The countdown to shortages and higher prices has begun

[New Breed Leader]

Link to tweet

Some of the last cargo ships carrying Chinese goods without crippling tariffs are currently drifting into US ports. Come next week, though, that will change.

Cargo on ships from China loaded after April 9 will carry with them the 145% tariff President Donald Trump slapped on goods from that nation last month. Next week, those goods will arrive, but there will be fewer ships at sea and they will be carrying less cargo. For many importers, it is too expensive to do business with China.

Yet China is still one of America’s most important trading partners. It’s where we get most of our clothes, footwear, electronics and microchips, which power appliances, thermostats and anything else that beeps.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. 3 things I noticed in short supply in Walmart yesterday

were coconut oil, unbleached flour, and cocoa. And that the price of brownie mixes are up. Hines went from $1.54 to something like $1.86. Similar with Pillsbury, Crocker, Ghirardelli. Probably due to the cocoa content, cocoa being tariffed into higher prices.

[Norrrm]

2. Are Trump family products going up in price? Do they have the new tariffs?

[dutch777]

3. Not only shortages but layoffs of all those folks no longer needed to move/sell all the goods not coming.

We can probably survive with a lot less stuff than we are used to but people across the economy losing their jobs and the ability to spend plus less overall business cash flow and therefore less tax revenue at all levels will kink the economy hard. And all the moving parts of commerce that will slow or be brought to a halt will take months or even longer to restart and get moving at speed again. Trump and his morons have no clue the depth and breadth of the consequences of their ill conceived theories put forth into action without even a half baked plan. And when it breaks bad they will 1) Blame Biden, Obama, Clinton, China, Iran and "others" in a rotating fashion so we don't catch on; 2} backpedal but in some totally too late, uncoordinated and ill directed way and 3} come up with some equally illogical and completely planless Next Steps. Taking bets.