Public sentiment regarding Trump's tariffs is overwhelmingly negative, with a strong condemnation of perceived bullying tactics from the U.S. Many commenters express concerns over the potential economic impact on India and the U.S., advocating for India to assert its independence by fostering relationships with alternative allies like Russia and China. The consensus suggests a desire for national self-reliance and a rejection of the pressures from the U.S. government, highlighting significant skepticism towards both the effectiveness of these tariffs and Trump's economic motives.

Trump Administration

Indian Government

U.S. Consumers

This thread has been so heavily reported that I, Automoderator, decided to promote our other socials.  [Follow us on X.com](https://x.com/rcondiscord) and [join us on Discord](https://discord.com/invite/conservative).

*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Conservative) if you have any questions or concerns.*

AutoModerator

Interference with the internal affairs of a foreign country is the name of the game

uusseerrnnaammeeyy

Brazil has been screwing with our Tech companies (Rumble is banned in Brazil and they tried to ban X/Twitter) the same way the EU has been and what Canada just tried to do. They make up some speech violation, fine the crap out of the American tech company, and either the tech company pays the fine or they censor speech. Biden encouraged the EU and Brazil to pull this crap since it was a way of punishing speech they didn’t like, while getting around the 1st amendment. Welp, new sheriff in town, no more shaking down American tech companies. That’s all this is.

Also, Django Unchained Mandingo negotiation. Trump is almost never negotiating for the thing that you think he’s negotiating for. He wants you to think that he’s negotiating for a good Mandingo but it reality he’s negotiating for something else entirely. Trump says “look at the big red shiny ball”, then when you’re looking that way he does something completely different. Also, his Vice President had a big stake in Rumble. In other words, don’t pay attention to what he says he wants, pay attention to the thing that would help America first. Once you get that then you’ll understand how Trump works.

balljoint

When did the only large conservative sub become mostly brigaders?

Is that it for Reddit? Is it Agent Smithville a la 3rd Matrix Movie?

Unable-Paramedic-555

So many fellow conservatives lately

We sanction and put pressure on many countries for human rights violations, this is no different. Brazil has draconian speech laws, they fine you for "hate speech".

kappacop

Another post from fellow conservatives still complaining about tarrifs.  Wild.

"I support him guys, but is this really good?"

BohdiOfValhalla

Brazil has been very staunch on being anti american social media due to speech. Targetting them with tariffs is a response to them to stop targeting american corporations.

Omecore65

bearcatjoe

Lula needs to be taught a lesson for being a thug going after conservatives in Brazil.

SouthernNumismatist

BRICS, Bolsonaro, but mostly the censorship leading to fines or app blocks on the country causing loss of money.

Mostly the latter.

PineTowers

Maybe as payback for going after an American company last year? I dunno..

prey4villains

It has to do with brix and that’s it nothing else

No-Gain-1087

Wow, the stupid lefty looooooser brigaders outnumber the real conservatives 100-to-1 in here.

murderinthedark

Well my "fellow conservative" and concern troll, look at the tariff rates and other market barriers in Brazil and tell me that the B in BRICS doesn't deserve more tariffs.

ObadiahtheSlim

Significant-Cable-21

I mean. Brazil has sided with Russia and China with the BRICS collective, so I could see any opposition to what we want being met with opposition ie tariffs

Consistent_Net_5532

cornPopwasabaddude13

The Brazilian government is left of our worst politicians.  Bolsinaro was the Brazilian Trump and that’s why they are going after him.  Good for Trump for fighting for likeminded leaders.

Augustus1971

Because the US is in a civilizationnal fight, and it is losing that fight as the "west" is losing its liberties.

georgesDenizot

Something I learned from Trump's first term; Any time I see Trump do something that I might not feel is that great, give it 2 weeks.  The guy ends up being on point most of the time.

H3nchman_24

brickpaul65

This is about BRICS. The BRICS meeting was ongoing in Brazil during these comments and Trump has stated he views BRICS as a direct attack on the US dollar and hegemony.

He's using this issue with the rogue judge, political persecution, free speech, censorship, etc. as an avenue to criticize the country on those principles that fly in the face of the US's stated principles.

The two aren't necessarily related but he has a stronger case on the latter. Sanctioning a country for joining BRICS is a bully tactic and probably a major reason why countries would consider BRICS to begin with.

Jam5quares

I'm so tired of the terrible tariffs (carrot and tariff diplomacy). Don't we have any other plays in the playbook that don't make things from overseas more expensive?

