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0 pointsgriffzhowl1y ago0 comments

No specific evidence, just that the State department and the analysis branches of various agencies still exist and are staffed by professionals whose job it is to conduct such analyses. It's not out of the question that some of these might have filtered up and in some way influence decisions.

If the tariffs remain in place then one result that is guaranteed is that they will reduce trade between the US and the rest of the world, and reduce the most with the most tariffed countries. Whether that's rational or irrational I guess is the question I'm asking, and I'm looking for reasoned opinions either way

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_DeadFred_1y ago

Trump has talked about his tariff idea since the 80s, and talked to Oprah about it way back when we lived in a completely different world. I'm not sure his 80s era plan is based on 2025 dynamics that somehow filtered up to him in his first months of office.

griffzhowlOP1y ago

Fair point. It's reasonable to conclude that a lot of the impetus is coming from Trump himself. On the other hand, the Biden admin quietly kept Trump's first-term China tariffs, even though they reversed many other Trump policies. So that suggests some involvement of the wider foreign policy establishment that's continuous over changing administrations

_DeadFred_1y ago

Or just shows that anti-China sentiment is politically popular in the U.S.

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_DeadFred_1y ago

griffzhowlOP1y ago

_DeadFred_1y ago

Or just shows that anti-China sentiment is politically popular in the U.S.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse