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I think it's a bit silly at this point to think this is all just for stock manipulation.

Points:

• Trump has been an advocate and believer in tariffs as a magic solution for decades. There are quotes of him saying this. This isn't something he came up with 6 years ago to make money. Unfortunately (fortunately for us I guess) he doesn't understand what actual intelligent tariff policy would look like, further because he's a a Republican and surrounded with neo-liberal Republican types it's impossible for him to take the steps necessary to actually use tariffs to do what he wants because of the necessity of things like capital controls and state investment and support which are both anathema to his party and advisors and planners.

• US bourgeoisie have been growing increasingly alarmed by China's rise and the fact it hasn't succumbed to liberalism and been overthrown by compradors under their control. They want the ability to maneuver, to wage war, to wage economic war (including things like economic blockade, kicking China out from world banking systems, basically using all the power they have as hegemon while it lasts to crush them). They've been talking in the open of decoupling for years, over a decade for some but it's gotten more serious and urgent. There are those, especially empire planners and domestic industrial bourgeoisie (often arms makers or related) who are especially strident in support of some form of re-shoring or friendshoring to India or other places so they can attack China without China being able to gut punch them and stop their arms making ability or crash the US economy.

• At least one announcement about clarification on tariffs was made on the weekend, if this was all about stock manipulation you wouldn't do something when the markets wouldn't open for another 48 hours because immediate news releases cause bigger dips/jumps than ones which the traders have stewed on for a few days which are easier to profit off of.

• More broadly the bourgeoisie realize it's not good to not have control of the means of production, so as with the second point there is a real feeling that somehow or other we need to move production to countries we can trust or at least play against China like India. The talk of domestic manufacturing is just slop for the hogs, they might move some back but it'll either be automated or they plan to so crash the wage and living conditions for people in the US first that it won't be the kind of boon some people here think it will be.

• That and you have a lot of fail-sons and daughters who have fully bought into the propaganda and don't understand how the world works who think they can change things in a way that aligns with their propagandized view of the world.

• China has retaliated and Trump is arrogant and very proud. He has no real outs, no way to back down without losing a ton of face and making the US look weak. Especially after the Ukraine humiliation can the US afford being owned again? Now maybe he'll make some sort of deal with China when things get bad but they're tired of playing games with the US and especially of the US stirring up hatred for them and gearing up for war. So there's a good chance there's just no way out of this, at least not before prices have hit sky high and the economy crashed.

• Disciplining the proles is seen as an unambiguous good by many at the top. They see the idea of people being forced to sign up for payment plans for an iPhone that last 5 years as a great thing, after all if the phone gets smashed in two years they're now underwater on it and may go into debt. I'm not sure how far away from debtors prisons we are but the bourgeoisie definitely feel that rentierism is a great idea.

We are seeing major movements, changes in the economic and global geopolitical order. The US is making changes, it knows the old path leads to defeat and ruin so it's gambling and lashing out.