.
This calculation has geological implications. The period of managed competition is really over if China, the second-largest economy in the world, is willing to sacrifice near-term wealth in favor of proper autonomy.
Global markets are going through a severe adjustment, with some also believing cooler heads may prevail.
Buyers, organizations, and policymakers must reevaluate in light of this situation. The conflict between the US and China no more revolves around who blinks second. Who you hold their breath the longest is the subject?
More taxes, tit-for-tat restrictions, and corporate decoupling are likely to establish the connection between Washington and Beijing in the upcoming weeks.
Both sides are gearing up for a protracted, bloody fight that will forever alter world commerce, finance, and politics.
Eastern stock markets are sagging as the ripples from US President Donald Trump’s taxes are rumbling throughout the world.
When they opened on Monday, key indicators from Shanghai to Tokyo and Sydney to Hong Kong fell. One scientist told the BBC,” It’s a bloodbath.”
Eastern countries and territories are directly affected by the taxes because Asia produces so many of the products sold worldwide.
They are also especially sensitive to the effects of worries that the world’s largest economy could experience a slowdown or perhaps recession as a result of a global trade war.
By midday, the benchmark index for Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 6 %, the ASX 200 in Australia was down 4 %, and the Kospi in South Korea was down 4.7 %.
As owners caught up with the significant declines seen in other areas on Friday as they were closed for public festivals, plunges were exacerbated in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
The Hang Seng and Taiwan Weighted Index both experienced declines of more than 6 %, while the Shanghai Composite and Taiwan Weighted Index both experienced declines of about 10 %.
” Taxes are feeding into anticipation around a recession and prices,” said Julia Lee, Head of FTSE Russell, a company of the London Stock Exchange Group.
Given that the US is such a significant market for goods from the region, a considerable contraction in the US economy may have a major impact on Asian exports.
Asia is in particular bearing the brunt of the US price increase. A new government of higher taxes are here to stay, according to Qian Wang, Asia Pacific chief economist at expense firm Vanguard, despite there being room for negotiation.
In the short and long term, this is detrimental to the world and Asian economies, particularly those tiny open economies.
On Friday, the global stock market turmoil deepened, after China hit back at tariffs announced by Trump.
The S&, P 500, and S& all fell by nearly 6 %, making it the worst week for the US property market since 2020, accounting for the worst week for the business since 2020.
The FTSE 100 dropped by about 5 % in the UK, which was its steepest decline in five years, while German and French markets experienced similar falls.
Ms. Lee also made the case that the international stock market rout is likely to maintain:” US prospects trading lower stage to another difficult session on Wall Street tonight.
Since Trump announced sweeping new 10 % transfer taxes on goods from every nation, with prices from goods from lots of nations, including vital trading partners like China, the European Union, and Vietnam, which are currently facing significantly higher prices, the value of the world’s stock markets has lost billion.
Trump’s tax statement last week shook economies around the world, causing hostile levies from China, and raising concerns about a global industry war and recession. Investors and political leaders have been having trouble deciding whether Trump’s tariffs are continuous, continuous, or just a negotiating strategy to get concessions from otherContinue Reading
SINGAPORE: Asian markets opened in the red on Monday ( Apr 7 ), picking up where they left off after a choppy week dominated by tariff-induced turmoil. Singapore’s share index, the Nikkei and the Kospi plunged at the start of buying as traders remained spooked by the crushing tariffs announcedContinue Reading
Delegation heads to DC this year
The state has pledged to boost exports of power, aviation and agricultural goods from the United States as part of its present to mitigate the impact of the US ‘ 36 % tax on Thai imports, says Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira may lead a group to the US this week to discuss business issues and show the US that Thailand is not only an supplier but also a trusted friend of the US, she was quoted as saying in a statement.
Her remarks came a moment after censure emerged over the government’s delayed response to President Trump’s tariff hike– particularly when compared to the sharp reactions by leaders of another Asean nations.
The US had imposed a 36 % tariff on Thai exports and many other countries, she said, were in a similar situation and preparing measures in response. ” We believe the world will see fierce retaliation through tax instruments. Many countries have decided to talk to the US government but none have seen any conclusive results”, Ms Paetongtarn said.
” The new measure has a significant impact on our exports, especially electronics, processed foods and agricultural products”.
The government, she said, has formed a working group to discuss the issue and consider proposals with the private sector and the US, both formally and informally.
” This week, Pichai Chunhavajira, deputy prime minister and finance minister, will leave for discussions with many parties in the US– the government sector, the private sector and other stakeholders”, the prime minister said.
” We will tell the US government that Thailand is not only an exporter but also an ally and economic partner that the US can rely on in the long term”, she said.
The government has come up with policy-related proposals including an increase in imports from the US in the energy, aircraft and farm sectors, the prime minister said.
Thailand plans to boost cooperation with the agricultural, industrial and other sectors in the US. In return, Thailand will ask that the US grant promotional privileges for Thai investors and reduce obstacles to Thai exports.
Both sides will also work together to suppress products that claim to originate from Thailand but in fact come from other countries, the prime minister said. She said she was confident the US would accept Thailand’s proposals so the two countries remain allies and trading partners.
