Good morning! Well, that kind of flew by, and now it’s evening. So this will be an evening commentary. DJ, play that music.
Trump vs Tariffs
Lots of talk about tariffs and quite a few people don’t understand how it works. It’s actually fairly simple.
Let’s break down how Americans pay for tariffs using a simple example: importing a TV from China.
- Tariff imposition: The U.S. government imposes a 10% tariff on TVs imported from China.
- Importer pays the tariff: An American company — call it “ElectroCorp” — imports TVs from China. When the TVs arrive in the U.S., ElectroCorp pays the 10% tariff to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. If the TV costs $100, the tariff comes to $10.
- Total cost to the importer: ElectroCorp’s total cost is now $110 per TV ($100 for the TV + $10 tariff).
- Passing the cost to consumers: To protect their margin, ElectroCorp raises the price — instead of the usual $120, they charge $130 to cover the tariff.
- Consumer pays the tariff: The consumer buys the TV for $130, effectively covering the tariff through the higher price.
What you need to understand is that no matter what, the American consumer ends up paying more money. What do you think of this, Mitch?
Switching gears to trade with our neighbors up north — that’s the part that drives me a bit bonkers. Canada has been our staunchest supporter. If you call anyone a best friend in this world, it’s Canada. Is there a trade deficit? Sure, because Canada is a nation of forty million people. There always will be. It’s unreasonable to expect that it’d be equal. But, to threaten them with a 25% tariff, it just doesn’t make any sense.
It does look like any talk of potential tariffs has been postponed for 30 days.
But perhaps if anyone would know. It might be Ronald Reagan.
Supergirl
Thrilled to see cameras roll at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden on Supergirl, with Craig Gillespie at the helm and the phenomenal Milly Alcock as our Kara Zor-El. Craig brings an incredible sensibility to this story, and Milly is every inch the unique #Supergirl envisioned by Tom… pic.twitter.com/za9Tr8Vryr
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) January 23, 2025
Supergirl movie started production at DC Studios. I’m excited about this, and it seems we may get a hint of her in the new Superman movie. I love movies with strong female leads and if I’m ranking my female Superhero favs it’s Wonder Woman followed by Supergirl.
Joe Rogan
I wondered how long it would take for Joe Rogan to pivot back to being more independent or claiming he was. In the past, he’s always claimed to like many things about Bernie Sanders’s proposals. That’s why many thought it was odd that he supported President Trump. Well, it didn’t take long to make the pivot back.
Lastly…
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite scenes from Band of Brothers.
And did you happen to watch the Grammys? Taylor Swift. Just wow!
