Trump's tariffs make no sense, and will backfire hard on the US economy

Will US President Donald Trump be the tipping point for the dollar system? Even Western financial outlets now warn of the beginning of the end of dollar dominance. To discuss, host Radhika Desai is joined by economist Michael Hudson and economic geographer Mick Dunford. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGZXDzmL10k This is part of the program Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the show here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

Donald Trump's tariffs are benefiting rich elites at the expense of the majority of the population, argues economist Michael Hudson. He explains how the US trade war on China is isolating the United States and encouraging countries to seek alternatives. Ben Norton hosts the interview. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGsLDQQuzU0 Read Michael Hudson's report "Return of the robber barons – Trump’s distorted view of US tariff history": https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/04/14/michael-hudson-robber-barons-trump-tariffs/ Topics 0:00 Intro 1:11 Michael Hudson highlights 2:09 Interview starts 2:41 Replacing income tax with tariffs 5:40 Government industrial policy 9:22 Reaganomics 2.0 11:29 Gilded Age 14:54 China's model 17:50 (CLIP) JD Vance calls Chinese "peasants" 18:12 Public finance 22:57 Trade war on China 25:12 (CLIP) Trump demands tribute 25:42 US attempt to isolate China 26:30 USA doesn't have many cards 28:55 Import substitution 30:16 Trump is isolating the US 34:58 US dollar system in crisis 38:03 Reindustrialization 40:06 Trump's bullying strategy 43:26 Destroying the post-WWII system 49:06 Global South vs the West 50:58 Democracy or oligarchy? 56:05 Billionaire oligarchs 56:56 Corruption 58:25 Outro

After Donald Trump imposed 145% tariffs on China, he was forced to issue exemptions for Chinese made cellphones, computers, semiconductors, and other electronics, because the deindustrialized US can't make them. Trump's huge trade war immediately failed, demonstrating that China is much stronger economically than the USA thinks. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6t1oQ5G668 Topics 0:00 Trump's trade war 0:45 Exemptions for Chinese electronics 1:56 China's trade with USA 2:27 Myth of US reindustrialization 3:26 Goals of tariffs 4:40 Lack of industrial policy 5:49 Trump's tariff exceptions 9:14 Trump begs Xi Jinping to call him 9:56 (CLIP) Howard Lutnick on China 10:12 China and Vietnam boost ties 11:28 China's economic strength 13:51 Airliners 16:05 Semiconductors 19:15 AI 20:47 China's technological development 22:43 Backfiring on US economy 23:43 Luxury goods 25:09 China's exports 27:13 China holds more cards than USA 29:22 US Treasury securities (bonds) 30:35 US unipolarity is over 31:20 Multipolarity 32:24 Outro

Donald Trump's trade war went nuclear, hitting China with 145% tariffs, aimed at economic decoupling. This is already backfiring on the US economy, which is heavily reliant on Chinese imports. The volatility also fueled a crisis in the bond market, with Treasury yields rising. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9k7132Iyeo Trump advisor reveals tariff strategy - Force countries to pay tribute to maintain US empire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnajhDMAWVA Topics 0:00 Economic war 0:51 Tariffs of 145% on China 1:56 China defends itself 2:41 Decoupling 3:49 (CLIP) Howard Lutnick attacks China 4:14 Scott Bessent on China 4:48 US trade with China 7:05 USA will lose trade war 8:02 China's manufacturing dominance 9:47 China's trade 10:33 High risk 11:35 Trump's arrogance 12:06 (CLIP) Trump: countries are "kissing my ass" 12:18 Mafia behavior 13:02 US empire demands tribute 13:35 (CLIP) Stephen Miran: US demands tribute 13:59 Threatening the world 15:55 China stands up 16:34 Trump admin's China hawks 17:47 (CLIP) Marco Rubio on new cold war 18:30 Biden admin targeted China too 20:01 US bond market shock 21:39 Treasury note yields 25:01 Interest payments on US national debt 26:05 Hedge fund margin calls 28:35 Trump's billionaires 28:53 Elon Musk 29:42 Bill Ackman 29:59 Jamie Dimon 30:35 Market manipulation? 32:21 Trump meme coins 32:58 Outro

