Create accountLogin

Recent searches

No recent searches

Search options

Only available when logged in.
mstdn.social is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
A general-purpose Mastodon server with a 500 character limit. All languages are welcome.

Administered by:

Server stats:

16K
active users

mstdn.social: AboutStatusProfiles directoryPrivacy policy

Mastodon: AboutGet the appKeyboard shortcutsView source codev4.3.4

ˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊

~ Trump’s Unwelcome News to Auto Chiefs: Buckle Up for What’s to Come ~

/2

By Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman and Ana Swanson Reporting from Washington March 17, 2025, 2:28 p.m. ET The line fell silent. In a phone call from the Oval Office, President Trump had just delivered unwelcome news to three of America's most powerful auto executives: Mary Barra of General Motors, John Elkann of Stellantis and Jim Farley of Ford. Everyone needs to buckle up, Mr. Trump said on the call, which took place in early March. Tariffs are going into effect on April 2. It's time for everyone to get on board. The auto chiefs, like the leaders of other industries, had been arguing that Mr. Trump's 25 percent tariffs on cars coming from Canada and Mexico would wreak havoc on their supply chains and blow a hole through their industry. They had won a concession of sorts when Mr. Trump agreed to give them a one-month reprieve, until April 2. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST
But now, the Big Three automaker chiefs seemed to realize there was no point in fighting for more. They had gotten as much as they were going to get. For corporate America, including some major donors, the shock of Mr. Trump's second term is that it turns out he really does believe the thing he's been saying publicly for 40 years: Foreign countries are ripping America off, and tariffs are a silver bullet for America's problems. When he says that "tariff" is the most beautiful word in the dictionary, he means it. To Mr. Trump, tariffs are not merely a negotiating tool. He believes they will make America rich again. And they combine two of his favorite features of the presidency: They are a unilateral power that he can turn on or off on a whim, and they create a begging economy, forcing powerful people to come before him to plead for mercy. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST
This account is based on interviews with more than a dozen Trump administration officials and others familiar with the dynamic at the White House over tariffs. They asked for anonymity to discuss private conversations and deliberations. In the corporate community — a group that spends a fortune on consultants to interpret Mr. Trump, and where the cliché of taking him "seriously but not literally" is in high circulation - many had been clinging to the view that he saw tariffs only as a tool of leverage. It was not that Mr. Trump loved tariffs, they told themselves. It was that he loved what the threat of them could yield in a negotiation. Over the years, it had become conventional wisdom that the stock market was Mr. Trump's guiding light and guardrail, and that any plunge in the markets would limit the scope of his tariffs, which were more surgically applied seven years ago. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST
But Trump 47 has so far been undeterred by a plummeting market and by headlines that would have forced Trump 45 into reverse. The Dow Jones industrial average has shaved off more than 600 points since the new tariffs began. The S&P 500 slid into a correction, meaning it has fallen by more than 10 percent from its peak. During his first term, Mr. Trump had a weaker stomach for the economic pain caused by a far narrower program of tariffs. He placed tariffs on more than $300 billion of products throughout his first term; now, less than two months in, he has slapped tariffs on roughly $1 trillion of goods. A few recent public opinions polls show a growing number of Americans disapproving of Mr. Trump's handling of the economy, but his advisers insist that's more about lingering high prices than tariffs. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html Accessed: 17 March 2025 at 1645 CST
#USA#Canada#Mexico
Mar 17, 2025, 09:51 PM·Public
1boost·0favorites
ExploreLive feeds
About