Abdullah Fayyad
Appearances
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
My name is Abdullah Fayyad. I'm 21 years old.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
I feel very freedom. I feel freedom. I feel free. I can express my feelings, my ideas, everything I will think about, I will say it without any hesitation.
Global News Podcast
The secret police's grip on Syria under Assad
I hope it's going to be better. I hope the economic system here will be better than before. I hope we can buy cars, my dream car. Yes, I hope everything will be fine. Every word, here Syria, peace and love.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
It's really hard to understand what Trump really sees in tariffs altogether. And that's because he really seems to view them as a solution to everything. He's been railing about tariffs for a long time. And since he came in this time around, you know, he went out swinging for tariffs for all these different reasons.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
not just a matter of addressing trade deficits or protectionism for our domestic manufacturers of helping industries grow in the United States. He's also talked about tariffs for curbing immigration and fentanyl. He's talked about tariffs as a means, as a negotiating chip to close in on a TikTok deal with China.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
So, you know, they're kind of all over the place. He wants them to raise a lot of revenue for the United States. And he also seems to want to use them, you know, for the more traditional protectionist policy of helping prop up domestic industries, you know, like certain manufacturing industries, be it, you know, steel industry, automakers, the auto industry and things of that nature.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
You know, tariffs are a tool, you know, in the industrial policy toolkit. And there are times where they can be useful. But the problem is, is when you over rely on them, you know, the costs are much greater than the benefits.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
You know, when Trump is implementing tariffs in the way that he is, broad-based tariffs on all imports, 10% and higher, you know, from countries, be they adversaries or allies. When you're implementing tariffs that way, the costs are going to be higher than the benefits because essentially, you know, tariffs are a consumption tax.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
They are indirectly a tax on consumers because companies will eventually raise their prices in order to offset the tax. So consumers do bear the brunt of tariffs. Prices will go up. There will be an inflationary aspect of this policy which will probably get people upset.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
It could also actually end up limiting trade and causing a shortage of supply, which might also drive prices up.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
they are a tool that ought to be used sometimes. And I think one example of this is part of the reason countries might be interested in levying a tariff on imports is to protect certain industries that serve the national interest. It could also be because out of national security reasons, you want to have some level of control over the supply chain so that in the event of a war or a pandemic,
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
A disruption in the supply chains won't make you have a shortage of a crucial good. So there are reasons why you want to prop up certain domestic industries, and they can serve you well. One example of this is that if we import a lot of goods from, say, China, which has bad labor laws and labor protections and very low wages –
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
those goods are going to be cheaper than goods produced in the United States. Part of the reason why goods that are made in the United States are very expensive is because we have higher labor costs. Now, that puts American companies in a difficult spot because then they have to choose between either having competitive prices or paying their workers well.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
So you have to balance that out as a government and think about – You know, what exactly is the problem that we're trying to solve here and how can tariffs be a tool? Should they be a tool that we use here to solve that problem? And in some cases, the answer is yes.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
Well, that's again why Trump, you know, in theory, a lot of what he says might make sense if you don't pay too close attention to what he's doing. You know, if you implement tariffs on foreign cars, domestically manufactured cars will be more appealing for consumers because they might be cheaper. But the reality of this policy is that he's going to slap a 25 percent tariff on foreign cars.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
And he's also going to slap a tariff on auto parts. So the expectation here is not just that foreign cars are going to get more expensive for American consumers, but domestic cars are going to get more expensive because producing them, manufacturing them is going to cost more.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
So the cost of production for American car companies is going to spike even if they are producing their cars here in the United States.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
To be honest, I don't really know. I have no idea because I don't think it's possible for them to raise that much money. You know, tariffs used to generate a lot of federal revenue before we had things like an income tax. The reality, though, is that tariffs can't replace the income tax, especially in the way that Trump himself is talking about tariffs. Because
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
He's talking about tariffs as something that he will lift if countries agree to his terms on certain things. You know, like you can't really talk about this as a permanent revenue stream while also talking about it as a negotiating chip for other things. You kind of have to pick a lane and understand why you're implementing them in the first place.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
I mean chances are they will affect the American economy pretty negatively and chances are they will affect people's wallets really negatively. Essentially, you're not necessarily guaranteeing that American prices are going to stay stable. Manufacturing in the United States will become more expensive because you're going to still be importing raw materials that have tariffs on them.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
So the cost of production is going to go up also for American companies. So we are going to see prices rise. The question is, That we don't really know right now is to what degree we're going to see price hikes across the board or in certain industries.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
But this is likely, if this is a policy that Trump sticks with, which I think is a big if because he has been so back and forth on this for a long time. That could, you know, anger a lot of people. It could cause people to fear for, you know, their economic stability, their financial stability rather, you know, and whether or not they're going to be OK in a year from now.
Today, Explained
The day after "Liberation Day"
And, you know, that's why, you know, one of the economists I was talking with who was talking about how tariffs can sometimes be beneficial and how you can tailor them to be beneficial is he was just saying, don't judge the tool by the craftsman that's mishandling it. So that's kind of what we can expect.