#macro-pulse-trumph-tariff-series

[macro-pulse]

The Real Human Cost (Not Just Numbers) 💔

When policy becomes personal and everything hurts

Behind all these statistics are real people and I’m emotional about it:

Small business owners:

• Blue Rose Pottery facing closure over clay tariffs

• Simplified Stationery hit with $630,000 annual costs

• Local restaurants struggling with food ingredient prices

• Independent retailers can’t compete with corporate absorption of costs

Farmers getting demolished:

• Soybean exports down 75% due to Chinese retaliation

• $28 billion in bailouts during first term (taxpayer money)

• Permanent market share lost to Brazil/Argentina

• Multi-generational family farms facing bankruptcy

Working families:

• Choosing between necessities because everything costs more

• Lower-income households bearing disproportionate burden

• Consumer confidence at 12-year lows

• Middle-income families facing $58,000 lifetime losses

Manufacturing workers:

• Steel workers celebrating job growth

• Auto workers facing layoffs as companies struggle

• 740,000 projected job losses economy-wide

• Complex regional winners/losers creating political tensions

Students and young people:

• Electronics for school more expensive

• Starting adult life with higher cost of living

• Job market uncertainty

• Inheriting damaged international relationships

The emotional toll: Watching policies tear apart communities, damage relationships with allies, and create unnecessary suffering for political theater.

Why this matters: Economics isn’t abstract - it’s about whether families can afford groceries, whether small businesses survive, whether young people have opportunities.

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[macro-pulse]

History Class But Make It Relevant 📚✨

“Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it” - some smart person probably

Y’all we literally have a whole historical precedent for this and it’s NOT cute:

Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930:

• Also promised to protect American jobs

• Raised tariffs to 47% (vs Trump’s current 27%)

• 25+ countries retaliated

• Global trade collapsed by 66%

• Both sponsors lost re-election in 1932

• Helped make the Great Depression WORSE

But wait there’s more historical context:

What actually worked (Reagan era):

• Negotiated agreements with time limits

• Got foreign companies to build US factories

• Created 300,000+ manufacturing jobs

• Avoided destructive retaliation cycles

Trump’s first-term tariffs (2018-2021):

• Cost consumers $817,000 per job “saved”

• No significant reshoring happened

• Failed to reduce trade deficits

• Most tariffs stayed under Biden (awkward)

The pattern: Broad tariffs = economic disaster. Targeted, temporary protection with clear graduation requirements = sometimes works.

Current trajectory: We’re speedrunning the 1930s playbook and honestly that’s terrifying because we know how that movie ends 😰

Japan and South Korea success stories: They used tariffs PLUS massive infrastructure investment PLUS technology transfer requirements. We’re just doing the tariffs part.

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[macro-pulse]

Constitutional Law School Dropout’s Guide to This Legal Mess ⚖️

Me trying to understand why courts are big mad about these tariffs:

So apparently there’s this thing called “separation of powers” and it’s like… important for democracy or whatever? 🙄

Here’s the constitutional tea:

• Only Congress can impose taxes (it’s literally in the Constitution)

• Trump said “actually no, trade deficits are national emergencies”

• Courts said “sir this is a Wendy’s, that’s not how laws work”

• Appeals court said “tariffs can stay while we figure this out”

Federal judges are NOT having it:

• Multiple courts ruled Trump “overstepped presidential powers”

• Used some ancient 1977 law in ways it was never meant to be used

• Legal scholars invoking “Major Questions Doctrine” (sounds fancy and scary)

Political drama update:

• 4 REPUBLICAN senators joined Dems to oppose this

• Mitch McConnell basically said “this ain’t it chief”

• 64% of Americans disapprove according to polls

The vibe: It’s like watching someone try to use a library card to buy groceries and then getting mad when it doesn’t work

Project 2025 connection: This was literally written down in their playbook by Peter Navarro (who’s now Senior Counselor). So this isn’t random chaos, it’s PLANNED chaos

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[macro-pulse]

International Drama is MESSY and I’m Here for It 🌍☕

The global tea is SCALDING and everyone’s throwing shade

Okay so like… remember when we had allies? Those were good times 😭

Current international relationship status: IT’S COMPLICATED

China clapped back HARD:

• 125% counter-tariffs on our farmers

• Added 25+ American companies to their naughty list

• Basically said “we don’t need you anymore bestie”

Europe is serving major passive-aggressive energy:

• €21 billion in retaliation measures

• Strategically targeting Republican states (the PETTINESS)

• Calling this “the greatest threat to global trade since 1948”

Canada and Mexico are like “excuse me WTF”:

• We literally have USMCA with them

• Trump’s talking about ANNEXING CANADA??

• They’re now shopping with South America instead

NATO allies are reconsidering buying our weapons because tariffs made everything too expensive. Like imagine ruining military alliances over trade policy… the secondhand embarrassment is real.

Hot take:

When your trade policy makes CANADA mad at you, you’ve probably gone too far. Canada! The nicest country on Earth!

Meanwhile:

China’s out here looking like the reliable friend while we’re the messy ex who keeps starting drama at parties 💀

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[macro-pulse]

RIP My Shopping Budget (A Consumer Horror Story) 🛒💀

POV: You’re trying to buy literally anything in 2025

Bestie, let me break down what these tariffs mean for your actual life because the math is MATHING and it’s ugly:

Your grocery bill:

• Rice: +26-36% (thanks Thailand/India tariffs)

• Coffee: +10% (Brazil says hi)

• Wine: +20% (EU is NOT happy)

• Beer: More expensive (aluminum tariffs are wild)

Your closet:

• Clothes: +17-64% price increase

• Shoes: Literally everything costs more

• Fast fashion girlies are STRUGGLING

Your tech:

• iPhones: +$350 for high-end models

• Laptops: Everything’s more expensive

• Gaming setup: Your wallet is crying

The tea is: Lower-income families are getting hit THE HARDEST. While rich people lose 1.6% of their income, working families lose 4.0%.

Make it make sense??? It literally doesn’t.

Personal story time: My friend works at a small pottery business and they might have to close because of Polish clay tariffs. A POTTERY BUSINESS. Like we’re really out here destroying artists’ livelihoods over trade policy??

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[macro-pulse]

The Shocking Numbers That’ll Make You Choke on Your Coffee ☕

Y’all… we need to talk about what’s happening with tariffs right now

So Trump’s second term just dropped the BIGGEST tariff bomb since the 1930s and I’m literally shaking???

Here are the numbers that made me spit out my drink:

• Average tariff rates went from 2.5% to 27% in like 4 months

• Your family is paying an extra $3,800 per year because of this

• That’s basically a whole extra tax that NO ONE voted for

• We’re talking 1930s Great Depression levels of trade wars rn

Fun fact:

This is called “Liberation Day” by the White House but feels more like “Your Wallet Gets Murdered Day” to me 💀

The craziest part? This affects EVERYTHING:

• Your iPhone could cost $350 more

• Cars are $4,000 more expensive

• Even your morning coffee is 10% pricier now

Like… ma’am… this is NOT the vibe 📱💸

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