US President Donald Trump wants to use tariffs as part of a plan to save the dominance of the dollar as the global reserve currency. His top economic advisor Stephen Miran outlined the Trump administration's strategy to force other countries to pay the USA to maintain its imperial financial and military order. Ben Norton explains the idea behind the hypothetical "Mar-a-Lago Accord". VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnajhDMAWVA Topics 0:00 Trump's top economic advisor 0:42 Trump wants to save dollar hegemony 1:04 (CLIP) Trump on US dollar 1:21 Dedollarization 2:01 BRICS 2:46 (CLIP) Trump threatens BRICS 3:15 Tariffs 3:50 Bretton Woods system 4:38 Keynes' Bancor proposal 5:07 US exorbitant privilege 5:39 Nixon shock, gold standard, petrodollar 6:43 Financialization 7:35 Billionaires 8:01 Deindustrialization 8:10 Current account deficit 8:33 Trump advisor Stephen Miran 9:17 Overvaluation of US dollar 10:30 Stephen Miran's plan 11:16 Mar-a-Lago Accord 12:59 Economic nuclear war 14:07 Trump admin's goals 15:20 Paying for US empire 17:30 Trump admin's 5 demands 20:25 (CLIP) Sharing costs of US empire 21:13 China 21:32 (CLIP) Decoupling from China 21:55 Hudson Institute 23:58 US financial crisis of 2008 25:42 Manufacturing 26:02 Trump hits China with 104% tariffs 27:23 Economic game of chicken 27:50 Can USA win trade war? 30:04 (CLIP) Miran: US has leverage over China 30:59 China vows "to fight to the end" 32:00 US economic dependence on China 33:00 Chinese exports 34:01 China's top export destinations 34:36 ASEAN is China's top trading partner 35:16 Indonesia 36:08 China is world's top trading partner 36:54 China's trade with Russia 38:34 Can USA reindustrialize? 38:52 (CLIP) "We can make stuff at home" 39:09 Reindustrialization is very difficult 41:40 Trade war will hurt Americans 42:17 Moving taxes from rich to poor 43:15 Do other countries pay US tariffs? 43:34 Dollar falls 44:38 Yield on US Treasury securities 46:10 Mortgage rate spread 46:42 Credit card interest rate 47:14 Interest payments on US national debt 48:37 Backlash on US economy 49:51 Danger of blowback 50:31 Plaza Accord revisited 51:16 Changes in global economy 52:50 China learned from Japan crisis 54:33 Imperial hubris 55:12 Vietnam in a multipolar world 58:07 Outro

Donald Trump's tariffs are part of a class war against many of his own supporters. The US president plans to slash income taxes on the rich and corporations and use tariffs to shift the burden of taxation onto the poor and working class. Radhika Desai is joined by economist Michael Hudson to discuss. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms_7EkiJbGo This is part of the program Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the show here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

In what he called "Liberation Day", Donald Trump imposed heavy tariffs on countries around the world, falsely claiming they were "reciprocal". In reality, the taxes on imports were based on the US trade deficit with other nations. Ben Norton explains how the Trump administration's economic policies are contradictory and will backfire hard on the US economy, fueling inflation while failing to re-industrialize. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv5ZkxQvsz8 Topics 0:00 Trump imposes heavy tariffs 0:27 (CLIP) Trump's "Liberation Day" 0:52 Trump's global trade war 1:18 (CLIP) Tariff is most beautiful world 1:41 New tariff rates 3:20 Backfiring 4:04 How the tariffs were calculated 7:08 Retaliation 8:45 Role of US dollar dominance 9:30 (CLIP) Trump on de-dollarization 9:48 (CLIP) Trump threatens BRICS 10:17 US balance of payments 12:37 Alternative to US dollar 13:14 Dumbest trade war in history 13:42 Reindustrialization 14:32 Financialization 17:53 Inflation 20:00 Coffee, fruit, & vegetables 22:06 Imports from China 24:02 Imports from Vietnam 25:26 Imports of electronics 27:51 Industrial policy 33:41 Moving tax burden from rich to poor 37:02 Outro