Ty--Guy

kloeckwerx

I was missing the "I like Trump, but this is going a little too far and I'm worried" concern-troll posts.

Seemed like they'd dropped off for a bit there.

Shadeylark

The Chief Executive can use any rationale to enforce tariffs on other countries. You don't have to agree with his reasons, but he effectively represents the head of law enforcement for the United States.

FilmFalm

Dear “fellow conservatives”:

OPEN YOUR EYES AND READ A BOOK!! THE TARIFFS HAVE AND WILL MAKE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS! AMERICA HAS BEEN EXTORTED UNDER THE PREVIOUS TRADE AGREEMENTS AND ADMINISTRATIONS. WE NEED TO MAKE THESE COUNTRIES PAY!!! 

Every downvote is a libs/ brigadiers tear. COPE LIBS! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Horticulture_Horror

He is going too far here. I might not agree with what Brazil is doing, but that's their business.

spootieho

Nothing to do with USA? What are you smoking? Funny if you made the same comment complaining about sanctioning Russia over Ukraine you would get the opposite response from the left.

day25

That’s a fair question,

The brazillian Supreme Court has ordered the arrest of US citizens (Naturalized, but still…) for “crime of opinion” that took place in American soil.

They ordered US tech companies to censor content in the US (instead of just block it in Brazil).

They ordered tech companies, some without any presence in Brazil, to block payments for content creators working in the US.

It has been confirmed current government was elected with the help of USAID, they as well undermined Trump’s admin efforts to list their cartels as terrorist groups.

greyoil

Not entirely ruling out the Bolsonaro angle, but I think the tariffs are more about Brazil’s presence in BRICS.

ZoningVisionary

You get a tariff, and you get a tariff. Everyone gets tariffs!

Cylerhusk

The Commission can decide on something, but I suppose we'll see if this passes by the Member States (after all, the confederated structure of the EU has blocked deals before).

It'll surprise me if it manages to pass by 27 heads of states, but if it does then it would be proof positive that the EU is and will remain subordinate to the USA for the near future. That means that any overtures of China to the Europeans is fundamentally pointless, the Americans have a lot more latitude to do what they want and the Europeans are going to have to either accept this, or start changing their leaders from the ground up.

frissio

Rather than join Canada and China with instant retaliation and inflict pain on US consumers and businesses, the EU — hamstrung by divergent views among its member states — chose to take the pain in the hope of securing a better deal.

Under the framework deal struck by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Trump at his Turnberry golf resort on Sunday, the EU has swallowed a broad-based “baseline” US tariff of 15 per cent, including crucially for cars, but not for steel, which will be subject to a quota system.

When the UK struck a trade deal with Washington in May, accepting Trump’s 10 per cent baseline tariff, it encouraged those EU member states seeking a settlement, especially Berlin.

Officials will try to present it as a status quo deal, since the 15 per cent theoretically includes the pre-existing average US tariff of 4.8 per cent. In fact, on a trade weighted basis, the pre-existing US tariff on imports from the EU was only 1.6 per cent.

There is no hiding the fact the EU was rolled over by the Trump juggernaut, said one ambassador. “Trump worked out exactly where our pain threshold is.”

Themetalin

It feels like 95% of people are reacting emotionally ("we should stick it to Trump" kinda way) to something that seems fine for the EU, even ignoring the fact that this deal is just a framework and that it would/will probably take years for this deal to happen anyway.

International politics isn't a place for emotions and hotheaded short-term thinking. The EU is keeping their markets/trade stable, keeping Trump appeased and more importantly invested. It's a good, stable move while they continue to strengthen their trade globally.

I would hardly be surprised if the EU side is even negotiating with the knowledge that this is going nowhere. A no-cost move compared to the alternative - blowing up relations and putting up more trade barriers that hurt the economy.

UsernameAttempt

Interesting that media is selling this as a big trump victory. 15% seems pretty middle of road relative to other countries and it's just going to get passed on to US consumers anyway

AnomalyNexus

I think they agreed on a concept of a framework that will be further negotiated the upcoming year while the US also negotiate another 150 deals with reduced staff to do this. In the meantime Trump can claim a victory and not disrupt Ukraine issues.

Its a kick down the can approach.

sinkpisser1200

There are 3 things certain in this life. Death, Taxes and EU succumbing to the US.

Soft_Dev_92

germany‘s car makers are in a bit of a pickle. I assume this to be the prime reason for how this affair played out. trump got germany by their balls

volinaa

[deleted]

Can't believe Europe did this to save American consumers from paying the extra 15% in tariffs.

