• floofloof@lemmy.ca
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    11 months ago

    The Trump administration says it put the tariffs in place to force China, Mexico and Canada to stop the spread and manufacturing of fentanyl, in addition to pressuring Canada and Mexico to limit any illegal immigration into the United States.

    Can anyone else see any actual logic to this? Do the Trump Republicans really believe this, or are they just saying it? What do they really want to achieve, apart from Trump being able to see himself as a tough guy?

    • breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      There’s no logic to it at all. It’s absolutely not about that.

      Almost no fentanyl is getting into the US from Canada. A vanishingly small amount of illegal immigration occurs through the Canadian border.

      It’s just fascism and imperialism.

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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        11 months ago

        One would think there would be some talk about precursors… But nope just tax it 25 % that will be sure to get producers to stop. Pure idiocy

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        The majority of fentanyl being smuggled into America is being smuggled in by American citizens. It’s not like cocaine or cannabis. You can smuggle a huge amount of fentanyl in a tiny bottle. Why risk sending it with an undocumented person?

    • takeheart@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Saw a policy expert say it’s a mixture of 3 things really:

      1. Trump likes to blame outsiders for problems and this is well received by his loyal base and gives off strongman vibes
      2. long term plan to switch from income tax (scales the more you earn) to consumption taxes (the poorer you are the more you pay for for consumption, relatively speaking) which benefits the rich at the expense of the poor. this wealth transfer is easier to sell when the populace is focused on outsiders
      3. Trump doesn’t understand basic economics

      source: https://youtu.be/2I1L1fXaYDs

      • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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        11 months ago

        Or they are just thinking of a quick cash grab … gut the system and get as much wealth out of everything and everyone as fast and as much as possible … let it all crash then abandon everything with all their money and let someone else fix everything.

        • takeheart@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I think in that scenario it’s more likely that they would “buy the dip” then that they would up and leave. Some of the billionaires also want to found their own techno-fashist fiefdoms. This could be a good catalyst for that.

      • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        11 months ago

        Tarrifs get paid to the Treasury, the Treasury is getting controlled by Musk and Trump, they can take whatever they want from those funds. Whos going to stop them? The Supreme Court takes bribes which can come from the same pot.

        He just needs to keep a bit of support until all angles are secured. So he just spreads lies and blames everything on people here illegally to keep people pitted against each other. The largest source of illegals in this country is from overstaying Visas, the thing they are expanding to higher numbers… Aka more people to keep blaming shit on while putting on a show of deporting the ones that are already here.

        Honestly doesn’t look like they’ll need much time to accomplish it.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        They absolutely want to implement a national sales tax. They’ve been talking about it for a very long time and now they have the power to do it. And it’s very much a “fuck the poor” policy.

    • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      11 months ago

      A. Enact sales tax on poor people so that they can fund further corporate tax cuts
      B. Ruin relationships with the closest American allies as that is a net benefit for geopolitical rivals like Russia, who Trump is demonstrably in bed with
      C. Market value collapse let’s all the rich cronies that have crawled up Trump’s asshole buy out what’s left of America’s assets at fire sale prices. 10 richest men doubled their wealth during covid. They want that to happen again.