US trade gap falls 15 percent to $51.1 billion in January

[The Purge]

This is definitely Trumps fault. All this winning. Thank you Mr. President.

The U.S. trade deficit tumbled nearly 15 percent in January as imports fell and exports rose. Shipments of American goods to China skidded to the lowest level in more than eight years as the world’s two biggest economies remained locked in a trade war.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the gap between the goods and services that the United States sells and what it buys from other countries dropped by 14.6 percent to $51.1 billion in January from $59.9 billion in December. Exports rose 0.9 percent to $207.3 billion, and imports dropped 2.6 percent to $258.5 billion.

The deficit in the trade of goods with China narrowed by 6.4 percent to $34.5 billion. U.S. goods exports to China dropped 22.3 percent to $7.1 billion, lowest since September 2010; Chinese imports dropped 9.6 percent to $41.6 billion. […]

The U.S. also reported a sharp increase in exports of cars, trucks and auto parts in January.

President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to reduce America’s longstanding trade deficit with the rest of the world. He sees the gap as a sign of economic weakness and as the result of bad trade deals and abusive practices by America’s trading partners. …

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...

 

[Correll]

That is very encouraging.

 

[candycorn]

That Americans can’t afford the things they want is less than encouraging.

 

[Correll]

That Americans can’t afford the things they want is less than encouraging.

Explain how the information provided, can only mean that.

 

[candycorn]

That Americans can’t afford the things they want is less than encouraging.

Explain how the information provided, can only mean that.

What do you think tariffs do?

 

[Correll]

That Americans can’t afford the things they want is less than encouraging.

Explain how the information provided, can only mean that.

What do you think tariffs do?

Encourage people to buy American.

Now, please explain your conclusion.

 

[candycorn]

That Americans can’t afford the things they want is less than encouraging.

Explain how the information provided, can only mean that.

What do you think tariffs do?

Encourage people to buy American.

Now, please explain your conclusion.

How does it “encourage people to buy American”?

 

[Correll]

That Americans can’t afford the things they want is less than encouraging.

Explain how the information provided, can only mean that.

What do you think tariffs do?

Encourage people to buy American.

Now, please explain your conclusion.

How does it “encourage people to buy American”?

By making imports less competitive to American products.


Are you going to be explaining your conclusion soon?

 

[candycorn]

That Americans can’t afford the things they want is less than encouraging.

Explain how the information provided, can only mean that.

What do you think tariffs do?

Encourage people to buy American.

Now, please explain your conclusion.

How does it “encourage people to buy American”?

By making imports less competitive to American products.


Are you going to be explaining your conclusion soon?

You’re explaining it for me. It raises the prices of things that Americans have bought. That they can no longer afford them is not a good sign.

 

[Indeependent]

That Americans can’t afford the things they want is less than encouraging.

Explain how the information provided, can only mean that.

What do you think tariffs do?

Encourage people to buy American.

Now, please explain your conclusion.

How does it “encourage people to buy American”?

I shop and I have no idea where you conjure up this nonsense.

 

[Correll]

Explain how the information provided, can only mean that.

What do you think tariffs do?

Encourage people to buy American.

Now, please explain your conclusion.

How does it “encourage people to buy American”?

By making imports less competitive to American products.


Are you going to be explaining your conclusion soon?

You’re explaining it for me. It raises the prices of things that Americans have bought. That they can no longer afford them is not a good sign.

Your are assuming that the price increase means that a significant number of Americans can now not afford the products in question.


Can you support that, or is it just something you hope to be true, to give you an excuse to attack your hated enemy Trump?

 

[candycorn]

That Americans can’t afford the things they want is less than encouraging.

Explain how the information provided, can only mean that.

What do you think tariffs do?

Encourage people to buy American.

Now, please explain your conclusion.

How does it “encourage people to buy American”?

I shop and I have no idea where you conjure up this nonsense.

Ok.

 

[candycorn]

What do you think tariffs do?

Encourage people to buy American.

Now, please explain your conclusion.

How does it “encourage people to buy American”?

By making imports less competitive to American products.


Are you going to be explaining your conclusion soon?

You’re explaining it for me. It raises the prices of things that Americans have bought. That they can no longer afford them is not a good sign.

Your are assuming that the price increase means that a significant number of Americans can now not afford the products in question.


Can you support that, or is it just something you hope to be true, to give you an excuse to attack your hated enemy Trump?

Price increases are the result of tariffs.

 

[Correll]

Encourage people to buy American.

Now, please explain your conclusion.

How does it “encourage people to buy American”?

By making imports less competitive to American products.


Are you going to be explaining your conclusion soon?

You’re explaining it for me. It raises the prices of things that Americans have bought. That they can no longer afford them is not a good sign.

Your are assuming that the price increase means that a significant number of Americans can now not afford the products in question.


Can you support that, or is it just something you hope to be true, to give you an excuse to attack your hated enemy Trump?

Price increases are the result of tariffs.

Yes, I got that.


Now explain how you "know" that a significant number of Americans cannot afford something they wanted, because of it.

(note that i am generously NOT making a point about you proving any increase in price)

 

[candycorn]

How does it “encourage people to buy American”?

By making imports less competitive to American products.


Are you going to be explaining your conclusion soon?

You’re explaining it for me. It raises the prices of things that Americans have bought. That they can no longer afford them is not a good sign.

Your are assuming that the price increase means that a significant number of Americans can now not afford the products in question.


Can you support that, or is it just something you hope to be true, to give you an excuse to attack your hated enemy Trump?

Price increases are the result of tariffs.

Yes, I got that.


Now explain how you "know" that a significant number of Americans cannot afford something they wanted, because of it.

(note that i am generously NOT making a point about you proving any increase in price)

Do you have any idea how trade works?