On a more serious note, I hope the next administration will work on reducing tariffs for all but China and some loudmouth countries like Brazil. The US does by and large prop up the economies of like minded countries, technically or practically, it can and it should as it's in US' interest that such countries are economically well. Imagine if the economic investments that went into China went into southeast Asia, south America, and Africa, getting cheap goods without the high prices the CCP wishes to impose.

Linny911

**/r/NeutralPolitics is a curated space.** 

In order not to get your comment removed, please familiarize yourself with our [rules on commenting](https://www.reddit.com/r/NeutralPolitics/wiki/guidelines#wiki_comment_rules) before you participate:

1. Be courteous to other users.
1. Source your facts.
1. Be substantive.
1. Address the arguments, not the person.

If you see a comment that violates any of these essential rules, click the associated *report* link so mods can attend to it.

However, please note that the mods will not remove comments reported for lack of neutrality or poor sources. There is [no neutrality requirement for comments](https://www.reddit.com/r/NeutralPolitics/wiki/guidelines#wiki_neutral-ness) in this subreddit — it's only the *space* that's neutral — and a poor source should be countered with evidence from a better one.

nosecohn

The obvious answer would be the Smoot-Hawley tariffs, enacted by the United States in June of 1930.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot%E2%80%93Hawley_Tariff_Act

&gt;  the act raised tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods in an effort to shield American industries from foreign competition during the onset of the Great Depression


&gt;  Intended to bolster domestic employment and manufacturing, the tariffs instead deepened the Depression because the U.S.'s trading partners retaliated with tariffs of their own, leading to U.S. exports and global trade plummeting

&gt; Has something like this happened in the past, where a country or bloc of countries have imposed heavy tariffs on their allied nations?

It would be worthwhile to look up the [history of *Mercantilism*,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercantilism#History) which is a whole economic theory based on using tariffs and other means to maintain balance of trade. It has its roots in Europe during the colonial era and lasted for centuries, but was largely abandoned by the late 1700s. Mercantilism is a form of [protectionism,](https://fee.org/articles/protectionisms-long-and-infamous-history/) which has an even longer history.

As others have pointed out, the US had a foray into this type of thinking again in the 1930s, and it did not go well.

Trump’s tariffs are, in one way, unlike any others enacted in US history except maybe the Tariff of Abominations because they are roughly what economists would call “[exogenous](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exogenous_and_endogenous_variables)”. This means that the level of tariffs are not set in response to specific economic phenomena, but done so in a way that is uncorrelated with any other economic variable. One effect of this is to create uncertainty, which amplifies the negative effects tariffs generally have on output (for instance, companies might be [less willing](https://direct.mit.edu/rest/article-abstract/82/2/338/57178/The-Differential-Impact-of-Uncertainty-on) to commit to big investments when tariffs could change at any time). Another effect is that other countries might be less willing to accept future trade deals with the US. 

The only other “exogenous” US tariff that comes to my mind is the [Tariff of Abominations](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff_of_Abominations), which according to Wikipedia wasn’t designed to pass Congress but did anyways. Of course, the economy and global political stage was very different in the 1800s so the effects shouldn’t really compared.

0nionRang

The British example was the Corn Laws


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_Laws


"The Corn laws enhanced the profits and political power associated with land ownership. The laws raised food prices and the costs of living for the British public, and hampered the growth of other British economic sectors, such as manufacturing, by reducing the disposable income of the British public.[3]


The laws became the focus of opposition from urban groups who had far less political power than rural areas. The first two years of the Great Famine in Ireland of 1845–1852 forced a resolution because of the urgent need for new food supplies. The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, a Conservative, achieved repeal in 1846 with the support of the Whigs in Parliament, overcoming the opposition of most of his own party.


Economic historians see the repeal of the Corn Laws as a decisive shift towards free trade in Britain.[4][5] According to one 2021 study, the repeal of the Corn Laws benefitted the bottom 90% of income earners in the United Kingdom economically, while causing income losses for the top 10% of income earners"

ComprehensiveBee1819


As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil)

In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. 

If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.

 For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.
 
 We are actively looking for new moderators.  If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out [this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1y2swHD0KXFhStGFjW6k54r9iuMjzcFqDIVwuvdLBjSA).
 

***


*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*

What if.

He is doing it to negotiate his debt load lower.

He is doing it so that a crypto currency can replace the US Dollar.

