Most interestingly, Alexander Mercouris argues persuasively that the swathe of tariffs now enforced by Trump means the end of globalization.
Liberation Day: The End of Globalization
https://youtube.com/watch?v=aLvY6xpKoIs
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Most interestingly, Alexander Mercouris argues persuasively that the swathe of tariffs now enforced by Trump means the end of globalization.
Liberation Day: The End of Globalization
https://youtube.com/watch?v=aLvY6xpKoIs
The foundation of American economic prosperity is a society empowered with the knowledge and tools to make informed financial decisions to achieve the American Dream. ...I welcome that message.
James Surowiecki @JamesSurowiecki - 0:22 UTC · Apr 3, 2025 Just figured out where these fake tariff rates come from. They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us.The last point is a major one, for China, but especially for the EU :
So we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9/$28 = 64%, which Trump claims is the tariff rate Indonesia charges us. What extraordinary nonsense this is.
...
Even given that it's Trump, I cannot believe they said "We'll just divide the trade deficit by imports and tell people that's the tariff rate." And then they decided to set our tariffs by just cutting that totally made-up rate in half! This is so dumb and deceptive.
...
.. it's actually worse than I thought: in calculating the tariff rate, Trump's people only used the trade deficit in goods. So even though we run a trade surplus in services with the world, those exports don't count as far as Trump is concerned.
EU-US trade in goods and services reached an impressive €1.6 trillion in 2023. This means that every day, €4.4 billion worth of goods and services cross the Atlantic between the EU and the US.Despite that Trump has decreed a 20% on all goods from the EU. The natural countermeasure from the EU will be to put a 20+% tariff on all import of U.S. services.
...
The total bilateral trade in goods reached €851 billion in 2023. The EU exported €503 billion of goods to the US market, while importing €347 billion; this resulted in a goods trade surplus of €157 billion for the EU. Total bilateral trade in services between the EU and the US was worth €746 billion in 2023. The EU exported €319 billion of services to the US, while importing €427 billion from the US; this resulted in a services trade deficit of €109 billion for the EU.
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EU-US goods and services trade is balanced: the difference between EU exports to the US and US exports to the EU stood at €48 billion in 2023; the equivalent of just 3% of the total trade between the EU and the US.
Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand - 4:16 AM · Apr 3, 2025 To illustrate just how nonsensically these tariffs were calculated, take the example of Lesotho, one of the poorest countries in Africa with just $2.4 billion in annual GDP, which is being struck with a 50% tariff rate under the Trump plan, the highest rate among all countries on the list.Lesotho has a comparative advantage over the U.S. as it can dig up and sell diamonds. But it lacks the purchasing power to buy U.S. goods and services. The calculations by the Trump administration ignore those basic facts.
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As a matter of fact Lesotho, as a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), applies the common external tariff structure established by this regional trade bloc.
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So since the tariffs charged by these 5 countries on U.S. products are exactly the same, they must all be struck with a 50% tariff rate by the U.S., right? Not at all: South Africa is getting 30%, Namibia 21%, Botswana 37% and Eswatini just 10%, the lowest rate possible among all countries.
Looking at Lesotho specifically, every year the U.S. imports approximately $236 million in goods from Lesotho (primarily diamonds, textiles and apparel) while exporting only about $7 million worth of goods to Lesotho (https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryPr...ner/by-country).
Why do they export so little? Again this is an extremely poor country where 56.2% of the population lives with less than $3.65 a day (https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/...), i.e. $1,300 a year. They simply can't afford U.S. products, no-one is going to buy an iPhone or a Tesla on that sort of income...
The way the tariffs are ACTUALLY calculated appears to be based on a simplistic and economically senseless formula: you take the trade deficit the U.S. has with a country, divide it by that country's exports to the U.S and declare this - falsely - "the tariff they charge on the U.S."
And then as Trump did in his speech last night, you magnanimously declare that you'll only "reciprocate" by charging half that "tariff" on them.