 

[Correll]

By making imports less competitive to American products.


Are you going to be explaining your conclusion soon?

You’re explaining it for me. It raises the prices of things that Americans have bought. That they can no longer afford them is not a good sign.

Your are assuming that the price increase means that a significant number of Americans can now not afford the products in question.


Can you support that, or is it just something you hope to be true, to give you an excuse to attack your hated enemy Trump?

Price increases are the result of tariffs.

Yes, I got that.


Now explain how you "know" that a significant number of Americans cannot afford something they wanted, because of it.

(note that i am generously NOT making a point about you proving any increase in price)

Do you have any idea how trade works?

I'm no expert.

Now., support your conclusion, or admit it was just an assumption you made, so that you could play a little game of "attack Trump".

 

[candycorn]

You’re explaining it for me. It raises the prices of things that Americans have bought. That they can no longer afford them is not a good sign.

Your are assuming that the price increase means that a significant number of Americans can now not afford the products in question.


Can you support that, or is it just something you hope to be true, to give you an excuse to attack your hated enemy Trump?

Price increases are the result of tariffs.

Yes, I got that.


Now explain how you "know" that a significant number of Americans cannot afford something they wanted, because of it.

(note that i am generously NOT making a point about you proving any increase in price)

Do you have any idea how trade works?

I'm no expert.

Now., support your conclusion, or admit it was just an assumption you made, so that you could play a little game of "attack Trump".

No kidding.

I'll explain it to you:

ACME imports a few thousand widgets from China in November. They sell it to retailers or another wholesaler. They paid up front for the widgets and sold them at a mark-up so they made money on the deal.

ACME imports a few thousand widgets from China in December. They sell it to retailers or another wholesaler. They paid up front for the widgets and sold them at a mark-up so they made money on the deal.

Tariffs are imposed on January 1.

ACME is given a new price for those widgets and decides they can't afford to import them from China. They would have to increase their price to the retailers or another wholesaler. So they keep the money in their pocket.

If they could still make money at the new price, they would. They made a business decision that they cannot. Hence we are not importing as much any longer.

 

[william the wie]

What do you think tariffs do?

Encourage people to buy American.

Now, please explain your conclusion.

How does it “encourage people to buy American”?

By making imports less competitive to American products.


Are you going to be explaining your conclusion soon?

You’re explaining it for me. It raises the prices of things that Americans have bought. That they can no longer afford them is not a good sign.

Your are assuming that the price increase means that a significant number of Americans can now not afford the products in question.


Can you support that, or is it just something you hope to be true, to give you an excuse to attack your hated enemy Trump?

Fasten your seatbelt. The current lefty Nobel Prize winning standard theory of comparative advantage is based on a thought experiment involving interstellar trade. This theory was used to promote the real estate bubble in 2003 as a risk free way to overcome the aftermath of the dot-bomb. Since you may recall the end game of that strategy CC has a reasonable fear that naming this "Genius" might lead to her setting the record for the number of funny ratings in USMB history. You would recognize the name of this economist immediately.

 

[Correll]

Your are assuming that the price increase means that a significant number of Americans can now not afford the products in question.


Can you support that, or is it just something you hope to be true, to give you an excuse to attack your hated enemy Trump?

Price increases are the result of tariffs.

Yes, I got that.


Now explain how you "know" that a significant number of Americans cannot afford something they wanted, because of it.

(note that i am generously NOT making a point about you proving any increase in price)

Do you have any idea how trade works?

I'm no expert.

Now., support your conclusion, or admit it was just an assumption you made, so that you could play a little game of "attack Trump".

No kidding.

I'll explain it to you:

ACME imports a few thousand widgets from China in November. They sell it to retailers or another wholesaler. They paid up front for the widgets and sold them at a mark-up so they made money on the deal.

ACME imports a few thousand widgets from China in December. They sell it to retailers or another wholesaler. They paid up front for the widgets and sold them at a mark-up so they made money on the deal.

Tariffs are imposed on January 1.

ACME is given a new price for those widgets and decides they can't afford to import them from China. They would have to increase their price to the retailers or another wholesaler. So they keep the money in their pocket.

If they could still make money at the new price, they would. They made a business decision that they cannot. Hence we are not importing as much any longer.

Got it. I accept that this might have happened.

Now demonstrate that any significant number of consumers, was unable to buy the shit they wanted, due to this unspecified price increase.

 

[candycorn]

Price increases are the result of tariffs.

Yes, I got that.


Now explain how you "know" that a significant number of Americans cannot afford something they wanted, because of it.

(note that i am generously NOT making a point about you proving any increase in price)

Do you have any idea how trade works?

I'm no expert.

Now., support your conclusion, or admit it was just an assumption you made, so that you could play a little game of "attack Trump".

No kidding.

I'll explain it to you:

ACME imports a few thousand widgets from China in November. They sell it to retailers or another wholesaler. They paid up front for the widgets and sold them at a mark-up so they made money on the deal.

ACME imports a few thousand widgets from China in December. They sell it to retailers or another wholesaler. They paid up front for the widgets and sold them at a mark-up so they made money on the deal.

Tariffs are imposed on January 1.

ACME is given a new price for those widgets and decides they can't afford to import them from China. They would have to increase their price to the retailers or another wholesaler. So they keep the money in their pocket.

If they could still make money at the new price, they would. They made a business decision that they cannot. Hence we are not importing as much any longer.

Got it. I accept that this might have happened.

Now demonstrate that any significant number of consumers, was unable to buy the shit they wanted, due to this unspecified price increase.

Apparently, you don't "got it".

As wholesale costs rise, it would be most illogical (or "stupid" if you prefer to label yourself that way) to assume retail prices are not going to follow.

At any rate, the American importers can no longer afford the items they were buying (and making a profit on) from China due to tariffs.