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager who worked for George Soros, insists, “Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream”. The Donald Trump administration knows its tariffs will result in higher inflation. Products will become more expensive as the US tries to economically decouple from China. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DOCZjS_MVc Topics 0:00 Inflation is coming back 0:41 US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent 1:57 Billionaires 2:34 (CLIP) Bessent: no more cheap goods 2:49 Stagnant real wages 3:54 How China exported deflation 6:20 Myth of the "American Dream" 6:55 End of income mobility in USA 8:04 US life expectancy falls 9:13 Trump's billionaire-filled administration 9:39 Inflation rises 10:11 Richest 10% drive US economy 11:07 Corruption 11:35 Scapegoating 12:15 Recession risks 13:39 Housing is unaffordable 15:40 Elon Musk 16:13 Blackstone 17:13 Fake populism 18:00 Outro

How is the US impacting Canada's elections, as Donald Trump imposes tariffs and even threatens to annex the country? Who is the banker turned Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney? To discuss, political economist Radhika Desai is joined by Dimitri Lascaris, host of the independent media outlet Reason2Resist. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZweNi7ycKM You can follow Dimitri Lascaris' channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@reason2resist This is part of the program Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the show here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

Donald Trump is portrayed as a "populist" committed to average working-class people, but his policies benefit wealthy elites at the expense of everyone else. His administration includes 13 billionaires -- including Elon Musk, the world's richest oligarch -- and he is cutting taxes on the rich and corporations while imposing a consumption tax on the poor through tariffs. Ben Norton explains how Trump is waging a class war. VIDEO with charts here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL8cg-wWBO8 Check out our related video on JD Vance's speech on reindustrializing the US: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywmpea6vvOE Why Donald Trump won the US election: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/11/08/donald-trump-us-election-kamala-harris-economy/ Topics 0:00 Intro 0:09 (CLIP) Trump at McDonald's 0:33 Billionaires in Trump admin 1:36 Big Tech oligarchs 2:36 Corruption and bribery 3:17 Trump meme coin 4:20 Tax cuts for the rich 5:20 Tariffs are a tax 6:45 Trump's tax law benefited rich 8:25 Billionaires avoid taxes 10:01 Historical tax rates 11:44 Corporate tax rate 12:50 Progressive taxation 15:02 Why Trump won: inflation 16:43 Election turnout 18:02 Trump's low approval rating 20:20 Why people are angry 21:03 (CLIP) Obama on Wall Street 21:19 BlackRock CEO 21:48 Elon Musk 22:12 (CLIP) Trump on Tesla 22:21 US economy relies on rich 24:05 Unemployment rate is misleading 25:36 Stagnant real wages 29:34 Inflation is sticky 30:31 No more cheap goods 31:14 Scott Bessent & George Soros 33:25 (CLIP) Scott Bessent on American Dream 33:40 Cheap goods & China 36:51 Tariffs & reindustrialization 38:22 Myth of American Dream 40:07 US life expectancy is falling 41:17 Scapegoating 43:37 Recession warnings 45:01 Housing 47:02 Elon Musk buys White House position 47:35 Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman 48:34 Trump's fake "populism" 49:22 Hopeful examples 50:15 Mexico: AMLO 51:43 Mexico: Claudia Sheinbaum 53:11 Learning from Mexico 54:50 China's poverty reduction 57:54 US oligarchy 58:37 Outro