As such, for Lesotho, the calculation goes like this: ($236M - $7M)/$235M = 97%. That's the "tariff" Lesotho is deemed to charge this U.S. and half of that, i.e. roughly 50% is what the U.S. "reciprocates" with.
It's extremely easy to see why this makes no sense at all.
Economics and global finance make up the one big-picture topic about I definitely know the least of all. But I feel I have to say: I do not have a good feeling about this. :worried:Quote:
Posted by Ravenlocke
Exactly why, I'm not totally sure, though I have a few ideas. I'm going to spend the next few days meditating on this to figure out what I might possibly be able to 'see'.
Text:
𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐭: 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐤𝐚𝐧𝐞’𝐬 “𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃” 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭
The recent 50% reciprocal tariff imposed by the U.S. on Lesotho has left many puzzled. But what does this actually mean for Lesotho’s economy? More importantly, is the current administration prepared to handle what could be a bigger economic shock than COVID-19?
𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬
Lesotho does not set its own tariffs.
•Tariffs on U.S. goods are determined by the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), not Lesotho itself.
•SACU’s Common External Tariff (CET) generally ranges from:
•0–30% on most goods.
•Higher tariffs on products like textiles, alcohol, and vehicles.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟓𝟎% 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧?
Effectively, Donald Trump has “killed” AGOA.
•The textile industry, which depends almost entirely on duty-free access to the U.S., will collapse.
•18,000 jobs lost—only a fraction of the workforce (500 workers) will remain employed.
•This could be the end of Lesotho’s largest manufacturing sector, which contributes significantly to GDP and foreign exchange earnings.
𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
This tariff exposes deep flaws in international trade agreements and regional economic policies:
•South Africa’s Role in SACU
•The tariff highlights how South Africa’s protectionist policies have long shaped SACU trade rules to its advantage.
•As tensions between South Africa and the U.S. grow, Lesotho is caught in the crossfire, bearing the economic consequences of decisions it does not control.
•China and Taiwan’s Influence
•Lesotho’s textile industry is highly dependent on Chinese and Taiwanese investors, who operate within AGOA’s framework.
•With AGOA now effectively crippled, these investors may pull out or relocate, further destabilizing the economy.
•The original intent of AGOA—to empower local Basotho-owned businesses—was never realized, and this crisis lays bare those structural weaknesses.
What’s Next?
The full impact of these tariffs will unfold over the coming months, but one thing is clear: Lesotho’s economic model is fragile, and its dependence on AGOA has left it vulnerable. The question now is whether the government can mitigate the fallout or if Lesotho is heading toward an economic crisis.
———————
More on this in our next publication.
https://x.com/LesothoTribune/status/1907720558458056885
A good explanation by Arnaud Bertrand
Text:
To illustrate just how nonsensically these tariffs were calculated, take the example of Lesotho, one of the poorest countries in Africa with just $2.4 billion in annual GDP, which is being struck with a 50% tariff rate under the Trump plan, the highest rate among all countries on the list.
Why? Does Lesotho apply extortionate tariffs on U.S. products and the U.S. is merely being "reciprocal" here? Not at all, despite what Trump is saying, it's NOT the way these tariffs are defined.
As a matter of fact Lesotho, as a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), applies the common external tariff structure established by this regional trade bloc.
Which means it applies the same tariffs on U.S. products as South Africa does, as well as the 3 other members of the bloc: Namibia, Eswatini and Botswana.
So since the tariffs charged by these 5 countries on U.S. products are exactly the same, they must all be struck with a 50% tariff rate by the U.S., right? Not at all: South Africa is getting 30%, Namibia 21%, Botswana 37% and Eswatini just 10%, the lowest rate possible among all countries.
So what gives? Again, the way these tariffs are calculated has absolutely zero relationship with actual tariffs imposed by these countries on U.S. products. Instead, they appear to be simply derived from trade deficit calculations.
Looking at Lesotho specifically, every year the U.S. imports approximately $236 million in goods from Lesotho (primarily diamonds, textiles and apparel) while exporting only about $7 million worth of goods to Lesotho (https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryPr...ner/by-country).
