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'We Currently Have No Container Ships,' Seattle Port Says

(www.newsweek.com)
232 points pseudolus | 1 comments | 10 May 25 15:49 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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banku_brougham ◴[10 May 25 20:14 UTC] No.43948598[source]▶
Huge amount of discussion in this thread neglects the idea that a massive increase in tariffs will throttle trade shipments. Its the obvious expected effect.
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roxolotl ◴[10 May 25 21:11 UTC] No.43949034[source]▶
Again further stating the obvious here but this is the _desired_ effect. Not saying if that’s good one way or the other but it’s clear the goal is to reduce inbound volume from the world.
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overfeed ◴[10 May 25 23:18 UTC] No.43949818[source]▶
> it’s clear the goal is to reduce inbound volume from the world.

This is painting the bullseye around the arrow - while this was entirely predictable, when did anyone in the administration state that this[1] was the goal? This goal is obviously is contrary to another stated policy goal of lowering inflation.

1. Initially, the stated goal was to make trade imbalances "fair"

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1. roxolotl ◴[10 May 25 23:51 UTC] No.43950021[source]▶
If you take "fair" to mean, less imbalanced, that would give three possible solutions: increase exports, decrease imports, or a bit of both. Tariffs only make goods produced within the tariffing country more competitive within that country. I.E. they don't make made in the US goods more competitive outside of the US. Add that to the other stated goal of producing more inside of the US and unless they are expecting a consumption boom to absorb imports and internal production a reduction in imports is a goal.

Also the fact sheet[0] uses a paper which found a reduction in trade with China as evidence for why they should do this which I think is evidence enough that they are hoping for at least a modest reduction in trade "A 2023 report by the U.S. International Trade Commission that analyzed the effects of Section 232 and 301 tariffs on more than $300 billion of U.S. imports found that the tariffs reduced imports from China and effectively stimulated more U.S. production of the tariffed goods, with very minor effects on prices."

[0]: https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-pr...