Steven

What a tariff is, is, let's keep this very simple. The United States buys a bunch of computers that are made in China, a bunch of iPhones that are made in China. They're on a container ship. They ship them to the United States. When they get to the port in the United States, the importer, which is Apple, bringing the iPhones in that are made in China. An American company.

What a tariff is, is, let's keep this very simple. The United States buys a bunch of computers that are made in China, a bunch of iPhones that are made in China. They're on a container ship. They ship them to the United States. When they get to the port in the United States, the importer, which is Apple, bringing the iPhones in that are made in China. An American company.

Has to pay the tariff that's put on it. And a lot of people, and it's very understandable why they would think this, would say, well, no, in that situation, China pays the tariff. And there could be a situation where China starts discounting the iPhones. The company that's making the iPhones would discount it. There can be some offset. But the person who's paying that tax is the importer.

Has to pay the tariff that's put on it. And a lot of people, and it's very understandable why they would think this, would say, well, no, in that situation, China pays the tariff. And there could be a situation where China starts discounting the iPhones. The company that's making the iPhones would discount it. There can be some offset. But the person who's paying that tax is the importer.

The number doesn't matter because trade will eventually will just stop at those levels. It just won't happen.

The number doesn't matter because trade will eventually will just stop at those levels. It just won't happen.

Here's an example that most people will understand. Sales tax. In most states in the United States, it's 6% to 10%. If you go to the store and buy something, you add the sales tax to that.

Here's an example that most people will understand. Sales tax. In most states in the United States, it's 6% to 10%. If you go to the store and buy something, you add the sales tax to that.

Yeah, fair. Who pays that is not the store. It's the customer. So even if the tax is put on the seller, the seller passes it on to you, the customer, and it says right on your receipt. You bought something for $10, and then there's your sales tax, and here's what you're going to pay in the end. And so it's similar from that.

Yeah, fair. Who pays that is not the store. It's the customer. So even if the tax is put on the seller, the seller passes it on to you, the customer, and it says right on your receipt. You bought something for $10, and then there's your sales tax, and here's what you're going to pay in the end. And so it's similar from that.

Now, let me explain this, why there would be a very useful case for tariffs to show that this is not black and white, and this is not, oh, all tariffs are bad. This happened in the United States during COVID. We were virtually 100% reliant on masks and 95 masks that were made in China and Korea and not in the United States.

Now, let me explain this, why there would be a very useful case for tariffs to show that this is not black and white, and this is not, oh, all tariffs are bad. This happened in the United States during COVID. We were virtually 100% reliant on masks and 95 masks that were made in China and Korea and not in the United States.

And so when you have a medical crisis in the early days of COVID and we're like, we need hundreds of millions of masks yesterday, they're all made somewhere else. We do not want to be in that situation. So it would absolutely make sense to have a tariff on masks to make sure that they are so expensive to import overseas that we have to start making them in the United States. That makes sense.

And so when you have a medical crisis in the early days of COVID and we're like, we need hundreds of millions of masks yesterday, they're all made somewhere else. We do not want to be in that situation. So it would absolutely make sense to have a tariff on masks to make sure that they are so expensive to import overseas that we have to start making them in the United States. That makes sense.

Same with military equipment. You do not want to go to war with a country and be reliant on that country to make your military gear, your bullets and your bombs and your tanks and whatnot. Absolutely makes sense to have a tariff on that to make sure they're made in the United States. That said, so it's not black and white, but to have a blanket tariff and say,

Same with military equipment. You do not want to go to war with a country and be reliant on that country to make your military gear, your bullets and your bombs and your tanks and whatnot. Absolutely makes sense to have a tariff on that to make sure they're made in the United States. That said, so it's not black and white, but to have a blanket tariff and say,

Everything that comes from any country, anywhere in the world, and China's going to be this to an extreme degree, is going to have a tariff on it. And whether that's between 10% for all countries or 145% from China, that, you know, I've used this analogy before that if you talk to dieticians, there is a huge amount of debate over what's the best diet should you eat? Should you be keto?

Everything that comes from any country, anywhere in the world, and China's going to be this to an extreme degree, is going to have a tariff on it. And whether that's between 10% for all countries or 145% from China, that, you know, I've used this analogy before that if you talk to dieticians, there is a huge amount of debate over what's the best diet should you eat? Should you be keto?

Should you be vegan? Like everything in between. There's so much debate. All of them agree that processed sugar is bad. Nobody thinks processed sugar is good. And tariffs are that with economists. There is so much debate among economists on what should the tax rate be? What should subsidies be? Should we get free market versus subsidies? There's so much debate.

Should you be vegan? Like everything in between. There's so much debate. All of them agree that processed sugar is bad. Nobody thinks processed sugar is good. And tariffs are that with economists. There is so much debate among economists on what should the tax rate be? What should subsidies be? Should we get free market versus subsidies? There's so much debate.