Tariff King At It Again- Now Threatens French Wines

[Zippyjuan]

"Only we can tax our tech companies!"

US President Donald Trump has accused French President Emmanuel Macron of "foolishness" over a digital services tax, and hinted that he would tax French wine in retaliation.

Mr Trump voiced his anger in a Tweet on Friday, in response to French plans to tax multinational firms like Google.

French authorities argue that the firms pay little or no corporate tax in countries where they are not based.

The Trump administration has said the tax unfairly targets US tech giants.

"France just put a digital tax on our great American technology companies. If anybody taxes them, it should be their home Country, the US," Mr Trump wrote on Twitter.

"We will announce a substantial reciprocal action on Macron's foolishness shortly. I've always said American wine is better than French wine!"

Asked about the issue in the Oval Office later, Mr Trump, who is teetotal, said: "I've always liked American wines better than French wines. Even though I don't drink wine. I just like the way they look."

The US is the world's largest consumer of wine and the largest import market, with France consistently among the top origin countries for imported wine.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire responded on Friday by saying that France would stick to its digital tax plans. "Universal taxation of digital operations is a challenge that affects us all," he said.

The French government argues that multinational firms such as Apple, which are headquartered outside the country, pay little or no tax on their sales in France. The digital sales tax was approved by the French senate on Thursday, a week after it was passed by the lower house, the National Assembly.

Any digital company with revenue of more than €750m ($850m; £670m) - of which at least €25m is generated in France - will now be subject to the tax, which will be retroactively applied from early 2019 and is expected to raise about €400m in revenue this year.

Earlier on Friday, President Trump warned US tech giant Apple that it would not be given any tariff relief on parts made in China. "Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!" he wrote.

"I do not drink wine, but when I am not drinking wine, I am not drinking American wines!"

More at link.

[Swordsmyth]

MAGA!

[RonZeplin]

A French wine tariff will make Trump Winery great again.

[oyarde]

Hard to believe we were not already taxing french wines @TheTexan

[Stratovarious]

France is a lost cause anyway, I say tax every bottle until every pothole in Amerca' is filled,
and toss every bottle of French swill into the sea, along with Macron.

: )

[Swordsmyth]

President Trump is right to threaten tariffs over a French tax on U.S. technology companies. Trump explained his position on Twitter.

France just put a digital tax on our great American technology companies. If anybody taxes them, it should be their home Country, the USA. We will announce a substantial reciprocal action on Macron’s foolishness shortly. I’ve always said American wine is better than French wine!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2019

Don't get me wrong, I support free trade. But free trade must flow both ways. In turn, the U.S. cannot sit idle when other nations take unfair advantage of American companies. And tariffs offer a rough but effective tool to force reconsideration of unfair actions.
Such is the case with France's technology tax.
That tax is extraordinarily unfair in its undue impact on U.S. technology firms such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google. Protecting French technology firms by targeting higher-earning U.S. firms, France is punishing American firms for being better. It's an attack on the American economy in protectionist benefit of France's struggling socialist economy.

More at: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/o...iffs-on-france

[TheTexan]

Hard to believe we were not already taxing french wines @TheTexan

They still owe us for saving their pansy asses in WW I & II. If they want our help in WW III they should help contribute.

And the only thing they have to offer is wine.

[Swordsmyth]

They still owe us for saving their pansy asses in WW I & II. If they want our help in WW III they should help contribute.

And the only thing they have to offer is wine.

We should let the Germans keep them this time.

[devil21]

Tariffs look like a cover story for the cost of imports rising as the dollar is devalued further. Everything that is imported will eventually be "tariff'ed". Not because there's an additional tax being levied but because the dollar buys less products from other countries. This monetary function is just being sold as a nationalist initiative to keep people chill as prices rise.

[Zippyjuan]

Tariffs look like a cover story for the cost of imports rising as the dollar is devalued further. Everything that is imported will eventually be "tariff'ed". Not because there's an additional tax being levied but because the dollar buys less products from other countries. This monetary function is just being sold as a nationalist initiative to keep people chill as prices rise.

Do you have data which leads you to believe that the value of the dollar has been falling relative to other currencies? It is true that a weaker dollar would make imports more expensive. But so do taxes like tariffs. The Dollar Index is a good place to see if this is happening. It weights the value of the dollar vs a basket of other currencies. If it is going down, the value of the dollar is falling relative to other currencies.

Year to date, that is up 1.8% meaning the value of the dollar relative to the other currencies has risen 1.8%. Over the previous year (12 months), it is up 3.4%. Nope, not going down. The dollar is not losing value relative to other currencies. https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/dxy



A weaker dollar would also make our exports cheaper- helping reduce our trade deficit.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKCN1TY1PR

U.S. trade deficit surges to five-month high as imports soar


JULY 3, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit jumped to a five-month high in May as imports of goods increased, likely as businesses restocked ahead of an increase in tariffs on Chinese merchandise, eclipsing a broad rise in exports.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday the trade deficit surged 8.4% to $55.5 billion. Data for April was revised higher to show the trade gap widening to $51.2 billion instead of the previously reported $50.8 billion. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade gap widening to $54.0 billion in May.

The goods trade deficit with China, a focus of President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda, increased 12.2% to $30.2 billion, with imports rising 12.8%. Trump recently raised additional import tariffs on Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to retaliate.

Those figures for just one month.

[oyarde]

I have not bought french wine since 1986 ( french army post ). Been drinking North or South American wine mostly , a lot of Hoosier wines .

[Aratus]

DONALD J.TRUMP = MILLARD FILLMORE REINCARNATED

[ThePaleoLibertarian]

California wine is indeed better than French wine. France has the pedigree, but the Napa has the quality.

[devil21]

Do you have data which leads you to believe that the value of the dollar has been falling relative to other currencies? It is true that a weaker dollar would make imports more expensive. But so do taxes like tariffs. The Dollar Index is a good place to see if this is happening. It weights the value of the dollar vs a basket of other currencies. If it is going down, the value of the dollar is falling relative to other currencies.

I know what DX is, thanks. Worth noting that metals haven't been affected by DX lately.....any way....
You are correct but I see the tariff talk as conditioning for coming moves in the DX. Whether it's an overnight deval that shows up immediately in DX or an ongoing deval that slowly reveals in DX I don't know. Trump has recently talked about devaluing and even more recently floated it again "to keep up with other manipulated currencies". That nationalist spin. It's no coincidence that tariffs are the talking point pushed out to the low-info types while deval talking points stick to financial (high-info) media. The low-info talking points are usually where the bs is laid on thick. The result of either is rising import prices. If both were implemented then majorly rising import prices but I suspect there are few actual tariffs being levied. They would have already shown up in import prices but they generally aren't yet (I buy various electronic components from Chinese manufacturers and have seen no price increases yet, in fact just the opposite, they're discounting the dollar prices to complete the sales).

I have noted large price jumps in some items at the grocery lately. Small, relative to the cost of the item, but percentage-wise are large jumps. Canned veggies and budget yogurt being two, while the quality also diminished at the same time.

It's all about conditioning and false cover stories so the sheep don't look at the monetary system itself, and by extension the bankers, as the reason that standard of living is going down and prices going up. That's how the Hidden Hand remains hidden.