The introduction of customs in trade with the USA has caused a stir in the media and among economical experts. It is intended to bring all possible disasters to the American economy: expensiveness, inflation and slowness, and even destruction. It is as if everyone had forgotten that, at 1 time, customs were the main origin of income for the states, in times erstwhile there was neither VAT nor individual income taxation in the present form.
We are being told that customs is any kind of madness that this irresponsible Trump calls to life to destruct America and the world. For the sake of order, it is worth reminding that, for example, in Poland, which is simply a associate of the European Union, for a very long time, there have been any duties on goods from the USA.
I have my own experience in this case erstwhile years ago I was unaware of this, I made respective purchases of all kinds of materials useful in the physical laboratory. For example, melting quartz windows were twice as costly in the U.S. as ours. The purchased online already after 2 days were in Okęta Airport, where they then had to wait a fewer weeks for customs clearance. In the majesty of the Customs Office of the Republic of Poland, a work of respective percent was imposed on them and then VAT was added to the value of the goods plus the duty. In this way, goods originally twice as inexpensive as those available in Europe became much more expensive.
It was akin with the apparatus. I wasn't tempted by the low price this time. The reason was the desire to revitalize the damaged measuring system, and the missing instrument was only available in the US. The communicative repeated itself and despite erstwhile experience, the full cost of purchasing was an unpleasant surprise. If individual has doubts about how it works, they can find an interesting product after entering the eBay portal and check for themselves.
Even if something is duty-exempt, like a single book from an antique shop, VAT will inactive be imposed. This means stopping the courier transportation for customs purposes, imposing VAT and then shipping via post as a download. Since the VAT on books is small, the additional cost of the shipment is usually higher than it is. It doesn't matter, due to the fact that the receiver pays for everything. It is crucial to note that even those U.S. goods for which there is no customs work (how much more costly on this side of the Atlantic due to VAT. If these are not trade barriers, what are they?
Recently, prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs joined the lazing choir of economists. Yes, the same 1 that assisted the uninvited Leszek Balcerowicz in destroying the Polish economy after 1989 and making it dependent on the West. Since then, he has changed his views a bit and has made a reasonable message on many matters, but his message on customs on the portal of independent journalists Consortium News Unfortunately, she's not.
https://consortiumnews.com/2025/04/03/jeffrey-sachs-trumps-impoverishing-tariffs/
Text entitled Depleting Trump duties allegedly exposes Trump's primary policy error. According to Sachs, the intent of imposing duties is only to reduce America's trade deficit. Sachs then argues that this goal cannot be achieved, as the American trade deficit is the consequence of chronically large budget deficits caused by taxation cuts for rich people in combination with trillions of dollars wasted on pointless wars. He's most likely partially right, but he forgets the basics, it would seem obvious.
Namely, the U.S. trade deficit comes from the simple fact that the country buys more than it sells, regardless of various another expenditures and budget deficits. This is due to the fact that there is not much to sell, and he needs many goods he needs to buy outside. This is so the consequence of most of the production being exported to another countries. On the another hand, the work is to defend the interior marketplace and home production from the uncontrolled inflow of external products, thus protecting home production.
Special duties imposed on goods from Canada and Mexico, which are a form of force on another matters, should be omitted. Here, the condition for tariff simplification is that these countries halt illegal immigration and smuggling of lethal fentanyl. While the Mexican authorities have proved reasonable and cooperative, the globalist leaders of Canada like to wage a trade war alternatively than limit drug smuggling across their borders.
The real intent of Donald Trump's duties is so not simply to balance trade in monetary terms, but to reconstruct American production. Making it profitable to produce again in the United States. The trade deficit itself will then be reduced automatically. Donald Trump declared and explained his intentions loud and clear, so it's rather unusual that Jeffrey Sachs completely ignores this aspect. Similarly, as many expected economical experts do, they do not know the basics.
Jeffrey D. Sachs' message resembles the time erstwhile he advised Balcerovich. At the time, forgetting the basic function of customs, he blessed Balcerowicz's actions by beginning the Polish interior marketplace completely. The consequence was a fast collapse of production in Poland, immense unemployment and the collapse of most industrial plants, which were then sold for nothing. In this way, the Minister of Finance at the time deserved the fondness of the title of Doctor Mengele of the Polish economy.
No another land of the erstwhile east bloc has done so, and no another country has experienced specified a powerful crash. no of them have incurred specified terrible social costs as Poland, but we are told that “Polish changes” are a model for others. Meanwhile, they were alternatively a warning.
The summary of Trump's doctrine is contained in his statements:
If you want to sale your products work free in the United States, come here, invest and produce them in America.
I don't see how this could impoverish Americans and America. The U.S. is large adequate to be able to function without grace from outside. So is Russia. And Trump as American president has no work to care for the interests of another countries. alternatively of believing false prophets, let's wait a small for results. By the fruits you will know them (Matthew 7:16).
False prophets say that the imposition of customs duties on imported goods is expected to consequence in expensiveness by hitting US consumers. It's not precisely like that. Those who want to sale in the US will face the request to lower their prices, even partially compensating for the work rates so that their goods stay competitive. We should besides know that present the same wise economists who are behind VAT introduction have become consumers' protectors in a unusual way. It is the most striking taxation in consumers that they have been demanding in the US for a long time.
Surely the protection of the interior marketplace is at odds with the reasoning and action of globalists, who search to bring out all production from developed countries. Examples could be multiplied, but the newest ones in agriculture.
On the 1 hand, European agriculture is being restricted in all way, giving it increasingly hard conditions, virtually impossible to meet. On the another hand, trade agreements are signed with Mercosur countries (South America), where specified restrictions do not be or are ignored. Moreover, information about slave labour in Brazilian agriculture has late appeared in Polish media. Slavery was abolished in Poland in the mid-19th century, most likely in Europe at the latest.
Recently, economical journalists have been terribly afraid that Polish farmers can halt the Mercosur agreement, and that would be specified a large consequence to Trump's duties. It is as if those countries are determined to buy costly European food, alternatively than sale Europe their own low quality, produced in excess and without compliance with the rules. They are the ones to compete with EU farmers.
There is no reason why Europe cannot feed itself, but the actions of the globalists search to deprive it of this opportunity. The method is as old as the world. Planned creation of food shortages, energy shortages, housing shortages, or just parking spaces to gain power over people. The aim of the action is global power and that is why the globalists, the politicians and the media who sold them so much do not like Trump and MAGA or populist parties in Europe due to the fact that they are spoiling their mystery plan.
As she said with a reprimanded editor on a liberal radio, populist parties perceive to voters' voices and do what people want. It's unacceptable, so populists must be stopped at any cost.
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