The government was ready to listen more to the US, and Thai people could rest assured the proposals the government would prepare are aimed at protecting the interests of Thailand, Thais and business operators, the prime minister said.
She said the government would introduce immediate and longer-term measures to help affected Thai business operators, from small- and medium-sized enterprises to large-scale industries. Ms Paetongtarn said she would meet parties concerned on Tuesday to discuss plans to protect the national interest and economy.
Last Wednesday, US President Donald Trump revealed the US would impose a minimum 10 % tariff on imports from all countries. For those with a trade surplus against the US, and which it views as having unfair trade advantages– such as imposing high tariffs, non-tariff barriers and various fees– a country-specific retaliatory tariff will be applied at half the rate of what US exports face in those markets. For Thailand, this has been set at 36 %, effective from April 9.
In a message on Facebook, Piti Srisangnam, an academic at Chulalongkorn University’s economics faculty, called on the government to take urgent measures to deal with the US ‘ tariff increase as other countries in Asean have already made their moves.
He suggested Thailand should take a leading role in Asean to steer the region through the crisis as other countries in the regional block have also been affected. If Asean country members join forces and work together, they will have more bargaining power to negotiate with the US, he wrote.
WASHINGTON/TAIPEI/VERONA: More than 50 nations have reached out to the White House to begin trade talks since US President Donald Trump rolled out sweeping new tariffs, top officials said on Sunday ( Apr 6 ) as they defended , levies , that , wiped out , nearly US$ 6 trillion in value from USContinue Reading
Yo, Canibus, your primary objective out these
Is to do nothing but take, take, take, take Clusters
For breakfast, breakfast, dining, that’s your plan, baby
Your objective to take them
Their whole living, they didn’t exist in your existence
The Canibus is here to rule long, Mike Tyson, on the trap
– Canibus with Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson’s most dangerous pairing was a right hook to his team’s kept liver followed by a bounce left to the neck. Properly executed, the right connect to the brain immediately stuns the opposition causing him to twice over, exposing the chin to the left follow-up.
China just went large, implementing a 34 % across-the-board tariff on goods from the US, import restrictions on a range of rare earth materials and sanctions on 11 American firms. Mike Tyson has really delivered a right connect to the body.
China even went second. A festival of economy, Vietnam most officially, has been making calling to the White House to discuss away terrible tariffs. The mendacious approach would have been to procrastinate and see.
If China’s plan were to rescue as much industry as possible, a wait-and-see strategy may be ideal. The whole world had become jockeying for advantage as everyone takes cues from everyone else and winds up with similarly horrible deals, especially large reductions in tariffs and/or commitments to purchase huge quantities of British goods.
By going out great with a hostile price, China signaled that it is not trying to meet President Donald Trump way. Mike Tyson wants to battle and is going for a knock.
Only China ( maybe the EU, but come on, who’re we kidding? ) you get big. If China had waited, some smaller economies would include capitulated, forcing China to either meet or bend in the wind – retribution at that point may be meaningless and self-isolating.
By going out first and going out strong, China just improved everyone’s negotiating position. Now, smaller economies ( and the EU, e. g. Airbus ) know China will not undercut them in negotiations. Going out early provides cover for other economies to drive a harder bargain, magnifying the impact of China’s retaliatory body blow.
Previously, Han Feizi lamented the tragic political economy that prevented America from reindustrializing, writing:
Reversing globalization would involve a massive derating of US asset prices as sales to foreign buyers are artificially restricted. Effects on GDP could theoretically be contained, but the wealthy would have to become poorer in hopes of bringing low-income folks back into the middle class as investment bankers become process engineers and Uber drivers become factory workers.
For a political economy that couldn’t figure out a mechanism to pay them off as globalization created immense riches, how likely is it that the immensely rich will stomach becoming significantly poorer?
Evidently, Han Feizi underestimated President Trump’s stomach for chaos. On many levels, we should all applaud Trump. He has blown a hole right through America’s tragic political economy and threw rich people under the bus – something no president, Democrat nor Republican, has had the cajones to do.
Unfortunately, these tariffs are a confused muck-up and will leave the US a much reduced economic power. It is unclear what the Trump administration is trying to accomplish. Is he trying to raise revenue, reindustrialize America or strong-arm trade partners?
The entire rollout, from the Mickey Mouse tariff formula to slapping tariffs on penguin-inhabited islands, was an embarrassment. We will not belabor what a dumpster fire this ill-conceived expression of Trump’s 1980s” Japan is eating our lunch” mind rot this all is and instead focus on what China and the rest of the world can do in response.  ,  ,
The US ran a US$ 1.2 trillion trade deficit in 2024 on$ 4.1 trillion in imports. Han Feizi is of the belief that there is no such thing as unbalanced trade – by definition. That’s why it is called” trade” and not “robbery” or” theft”.
The world sold more goods to the US than it purchased. The world didn’t supply these excess goods out of the kindness of their hearts. Nor did they get bamboozled into accepting worthless paper from the printing presses of the US Federal Reserve.
