Evidently. Canadians have cancelled US vacations en masse and once they (and everyone else) have forged trading partnerships that DON'T involve the US, why go back to an untrustworthy trading partner?
I am not an economist and I don't know what is going to happen. As a non-expert, I think that if we don't want trade imbalance, we should try to find new markets, not destroy the ones we have. I absolutely agree that some manufacturing needs to return to the US, but again, as a non-expert, I think it should be done by making this a good place to invest, and allowing time to build plants, make sure we have the workforce, and develop supply chains.
But, Trump is keeping Powell around which is good, although his motive is probably to deflect blame if thigs go horribly wrong.
I believe he has. The instability he has caused will take a long time to repair, if ever. Once countries can no longer rely on us being a reliable trading partner, they will find other sources for their needs and we will be out of favor. Bringing manufacturing back to the US would be great, but we pay higher wages and, therefore, our goods will cost more to the end buyer. In addition, it would take a long time to build manufacturing plants and train workers to run them and that's assuming that AI doesn't figure out how to replace humans with robots.
Well, in addition to my earlier post, as far as economic damage goes, I read this morning that not only has DOGE not saved any money, but "a story by ... Elizabeth Williamson: “What Elon Musk Didn’t Budget For: Firing Workers Costs Money, Too” ... reports that taxpayers will be on the hook for about $135 billion in the current fiscal year in estimated costs stemming from “firings, re-hirings, lost productivity and paid leave of thousands of workers.”
So much for Musk's estimating that he can save $1 billion with his chain saw tactics.
Trump says he would be happy to raise taxes on the rich, but it would have cost him the election. You can read this and other dementia-adjacent statements in his Time Magazine interview transcript linked below.
You can read his explanation in the transcript. It has to do with the senior Bush getting backlash for promising no new taxes and then going back on his word. You k ow how Trump likes to keep his promises.
Spunky 