Why do they export so little? Again this is an extremely poor country where 56.2% of the population lives with less than $3.65 a day (https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/..._POVEQ_LSO.pdf), i.e. $1,300 a year. They simply can't afford U.S. products, no-one is going to buy an iPhone or a Tesla on that sort of income...
The way the tariffs are ACTUALLY calculated appears to be based on a simplistic and economically senseless formula: you take the trade deficit the U.S. has with a country, divide it by that country's exports to the U.S and declare this - falsely - "the tariff they charge on the U.S."
And then as Trump did in his speech last night, you magnanimously declare that you'll only "reciprocate" by charging half that "tariff" on them.
As such, for Lesotho, the calculation goes like this: ($236M - $7M)/$235M = 97%. That's the "tariff" Lesotho is deemed to charge this U.S. and half of that, i.e. roughly 50% is what the U.S. "reciprocates" with.
It's extremely easy to see why this makes no sense at all.
First of all, there's nothing Lesotho can do about it: they can't change tariffs they allegedly charge the U.S. to reduce the tariff rate the U.S. "reciprocates" with because, again, it's NOT based on any tariff that they charge.
Similarly they can't do much about reducing the trade deficit they have with the U.S. because, again, they simply don't have enough money to buy U.S. products.
Also the main rational Trump gave for the tariffs is to get production back to the U.S., to "bring manufacturing back". 47.3% of Lesotho's exports are diamonds: how do you bring the "manufacturing" of that "back to the U.S."? Anyone can see it makes just about zero sense.
The Lesotho example exposes the fundamental economic incoherence of these tariffs. Rather than addressing actual trade barriers, they punish countries based on trade deficits that arise from structural economic realities. All the more countries like Lesotho which pose zero competitive threat to American industry.
Worse yet, these tariffs will likely make these structural realities even worse: the U.S. is Lesotho's second most important export destination so it's a fair bet that applying 50% tariffs on their products will make people in Lesotho even poorer, and therefore even LESS able to afford U.S. products.
But perhaps the most unfair and detrimental aspect of all this is that these tariffs represent a complete reversal of longstanding U.S. development policy, and therefore a betrayal of countries - like Lesotho - who chose to follow U.S. advice in the past.
For decades the U.S. has used preferential trade access to encourage economic development in the world's poorest nations, recognizing that trade, not just aid, could get them out of poverty and ultimately put them in a position where they too could afford iPhones or Tesla.
They're now effectively penalizing countries for following previous U.S. policy, a lesson which I bet they won't forget anytime soon.
So all in all the irony is painful: in the name of fighting unfair trade, America has just demonstrated what truly unfair trade looks like.
This isn't something designed to address genuine trade issues, but simply a mechanism based on arbitrary math to punish countries for the affront of selling more to the United States than they buy.
https://x.com/joshbudlender/status/1907686217186959429
I'd written this above, about the tariffs in general, before I'd heard about the 50% levied on Lesotho.Quote:
Posted by Ravenlocke
Now I'm feeling it much more strongly. There's something that's just not right here.Quote:
Posted by Bill Ryan
Lesotho is the tiny country in red in the map below, entirely surrounded by South Africa. It used to be called Basutoland, before gaining independence from the British in 1966. Trump made a joke about it in his Speech to Congress a month ago, saying 'no-one has ever heard of it.'
Lesotho is the 22nd poorest country in the world.
https://images.mapsofworld.com/answe...h-africa-1.jpg
It's hard to say what to believe right now. Nothing is making sense and it all seems like a huge lie. These percentage charts don't even make any sense.Quote:
Posted by Bill RyanEconomics and global finance make up the one big-picture topic about I definitely know the least of all. But I feel I have to say: I do not have a good feeling about this. :worried:Quote:
Posted by Ravenlocke
Exactly why, I'm not totally sure, though I have a few ideas. I'm going to spend the next few days meditating on this to figure out what I might possibly be able to 'see'.
