Trump: Taxing Credulity

By BRUCE LOWITT

President Donald Trump, while refusing to admit his decision to levy a 145% tariff on China was one of his dumbest ideas ever and one which could cause a world-wide recession and possibly trigger World War III, announced Saturday he would exclude “electronics and various other items” from reciprocal tariffs.

The decision could help hold down prices for goods not usually manufactured in the United States and appeared to acknowledge that “the quality of items made in China are far better than similar products produced in America,” Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said, “plus the fact that they’re way ahead of us when it comes to child labor.”

Erica York, a vice president at the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation’s Center for Federal Tax Policy, said Trump’s “total tariff on Chinese imports would have stopped most trade between the U.S. and China. But I managed to remind the president how he ran his Atlantic City casinos into the ground, that he was a financial moron, and maybe he should listen to someone who could count without using his fingers and toes.”

Trump acknowledged Saturday that his initial plan was to exclude only a limited number of electronic devices from the reciprocal tariffs, “but when the shit hit the fan, I decided to expand the list just a bit.”

Among the White House’s new list of excluded items:

*Smartphones, laptops hard drives, flat-panel monitors, chips, robotics, and machines that manufacture semiconductors.
*Crude oil and other petroleum products.
*Toys, apparel, footwear, and sports equipment.
*Pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
*Gems, precious metals, and plastics.
*Household furniture and lighting.
*Automobiles and automobile parts.
*Aircraft equipment.
*Kitchen appliances.
*Beer and alcoholic beverages.
*Fruits and vegetables.
*Fans.

When asked what Chinese items subject to the 145% tariff remained on the list, Lutnick said: “pandas.”