The Daily Populous Wednesday April 9th, 2025 day edition
Authored by abcnews.go.com and submitted by AndroidOne1

Beijing announced the step after U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods rose to 104%.

A person is pictured on a escalator in the financial district in Shanghai, China, on April 9, 2025.

President Donald Trump's severe tariffs against virtually all U.S. trading partners took effect on Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. ET. Among them is a hefty 104% tariff rate on China.

Trump has described the tariffs as "reciprocal," saying the steep toll will correct a grievance he's held for "35 years:" that the U.S. is being "ripped off" by trade imbalances.

The president has claimed the tariffs will prompt countries to try to negotiate a deal with the U.S., boosting the economy, while the immediate fallout from his tariffs announcement has seen major losses in the stock market.

Glory4cod on April 8th, 2025 at 20:42 UTC »

It is worthy to notice that Trump once "threats" China that he will apply 100% tariffs on China if they invade Taiwan. Now the tariff has reached 104%. So, if what he means on "100%" is "100% additional", then his previous threat is just delusional: 104% is effectively cutting off nearly all trades with China; 204% won't make any difference. If he means "100% in total", then China should invade Taiwan later this week since they will have 4% tariff less, not much, but better than nothing.

I understand Trump's eager to bring manufacturing back to US, but I seriously don't think it will work out very well. US and her people need confidence on consistent policies that could encourage investors and workers to find out a way of re-prospering US' industry. Unfortunately, we failed to see any consistency in recent presidents. Factories and skilled workers do not appear overnight; they need years of construction, education and training. Even investors want to invest in new factories in US, what if other party gets elected? Will it nullify all previous subsidies and discounts? What if the tariff barriers get lowered by new president or members of congress? Actually, we even don't know if Trump and his Republican/MAGA supporters can win in midterm of 2026; if they lose majorities in Senate and House, what will happen? No one knows.

Now, Republicans have majority in both parts of US Congress, but the margin is very slim. They have majority in Senate by 3 seats (53 out of required 50; for DEM, they need 51 seats to secure majority in Senate), and majority in House by 2 seats (220 out of required 218). In 2026, there will be 33 Senate seats and all 435 House seats up for election.

HotelPuzzleheaded654 on April 8th, 2025 at 18:59 UTC »

Tariffs cannot simultaneously be a negotiating tool and onshore manufacturing, it’s one or the other.

How is anyone supposed to respond to any of this when it’s not even clear what the US wants beyond balancing trade deficits which economically means nothing?

They’ve slapped something like a 60% tariff on Lesotho because the US buys diamonds from there.

How are the poor people of Lesotho supposed to buy enough American goods to balance that deficit?

This whole thing is unbelievably stupid and embarrassing that no one in MAGA land is man enough to call the stupidity out.

AndroidOne1 on April 8th, 2025 at 18:46 UTC »

Snippet from this news update: “Trump's 104% tariff rate on China to go into effect early Wednesday White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Tuesday that Trump's threatened additional 50% tariff on China will go into effect early Wednesday, bringing the total tariff rate against Beijing to 104%. "They will be going into effect at 12:01 a.m.," she said. "It was a mistake for China to retaliate. The president, when America is punched, he punches back harder," Leavitt said. She added Trump believes China "wants to make a deal" but doesn't know where to start.