I've watched several video's/reports about this and everyone is saying something different and no one seems to know what the hell they are talking about.
I'm starting to think something totally different is going on than what it appears to be, like we are all being played.
What’s going around on the net is that the tariffs kills the AGOA and further the AGOA initially set up in 2000 is set to expire this year in September.
https://x.com/bftghana/status/1894348369797034272
However, this is Jeffrey Sachs' professional expertise, a man for whom I have the highest respect. I've NOT listened to this video yet, but the title may be the giveaway.Quote:
Posted by Bill Ryan
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs : The Disaster of Tariffs
https://youtube.com/watch?v=x0alGvV0Sjc
Even Sachs appears to be looking at what's going on through tunnel vision, not seeing the bigger picture.Quote:
Posted by Bill RyanHowever, this is Jeffrey Sachs' professional expertise, a man for whom I have the highest respect. I've NOT listened to this video yet, but the title may be the giveaway.Quote:
Posted by Bill Ryan
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs : The Disaster of Tariffs
https://youtube.com/watch?v=x0alGvV0Sjc
I do agree what he says about these tariffs being a tax and causing prices to rise as I'm seeing this first hand with what I need to purchase to operate my business. I'm constantly having to raise my prices and it's becoming an ongoing issue with my clients/customers.
It does seem Trump is sticking a dagger in to our economy causing a near fatal wound, but, what it must be doing to other countries is even worse. Some of these other countries so used to racking in big bucks and now just hammered in to oblivion must be panicking and losing their minds. The US has somewhat of a cushion to this but this has to be just catastrophic to some other countries and big businesses. It's a major shakedown to say the least.
Almost every "expert" is saying Trump doesn't understand economics and doesn't know what he's doing, they sound like they are reading off a script. That's a sign right there something is off and not making sense.
I'm seeing Trump slamming the door shut to something, it feels extremely dangerous. It's as if he's not just firing a few CEO's, he's firing a few Nations.
Burn it it to the ground!
We are so used to being fleeced that we cannot even dream of a world without our masters.
And we are so propagandized that we don't know good from bad, or right from wrong.
no one anticipated a 238,000 landfall jobs increase
but oh no, its bad for Africa
what about America
subsidized economies are not helping anyone
they are aiding and abetting the moral decay that is socialized government
if everyone gets a handout, who is paying
yup, we are, always have
we pay for everything
which means we pay for our own indentured servitude
let the Phoenix rise from the ashes
Why Are There No Tariffs on Russia? Trump’s Sanctions Already Crushed Their Trade
Democrats have branded President Trump a Russian agent, pointing to his tariffs on U.S. allies like Canada and Europe while appearing to spare Russia. However, while Trump has not introduced new tariffs on Russia in his second term, he has extended and enforced existing trade restrictions—maintaining the punitive measures implemented during his first term and reinforced under the Biden administration.
In his first term alone, Trump imposed more than 270 sanctions on Russian individuals and entities. Combined with Biden’s later actions, these measures slashed U.S. imports from Russia to just $3 billion in 2024, down from $29 billion in 2021. Today, Russia is a trivial player in the U.S. trade picture.
Trump ranks third in total sanctions on Russia—behind Presidents Obama and Biden, but the numbers alone miss the bigger picture. Obama sanctioned Russia after Moscow invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea in 2014 on his watch. He failed to broker peace, failed to reclaim territory, and left office with Crimea still in Russian hands. Yet, no one accused him of being a Russian asset.
Biden imposed even more sanctions following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Like Obama, he failed to prevent the war, failed to reverse Russian gains, and exited office without a negotiated settlement.
Trump, by contrast, offered President Zelensky two clear paths for continued U.S. support—focused on defense in exchange for critical resources like minerals and energy—and made repeated efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict. Zelensky rejected both. Democrats may not like Trump’s approach, but calling him a Russian agent ignores the facts: he tried harder than either of his predecessors to bring the war to a close.