He is doing it so that insiders can make billions on well timed stock trades.

He is making a media spectacle of ice raids and military transports to distract from the grift.

He is doing it to starve the US Government of resources.

He is doing it to open up Government owed properties to resource exploitation.

He is doing it so that black rock can buy port access in Panama.

So it goes.

Megaphonestory

Cruelty has been the basis of nearly all republican laws they want to pass.
That’s baked into their core.

ThinOpinions

The point is to ratchet up the pressure until it explodes and then implement the insurrection act and become a dictator in all but name.

redditlvlanalysis

Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive.

Simply put the tariffs are a means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief.

Economists and political pundits can not explain how the tariffs make economic sense - because they don't make economic sense.  They are not designed as economic policy.  The tariffs are designed as a new, super dangerous political tool.

The founders of our country created a President with limited and checked powers.  they specifically put the power of spending and taxation in the hands of the Congress, because they had seen how Kings and Despots used spending and taxes to control their subjects.

British kings used taxation to reward loyalty and punish dissent.  Our revolution was spurred by the King's use of heavy taxation of the Colonies to punish our push for self-governance.  The King's message was clear:  stop protesting and I will stop taxing.

Trump knows he can weaken (and maybe destroy) democracy by spending and taxation in the same way.  He is using access to government funds to bully universities, law firms, and State and Local governments into loyalty pledges.

Healthy democracies rely on an independent legal profession to maintain the rule of law, independent universities to guard objective truth and provide forums for dissent to authority, and independent State and Local governments to counterbalance a powerful Federal government - but the private sector also plays a role to protect democracy.  Independent industry has power.

The tariffs are Trump's way of eroding the independence of the private sector.  Now, one by one, every industry or company will need to pledge loyalty to Trump to get the sanctions relief they need to stay in business.

What will Trump demand as part of these loyalty pledges?  Public shows of support for all his policies.  Contributions to his political efforts.  Promises to police their employees to ensure that they support Trump and that none dare oppose Trump in any way.

Trump did not invent this strategy.  It is the playbook for destroying democracy, for those who get elected and want to ensure that they can never be voted out, those who want to remain 'President for life'.  This is how a democracy becomes a dictatorship.

Trump is consolidating his power and the time remaining to stop him is growing short.  Public mobilization is working.  We only need to convince a few Republicans in Congress to join the Democrats to revoke Trump's tariff taxes.  The people still have the power - if we work quickly.

When fascists are consolidating their power and dismantling our democracy, you have to find out if you will accept the situation you're in. Either let that become the new normal, or do something. And with that risk everything.

Truthisnotallowed

You only have to ask who actually benefits the most from any decline in the US…

Traveler2952

I wouldn’t say that is the point. The point is to preserve tax cuts for the rich. They simply don’t care about the misery they cause anyone.

BasicPerson23

Make the people miserable, convince them that the fault there lies with the minorities.  Worked in the past.

RoosterMedical

You move a population intow war by destroying all security. Food security, job security, housing security, social security - sweep it away and you have 39th century Germany

Legitimate_Eye8494

Glad you got a cup of coffee in you today... Yes. That's the fucking point of ALL of this.

williamgman

I laugh when people try to ascribe complex ulterior motives to Trump's actions. It's always the simplest answer... either its grievance or racism or self dealing full stop. and there's never any thought to what the result will be because it matters zero percent. And he doesn't care about republicans or the right or America or anything political. he cares about Trump's bank account.

Mobius00

Of course its the point. Trumps so much hardship and damage Americans revolt.

That way he can declare martial law, do away with habeas corpus, and imprison all who stand in his way, including congress and the courts

WastelandOutlaw007

People thinking Trump is gonna save them from the Deep State. As if he wouldn't already be locked away if he wasn't the Deep State.

The pendelum is going swing back, and I think that is the point, to get people to hate Trump after he knocks down America. Trump is just a dumb pawn.

ExtremeModerate2024

It *is* the point. Cruelty is all the right has to run on.

Disciple_of_Cthulhu

His handlers have instructed him to destroy the United States.

Goblue5891x2

What people are just catching on to this? It’s also a massive transfer of wealth to the people who don’t need it the wealthy

According-Mention334

Trumps sole goal is to enrich trump. That’s it. He doesn’t have a greater overarching purpose. He doesn’t care what happens to anybody else good or bad unless he has personal animosity toward them. He needs to feel like the winner and in his zero sum view of the world there can only be one winner and thus everybody else has to lose.

prodigalpariah

Who writes this shit?