The world made up the difference by accepting American assets in lieu of goods. Paper currency and US government debt are just claims on American assets. And foreigners have been claiming American assets. About 40 % of the market cap of US stocks is now held by foreigners– up from less than 5 % in 1965.
The greatest event in economic history was the opening of the North American continent for capitalist exploitation. The US has always traded assets for labor, whether through settler colonialism, pioneers, slavery, immigration or trade.
The political economy of America’s asset and labor allocation has made trade “deficits” all but unavoidable. What should have been avoided was concentrating the spoils of this assets-for-goods business model in so few hands.
Trump has just implemented import tariffs which rends asunder this assets-for-goods business model. Unfortunately, America is short$ 1.2 trillion per annum of goods production and conjuring up much capacity domestically is highly unlikely in the short term.
The rest of the world, however, is presented with a different but altogether more favorable conundrum. Goods, formerly exchanged for American assets, will now have to be exchanged for other goods, the productive capacity of which already exists.
China, to nobody’s surprise, is a major manufacturer of bass boats. The non-American market for bass boats is essentially zero. It should be far less costly to convert bass boat production to other products (scooters, jet skis, flying cars, who knows? ) than to build the capacity from scratch in the US — the factories, engineers, machinists and technicians already exist in China.
Reshaping the market so that existing productive capacity finds buyers should be a lesser hurdle than creating this capacity where none exist. This is the “increase domestic consumption” strategy.
The more ambitious strategy would be to create a new set of assets to replace American ones. The new asset class of the world’s ultimate fantasy is surely Global South infrastructure. This is the holy grail of rational economic development and the theoretical basis for President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Well before Trump’s tariff temper tantrum, Chinese policymakers have long understood that capital flowing from less-developed Asia to fund consumption in more developed America — the Lucas Paradox — was highly problematic.
The BRI project was devised to correct this unnatural development model for the Global South, where capital from a richer China flows to less developed economies to fund infrastructure construction. In this case, our bass boat factory can be retooled to make excavators or cement mixers to build power plants in Nairobi or Ashgabat.
There are, of course, obstacles to this model on top of retooling bass boat factories. To date, the BRI project has shelled out$ 1.2 trillion, with a significant slowdown in recent years.
The Covid recession has damaged China’s BRI portfolio, forcing outstanding loans to be restructured, often extending tenures or taking haircuts which, given China’s surging exports and growing economic integration with the Global South, may be justified.
For the BRI to significantly offset a diminished US market, the Global South will need to demonstrate more consistent creditworthiness.
These two strategies – increase domestic consumption and reaccelerate BRI – can be the uppercut follow-up. China has been loath to fund direct consumption stimulus beyond modest car and appliance rebate programs.
The government has leaned heavily on investment, the benefits of which flow to consumers as better infrastructure, lower prices and more innovative products.
Over the long term ( 10-40 years ), this investment strategy has increased China’s household consumption more than any other economy – all 194 of them and twice as fast as second place South Korea.  ,
This time, however, China may just need to lean into stimulating domestic consumption. China ( and Hong Kong ) exported$ 477 billion of goods to the US in 2024 with another$ 100-200 billion in transshipments through third countries like Vietnam and Mexico with the goods skewed towards consumer products. Stimulating another round of investment will soak up steel and cement capacity but not electronics, furniture and appliances.
Announcing a consumption stimulus takes the heat off of global markets, which have been bracing for a flood of Chinese goods redirected to their shores, preventing tariffs from cascading across the world.
Not only would it backstop the deflation induced by the Trump tariffs but exacerbate American inflation, putting the Federal Reserve in a stagflation bind.
But can China make up for lost American demand? Does China have the financial firepower? While not the path favored by the Chinese Communist Party’s conservative style, the fact that the government has not been profligate suggests that there is ample financial firepower.
Various agencies have pegged China’s debt-to-GDP ratio at a high 300 %  , – above that of the US which, in recent years, has been inflated down to 275 %.
This is far off the mark. Like in many other calculations, consensus Western economists are using the wrong denominator. China has been reporting GDP on a completely different basis for decades ( see here ) and as such, its debt-to-GDP ratio is closer to 150 % or even lower.  ,  ,  ,
Simplistically, there are 500 million Chinese consuming at developed world levels – these are the people who make China the world’s largest market for cars and luxury goods.
And 900 million who are consuming at Southeast Asian levels – these are the people who will be moving into developed world consumption patterns in the next 20 years. So yes, there are plenty of people who can pick up the slack.
If China successfully pulls off the one-two Mike Tyson combo, it could be a knockout blow to the relevance of America in the global economy. China would have created a global trading system that not only does it lead but also leaves the US isolated.
If China plays its cards correctly, the Trump tariffs could go down in history as a far greater debacle than Brexit. Donald Trump has committed an unforced error and presented China with an opportunity that will not be seen in centuries.
While the modern Communist Party has generally been a conservative steward of national interests, it has been known to take wild swings. Zhu Ronji laid off 30 million SOE employees in the late 1990s. Hu Jintao unleashed an epic investment stimulus after the 2008-9 Global Financial Crisis.
Mike Tyson just delivered the first punch with the matching 34 % tariff. Will he follow up with the massive consumption stimulus uppercut?