Meanwhile, U.S. exports to Russia, hampered by strict export controls, fell to $526 million in 2024, leaving a modest trade deficit of $2.5 billion. This pales in comparison to the $63 billion deficit with Canada and the $236 billion deficit with the European Union, underscoring Russia’s minor role in U.S. trade imbalances.
Far from being a Kremlin stooge, Trump hammered Russia with sanctions. These struck hard and wide: in 2018, the Treasury Department froze the U.S. assets of 7 oligarchs, 12 companies they controlled, and 17 senior Putin allies, targeting election meddling and cyberattacks. The 2017 CAATSA law, signed under congressional pressure, locked in sanctions on 39 Russian defense and intelligence entities, while 273 designations hit Ukraine-related aggression and other provocations.
Trump also banned Kaspersky Labs software from U.S. government systems in 2017 over spying risks and, in 2019, sanctioned firms building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to curb Russia’s energy grip on Europe. In his 2025 term, he’s kept the heat on, adding oil and banking sanctions in March. Paired with Biden’s 2022 energy import ban, these measures have crushed U.S.-Russia trade—imports plummeted from $29 billion in 2021 to just $3 billion in 2024—showing tariffs would be overkill when sanctions have already done the job.
Read entire article at https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/202...mps-sanctions/
Despite the video title, the first 42 minutes of Alexander Mercouris' update today are all about this. (Besides being a historian, classics scholar, lawyer and experienced geopolitical analyst, he also understands a very great deal about economics.)
He predicts:His one-sentence summary: It's an admission of American decline.
- Great turbulence in global trade and global finance.
- Rising inflation both the in US and worldwide.
- The end of globalization.
- The beginning of the end of the EU.
- ... And Russia, China and the BRICS nations will survive all this just fine.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=AYxWAZSY1Zc
Yesterday, I wrote this:
So far, what I may have been able to 'see' is that this will not end well. :worried:Quote:
Posted by Bill Ryan
That's just the simplest summary at the moment, but I'm pretty certain of it. It's hammering away at my intuition, wherever this is coming from.
There may be positive spin-offs, of course. I'll not shed a single tear about the end of globalization, the demise of the EU, or the strengthening of BRICS. But it has to be possible that it may hasten the collapse of the US economy, with millions of already struggling people suffering significantly in the US, while countries in (e.g) Africa will be hit hard as well. (However, Russia and China will do what they can to support them.)
As Chris Martenson has often pointed out, in a highly complex system no outcomes can be predicted with certainty once it becomes disrupted, as no part of it is simply cause-and-affect 'linear'.
And that means that Trump and his team, even with the most advanced AI economic programs at their disposal, can't predict exactly what will happen either.
What you get instead from the disruption of a complex system are emergent properties. One of the 'emergent properties' in this case will be a very different geopolitical landscape (possibly a good thing), but maybe with the inevitable introduction of CBDCs everywhere after a monster financial crisis — NOT a good thing at all.
Back in President McKinley's day, 125 years ago, the world was far, far simpler. It seems it has to be fairly clear that modeling strategies on policies that might have worked back then can't and won't work in the same way now.
I feel the same.Quote:
Posted by Bill Ryan
I feel what ever they are doing is extremely dangerous. One of the most dangerous things one can do another is mess with their money and financial security.
The global markets are leaking at the seams and I imagine many world leaders are pissed. Wars have started due to financial strangulation before.
I'm trying to remain optomistic but I feel a knot in my gut about this.
Take it for what it's worth - one persons gut feeling, and I would never claim to be a reliable source because I've been both right and wrong innumerable times. But, I'm not feeling any clear negativity or danger related to this. I'm not actually feeling anything strongly one way or another. I kind of feel like it's very possible for it to go either well or poorly, but that there's not a clear leaning in either direction.
so i do not know anything about this topic or understand tariffs. that said, why would he be doing this? is he clueless or does he want america to fail or does he know something we don't know? it does seem very scary. could he be playing chess not checkers? i mean he wants to be seen in a good light so why would he be doing this if it's so catastrophic? i am very confused smh! does anyone have any ideas?
