Opinion piece, seems unlikely but I guess it’s on people’s mind.
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I didn’t read as paywalled but I think this is edging on fearmongering for clicks.
Or I am back to the denial stage with the current US admin.
There was a meme last time Trump was running showing Hillary as the first female president, Bernie as the first Jewish president, two others as something else first, and Trump as the last president, suggesting dictatorship. I didn’t see it then and don’t see it now. The US is not Russia, Putin essentially let the oligarchs steal from Russian people to their hearts’ content, and made people like Kadirov literal gods in their fiefdoms, asking they don’t mess with him in return. I somehow still believe in American democracy.
Expropriating other countries’ money, or foreigners’ investments would indeed turn the US in North Korea very fast.
I don’t think the rest of the world can or wants to have an isolated US, this too shall pass, 3 years 9 months to go, then hopefully back to normality 
Not sure if this is what you believe or this is what you hope 
Bit of both!
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Can anyone pointing me to some good news about those new “US Policies”?
I can’t find anything myself. It seems that all news points to one only possible result in the short term, which is down. Either to buy cheap or destroyed and stuff..
I had to dig hard and enter parts of the internet which I rarely go, but your wish should be granted (click on your own risk).
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Can’t find articles but here is what I can think of some headlines that might come in future
- 10,000 jobs created in automotive sector in USA during FY 2030 (Make in America and sell in America)
- All drugs and pharmaceuticals used in USA are now made in USA (albeit at higher cost)
- US share of global goods trade drops from 13% in 2025 to 3% in 2030
- Working class Americans happy with local jobs to make local cars and local steel but still prefer to drink European wine at 3X price
- Thanks to Trump 47 & DOGE, US Debt to GDP ratio is now at 110% instead of 125% while S&P 500 finished 2030 at ATH of 6600
- 48th US administration pursues shift in foreign policy (Protectionism to Globalisation)
- EU commission praises Donald Trump for his contributions in strengthening EU defence capabilities
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Just sharing this interesting podcast
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Time for a little fearmongering from Goofy on a rainy Sunday afternoon …
Consumer sentiment deteriorating rapidly:
(Source)
Note: ticks on the time axis are 13 months apart (not quite sure why).
Original Source: Consumer Sentiment Deteriorating Rapidly - Apollo Academy
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You can hardly blame them for feeling worried with all that’s ongoing
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I read that sentiment is diverging from ‘hard’ data. The question is whether hard data is then lagging sentiment, or whether this is just noise and we’ll end up climbing a wall of worry.
It is bad and only getting worse. Not that I change my investments for that reason but I feel bad for all the Americans that have to drink their own beer up from April. With every sip they probably wish to have voted differently.
For investing I will not change anything. But I feel we should clean up a little bit in our own backyard before blaming others. VAT and tariffs are taxes that can bankrupt a company. They should be eliminated. Maybe replaced by a cash flow tax for companies. Paying tax on part of the cash flow will never bankrupt a company…
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VAT only taxes added value (company gets back the VAT of all the things it buys to make a widget, and collects VAT of the widget it sells), it might reduce a company margin but shouldn’t make it bankrupt…
(but debating the good or bad of VAT will quickly fall into the political debate category).
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Sorry, the title is …US policies on investing… and tariffs are touching investing the most.
I just wanted to say that VAT and tariffs are quite similar when looking at import/export. And yes, if margin is lower than the tax it will bankrupt the company.
The same car made in Spain and in USA exported vice versa will cost 21% more in Spain.
The market is not as politicians thought when implementing VAT… buyers have a limit and if the seller can sell for more he will do that. But if he can not he either stops the business or goes bankrupt.
Now lets say the car can be sold for 21% more. The Spanish company keeps that money but the U.S company doesn’t.
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Well it’s a consumer tax, off course it has an impact on available spending (as any tax does).
I’ll prefer sticking to discussing policies (eg tariffs and VAT are not the same thing, as VAT doesn’t distort access to markets) rather than starter debating if (and which) taxes should be abolished (which is inherently political and we all know the thread will end ).
I agree, but then the whole thread has the potential to get political and probably should be deleted.
The main disturbance of rapidly changing U.S policies to the markets have been tariffs. And I can only repeat, in the context of import/export tariffs are the same as VAT.
A US company is not at a disadvantage in the EU (or anywhere in the world since most countries charge VAT) market because of VAT.
All companies charge VAT regardless of where the good is produced, that’s very different from tariffs that are protecting domestic production (since they’re exempt).
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Then let’s do our best to keep this thread open 
We can stick to policies and impact of those, rather than our own political opinions.
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Tariffs are absolutely not the same as VAT. European companies get charged the exact same VAT as american companies.
That‘s one of the Trump talking points, that are just objectively false.
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I have heard this comment on news too. But I cannot understand how this is comparable
VAT is applied to every company. Tariff is applied to imports. So tariff can be seen as a trade barrier but VAT is not about restricting anyone else’s access to market , it’s just about taxing the sales in the country and that has nothing to do with trade.
Most likely US is using this as an excuse to apply Tariffs on EU but it doesn’t make them same things.
I believe we have come to a point that it seems US wants everything sold in America to be produced in America. Tariff or no tariff, it would mean every business (local or foreign ) need to review if it makes sense to invest in US assets or simply exit the market. Just because tariff is applied , it doesn’t mean local production is economically viable. It only means imports are not viable
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