Trump Does his Awesome New Tariffs. Winning!!

countries are going to question whether buying our weapons is a good idea if we are going to cut off their support systems every time the petulant child is told no

Allies Cancel Orders of F-35s, the Fighter Jets That Will Cost $2 Trillion

One side effect of Trump's brash, undiplomatic attitude is that some allied nations may back out of purchasing F-35 fighter jets from the U.S., the latest indignity in a program that has infamously become a years-long boondoggle.

"The F-35 Lightning II aircraft (F-35) is the Department of Defense's (DOD) most ambitious and costly weapon system and its most advanced fighter aircraft," according to an April 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). "However, DOD's projected costs for sustaining the F-35 continue to increase while planned use of the aircraft declines." While the DOD plans to keep the jet in service through 2088, it estimates the cost to do so at $2 trillion.
....................................
Yet despite the F-35's questionable track record and ballooning taxpayer-funded price tag, some allied nations agreed to buy them. In 2023, Canada agreed to purchase 88 F-35s for $19 billion after previously pledging not to. In April 2024, the Portuguese Air Force chief of staff said his country would transition from the F-16 to the F-35 in a process estimated to cost 5.5 billion euros ($6 billion).

That all appears to be changing. "Portugal is getting cold feet about replacing its U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets with more modern F-35s because of Donald Trump," Politico reported last week.

"The recent position of the United States, in the context of NATO," Defense Minister Nuno Melo told Portuguese media, "must make us think about the best options, because the predictability of our allies is a greater asset to take into account."

 

So much winning! American workers who would have manufactured those planes and provided maintenance and support for them. Perhaps workers from another country would like the jobs and money? America first my ass.

 

Said it another post. Thanks to Trump within the next 5 to 10 years the EU may pass the US in the production and sales of military aircraft not unlike it already has done in the production and sales of commercial airliners. FYI:

 

EUAD has a nice blend if you like that sector. bought in right after the Z fiasco at the WH and so far so good. lot of room to run as the EU ramps up their defense spending and moves away from US weapons

 

Apparently Trump's tariffs may bring manufacturing back . . . to Canada.
‘I’m a little angry’: Canadian firms boycott US products

 

Germany just overwhelming voted to change their law to increase debt to fund military $400b in purchases

 

Funny, here are Canadian companies shutting down and one is moving their production from BC to NC. Win for my business as I supply the woodworking market:

Furniture manufacturer shuts down Canadian operations, moves production to N.Carolina - Furniture Today

 

Why thanks to Trump, you know damn well that these Airbus Boeing orders were negotiated when auto pen was in charge.

 

Tariffs moving jobs here will make us worse off!!!! Those jobs will cost consumers many times more than the salary. The washing machine jobs cost $820,000 a pop.


https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/trum...ut-at-a-yuge-cost-to-consumers-of-820000-job/

 

I would add that the Canadian company opened in its facility in North Carolina in 2021. Although tariffs were indeed a factor in the final decision to move all of its production to NC I suspect that the original decision was probably motivated by cheaper nonunion labor in NC than in Canada where the factory was staffed by unionized workers. It should also be noted that the decision to open up the factory in NC was made two years after the company was acquired by a Canadian private equity firm.
Prepac was founded in Canada 45 years ago and locally owned until it was acquired by Canadian private equity firm TorQuest in 2019. The company invested $27 million to build its 260,000-square-foot facility in Whitsett, N.C., in 2021, a move that added 200 jobs.

Unifor says it’s calling for a boycott of Prepac products.

“It’s a slap in the face to Canadian workers and Canadian consumers who have made this company a success since 1979,” said Unifor Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle. “It’s another example of equity firms stripping companies for profit with no regard for jobs, community or, frankly, decency.”

 

Europe arming while nationalism gains footholds.

What could go wrong?

 

how much of that combined $600B Euro = $654B US will be spent on american products?

can you imagine being an american company bidding on work overseas, outside of ME or China, right now? ouch....

Germany's likely next leader wins parliament's backing for huge defense and infrastructure spending

The plans needed a two-thirds majority of at least 489 votes in parliament’s lower house, the Bundestag, because they involve changes to Germany’s strict self-imposed borrowing rules — the so-called “debt brake,” which allows new borrowing worth only 0.35% of annual gross domestic product and is anchored in the constitution. That forced the prospective coalition partners into negotiations with the environmentalist Greens to get enough votes.

The package will exempt from the debt rules spending on defense and security, including intelligence agencies and assistance to Ukraine, worth more than 1% of GDP. It also foresees a 500 billion-euro ($544 billion) fund, financed by borrowing, to pour funding into Germany’s infrastructure over the next 12 years and help restore the stagnant economy — Europe’s biggest — to growth.

At the Greens’ insistence, 100 billion euros from the investment fund will go into climate-related spending.
.................................
Recent weeks have brought new urgency to efforts to further strengthen Germany’s long-neglected military. The outgoing government created a special 100 billion-euro fund to modernize it, which also helped Berlin meet the current NATO target of spending 2% of GDP on defense. But that pot will be used up in 2027, and doubts have grown recently about the Trump administration’s commitment to European allies.

 

Trump aides prep new tariffs on imports worth trillions for ‘Liberation Day’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/03/19/trump-tariffs-imports-liberation-day/

 

Manufacturing Surges in February, Tripling Growth Forecasts


Manufacturing Surges in February, Tripling Growth Forecasts

Manufacturing output at U.S. factories surged in February, far exceeding expectations and reinforcing optimism about President Donald Trump’s promised manufacturing revival.

 

And South Shore the other company that closed in Quebec directly as a result of the Tariffs.

 

This is correct. Its amazing the capitalists have thrown out the idea of capitalist progress and have decided we can rerun the 19th century (including colonial-style concessions/freedom cities) to get cheap labor - and that it will work! I've always said instead of funding all these right-wing influencers and dumbassery these billionaires should have been trying to convince people that working at a burrito assembly line at Chipotle was as manly as working in steel mill in 1870.

 

As many expected. Wal-Mart is pressuring China suppliers with a 10% reduction in costs, which means that a smaller value is subject to the higher tariff. Net marginal tax raise through the tariff. How long before all retailers do the same to China?

https://www.thestreet.com/retail/walmarts-move-to-avoid-high-tariff-costs-receives-harsh-response

 

just the opposite. Germany prosecutes hate speech, they don't call it freedom of speech and try and defend hate speech

 

Huh, we had our lowest month in a long time. Regardless, I can promise you that manufacturing doesn't react that quickly.