Yes, The Tariffs Are in Effect. No, The World Didn’t End – Top 3 Takeaways – April 9th, 2025 - Driven By Braman Motorcars
Takeaway #1: The tariffs are now in effect
The sun will rise. There is air to breathe. Trump’s top Trade Advisor Peter Navarro, who is believed to be an architect of President Trump’s tariff plan, is still ‘dumber than a sack of bricks’ according to Elon Musk (there is clearly significant disagreement within Trump’s ranks about the tariff policy). Yes, the tariffs are now in effect. No, despite the endless hype about the sky potentially falling with the impact of Trump’s universal tariffs, the world hasn’t really changed that much since you last were up. Btw, this includes the prices that you’ll still be paying for stuff. More on that in a moment. But first since I already mentioned Elon Musk... About him and what’s been directed at him for a moment... Elon Musk on all the hate that’s been directed his way (often by political interest groups paying protestors to protest)...about that he had this to say to Sean Hannity: It turns out when you take away the money they’re receiving fraudulently, they get very upset. They basically want to kill me because I’m stopping their fraud. And they want to hurt Tesla because this terrible waste and corruption in the government. Now, on the surface these may seem like two different things. Tariff talk and DOGE related stuff. But actually, they may be more connected than you may think. Was the status quo operation of the federal government, a la what DOGE has uncovered a good thing? Unless you’re the transgendered Peruvian comic book hero who we were funding, or a DOGE/Musk/Tesla protestor that George Soros has been funding, the answer is clearly no. The extent of the waste, fraud and abuse of your tax money via the status quo operation of the federal government was anything but good. So let me ask you... What are the odds that status quo trade agreements and tariff policies between countries have been a good thing? And for that matter what are the odds that some of the bad actors and recipients of the government’s waste, fraud and abuse had also been positioned to rake with status quo global trade? As I’ve previously shared with you, every country in the world had tariffs on the US before Trump’s newest tariff policies and at a rate that was 73% higher than the US had been imposing. Was that really a good deal? To be clear I don’t like tariffs any more than Elon Musk. I believe in free trade. But free trade would mean...
Takeaway #2: Tariff free trade
If in the end Trump can get countries to drop tariffs against the United States that wouldn’t have previously been dropped that would be an enormous win. And not just for the US but the entire world. A World Bank study has shown that if all tariffs around the world were dropped, trade would increase by 10-15%, which in turn would lift global GDP by up to $2 trillion annually – which would mean an additional $529 billion to the United States annually. That’s a much better place to be economically but there’s no chance it would happen with status quo policies in place. There is a chance it might happen with Trump’s tariff policies in place. Based on early details of deals being offered by the EU, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam among others – there's an increasingly likely chance that this in fact will be short term pain for long term gain and potentially for most of the world – not just the United States. It’s important to remember that the tariffs imposed today are reciprocal. In other words, we’re only now starting to play the global trade game the way that the rest of the world has been playing it. Once they have a taste of their own medicine, they just may discover that the America way of truly free trade is a better way to go. Again, it’s important to remember for all of the Leftists in your life. There’s nothing that the Trump administration isn’t doing that all of Europe, Canada, Mexico, China and the rest of the world hasn’t been doing. Isn’t it ironic that when Trump imposes tariffs that have been the status quo policies of the rest of the world – it's suddenly a big deal. Just like it is when Elon Musk and DOGE discover that we’d been paying to finance DEI operas in Ireland. But it’s understandable that you want to know...
Takeaway #3: What this means to you
Effectively nothing today. Effectively nothing tomorrow. At most, if this drags on, maybe, potentially, about 2.3% on imported things. I’ll break that down in today’s Q&A. What you’re buying today wasn’t imported today. Recently I broke down that the automotive tariffs wouldn’t have an immediate effect because the average auto company selling in the United States already had 96 days worth of inventory within the United States. The broader tariffs in place today here are the inventories of big brands coming into today. Apple: 5 days. Amazon 37 days. Tesla 20 days. McDonald’s 12 days. Procter & Gamble 58 days. Walmart: 42 days. Pfizer: 125 days. Starbucks: 12 days. Home Depot 77 days. And here’s the point. If you’re wanting to buy an iPhone, it’s a good idea to buy that iPhone rather quickly. If you’re running low on Viagra – there's no real hurry.