"So far, what I may have been able to 'see' is that this will not end well."
In my opinion, this move is by its intention nothing to do with economics as such, nothing to do with debates how how best to run an economy; but a deniable attempt to induce a global economic crisis from the same kind of people (and entities) who are trying to engineer world war, world famine etc.
"They" want to drag people into rehearsing an economic debate where both sides are wrong (and of evil intent), in which we will end up trying to defend the indefensible.
The main thing is to recognize that all sides of the geopolitical policies on the table - in the mass media, emanating from The West - are malign.
In theory and with good intentions one side may be somewhat less evil than another - but when intentions are bad, then this is a distinction without a significant difference.
Or, as visionary Rudolf Steiner father of Anthroposophy foresaw, the "War of All Against All" has commenced, imho.
He also foresaw the "vaccination" which would separate people from their souls, and I think that is a good explanation for the kind of insanity we see becoming rampant.
Another cause is the vulnerability of human beings to energies from the Sun which are amplified now that the planets' magnetic layer is diminishing.
And in my opinion, all the machinations of the Trump Admin. (as well as those of other world "leaders") is leading to a globalized CBDC, which would give the globalists the kind of control they have always dreamed of (or so they imagine).
That doesn't necessarily mean that Trump or Elon understand now they are taking part in this agenda imho, but they would have to be very dense not to "get it" eventually. Although by then, it could be too late... :clock:
Quote:
Posted by onawahRudolf Steiner on "soulless" people & vaccines.
(It's ironic that Trump helped to create just the kind of "soulless", Vaxxed people who are now suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome with his Vaxx policy on "Warp Speed". )
Quote:
Posted by onawah
Quote:
Posted by Tintin100% :handshake:Quote:
Posted by Mike
For anyone socially who will listen this has been my comment, and more than once. If there was any other incumbent holding this office there's every chance - maybe -that they'd all be rallying around for a peaceful resolution. It's because it's Donald Trump.
Posted over here earlier, but, I'll repost it here as it speaks to what you've written:
Again, referencing Rudolf Steiner via Bernhard Guenther, here:
Demonic entities are attracted to the spiritual "spiritual vacuum" we currently live in, caused by a materialistic worldview and mindset that denies the spiritual reality. It is reinforced by passive living and over-identification with the physical body.
In today's materialistic world, most people seek comfort and convenience without spiritual growth, leading to a loss of deeper connection to their true selves.
This lifestyle keeps people disconnected from their souls, creating a "spiritual vacuum" that serves as an entry point for hostile spirits.
Excessive media consumption, disembodiment, head-centric living, and dissociation weaken the soul connection, making individuals susceptible to external occult influences without their awareness.
As people withdraw from Divine aspiration and inspiration, their physical bodies become exposed to control by non-human occult hostile forces.
Rudolf Steiner warned that future generations would have weakened or absent souls because of this “spiritual vacuum”, making their bodies vulnerable to occupation by demonic entities.
He also emphasized the importance of learning how to deal with evil, which will inevitably lead to encountering one’s own inner shadow and evil within. It is the cure to eventually transmute and dissolve all evil.
----------------
"In ancient Greece, the body was still filled out by the entire human soul. Nowadays, that is no longer the case.
Bodies remain empty to a certain extent. But in reality, nothing in the world remains empty.
With the human soul withdrawing more and more from the body [due to over-identification with the physical body and lack of soul embodiment], the body is increasingly in danger of being filled with something else.
And if human beings are not prepared to take up impulses which can only come from spiritual knowledge [and practice], the body will be filled with demonic powers.
Humanity is facing a destiny where the body may be filled with ahrimanic demonic powers.
This shows the complexity of life to come. It is reasonable to say that there will be situations in the future when it will be difficult to know who one is dealing with."
- Rudolf Steiner (1917)
Quote:
Posted by Bruce G Charlton