Obviously that’s the point. I would’ve hoped our journalists would’ve read Project 2025. 

Too little, too late, from a broken profession. 

Cash your checks.

Northern_Grouse

All he’s doing is pushing and pushing for a civil war but Americans are so broken they’re enduring more than he expected, so he’s just going to push harder and harder until force becomes his “response” to any resistance and he’ll be seen as a victim and receive support to fully weaponize the police and military against the citizens. Just my general observation, but damn it makes sense to view his actions based on this thought.

The guy isn't some clever mastermind.   He got the idea in his head that tariffs were a great idea, believes all his ideas are the best, and will never believe otherwise regardless of the evidence. 

It doesn't have to be deeper than that.   He may be evil, but he is also stupid.  It's not one or the other.

IJourden

cavmax

The point is to devalue the dollar, and it's working

elevendirtyasses

ItsJustForMyOwnKicks

Moon_Noodle

Trump's entire 2nd term is a revenge campaign on the whole world for dragging him through the mud with the much deserved trials and humiliations he faced when he lost the 2nd time.

Problem is, a large portion of the US voter base are empty head MAGA zombie scum/apathetic non-voting useless morons and allowed him a window to get back into power and face no consequences for his many crimes. 

Good job America who didn't vote for Kamala. 👏 For the one who did try to stop this you do have my sympathies.

I watched [this video about Lutnick](https://youtu.be/NYWsonBlNaY?si=siXoFOUpYN_-JjIB) and it really opened up my perspective that this is just another way to enrich a small number of people while making life worse for the rest of us.

clovisx

He is a Russian asset. People keep calling him an idiot but he isn't, everything he has been doing had nefarious purposes. We shouldn't underestimate him or his allies, he isn't going down easily with his network of friends. 

RexDraco

I'm mostly operating under the assumption that stock price manipulation is the point. That seems about the right level of plot for Trump to get his head around.

2much2Jung

hoffman4

mostlyharmless55

Cruelty is the point. It was the point in the first term and it’s the point in the second term.

alg602

What if? It's exactly the point. All of us in the middle class get fucked while him and his buddies rape the pillage the country for all it's worth. Those big macs need to hurry up and finish the job.

Udjet

GOPtakesEllisDee

People need to stop reading too deep into this.  He is an half wit who has been rambling about tariffs for decades, he truly believes it’s a clever play no one but him was smart enough to go for.  It’s not like his tariff love came out of no where

Cactusfan86

MD_Hamm

Anybody can know the truth about who pays the tariffs on goods but instead Trump has said repeatedly the foreign governments pays any tarriff. That is flatly false.

 Trump has at the same time insisted big corporations will "eat the tariff" meaning corporations will pay it without raising prices. 

And also Trump has told his followers they should be willing to pay a bit more for those dolls further implying that his original lie about the foreign countries paying all tariffs is not true and the truth is the cost does get passed on to the consumers.

But wait..... There's more, midweek he announced that in three weeks he will be informing a long list of countries of the tariff rate they will have to pay in order to have access to American markets and sell their goods here so again implying the foreign countries pay the tariff costs.

There is no Truth with Donald Trump because he cannot stop himself from lying. Lying is his bread and butter because he is an ignoramus and he knows it, Trump doesn't know the facts about anything so he makes the facts up in real time, as such he may well believe what ever lie he tells in the moment.

basketballsteven

Lets please stop pretending this guy has a grand master plan?

He's an octagenerian who doesn't know where he's at half the time, with 7 bankruptcies under his belt, 3 baby mamas and a string of sexual assault charges.

He has no plan.

Of course….rather let grains rot on the loading docks instead of feeding the hungry in Africa. 
Of course…cry antisemitism when Palestinians are starving to death.
Of course….rather destroy AIDS drugs instead of using them for the poor.
Of course…rather charge for Narcan instead of saving a life for free. 
Of course…….
Yes there is a glee, a sincere desire to hurt people of every color (white is a color too)

rom_rom57

skeevev

I'll take stating the obvious for 100 alex

Paraxom

Misery. The point is to make everyone miserable.

robbierebound

“Don’t attribute malice, to that which can easily be explained by incompetence.”

I forget who said it, but that’s the simple explanation for everything Krasnov does.

Cerberus_Aus

guyinoz99

President Trump's significant tariffs on Brazil and India spark controversy and international tensions.

Trump's Tariffs and International Relations

Why This Matters

Public Sentiment Summary

Highlighted Comments

Parties Involved

What the people want