Lawrence: No one else on the planet but Americans will ever pay a Trump tariff

0:01 today from Washington Donald Trump read a teleprompter speech to the world economic Forum annual meeting in Davos Switzerland and I make the point about the teleprompter because it means that the things that Donald Trump said that are completely untrue were fully premeditated lies it's one thing to misstate something when you're speaking extemporaneously we've all done that but to have staff type A Lie into a telepromter that you can then tell to listeners in Switzerland all of whom know it's a lie is the kind of unique choice that in the history of the American presidency has been made only by Donald Trump he also made choices in that teleprompter speech that weren't lies but were things that

0:46 no other president would say like this I'll demand that interest rates drop immediately and likewise they should be dropping all over the world interest rates should follow us the Federal Reserve board sets interest rates in this country other countries set interest rates through similarly structured independent Financial arms of their governments it has never been within the powers of the president of the United States to set interest rates and because the Federal Reserve was created in 1913 as an independent body presidents have refrained from telling the Federal Reserve what to do with interest rates even when they wish they could but Donald Trump is trying to trample on the independence of the Federal Reserve the Federal Reserve chair repu Republican Jerome Powell who

1:32 was first appointed by Donald Trump and then reappointed by Joe Biden to another 5-year term doesn't sound afraid of Donald Trump if he asked you to leave would you go no do you think that legally he did you're not required to leave no do you believe the president has the power to fire or demote you and has the FED determine the legality of a president demoting at will any of the other Governors with leadership positions not permitted under the law and so Donald Trump who likes to flaunt his power didn't realize that he was flaunting his powerlessness with Jerome Powell today the LIE Donald Trump told to the world economic Forum today is a lie he has told just about every day of his

2:19 political career it's one thing to tell a lie to people who don't know it's a lie like Trump supporters at a trump rally it's another thing it is indeed pathological to tell a lie directly to people who all know it's a lie you're going to recognize this lie when you hear it you've heard it before here's today's version if you don't make your product In America which is your prerogative then very simply you will have to pay a tariff differing amounts but a tariff which will direct hundreds of billions of dollars and even trillions of dollars into our treasury to strengthen our economy and pay down debt no you won't you won't have to pay a tariff everyone at the world economic Forum knows who pays the tariffs and

3:07 they all know it's not them the only people who pay the TR TR tariffs which do indeed end up in the United States Treasury are the only people who can contribute to the United States Treasury the people of the United States of America if Donald Trump puts a tariff on televisions made in China China or South Korea when they arrive at the Port of Entry of this country that tariff is not paid by anyone in China or any foreign country that tariff will be paid literally at the dock by the person or company in the United States who wants that TV so basically the way it works is

3:53 someone from Best Buy is at the dock at the Port of Los Angeles or wherever the TVs come in in whatever containership they come in on and when those goods come into this country when the big shipment of TVs made in Asia arrives for Best Buy Best Buy's person is right there paying the Tariff in this case let say a trump 50% tariff right at the dock and that tariff is paid by Best Buy directly to the same person who's been at that dock since the start of this country a customs agent a customs agent right there at the dock collecting the money from the American standing there at the dock who's paying him that money

4:39 called a tariff and that Customs agent in effect then sends that money to the United States Treasury and the TV that Best Buy was going to sell for $1,000 now costs $1,500 because Best Buy has to make up the money that it just paid for the 50% tariff at the Port of Entry when you buy the TV you'll never see the Tariff built into the price of it you'll just see the $1,500 but if Donald Trump imposes the kind of tariff he's threatening to impose you will see the prices of televisions at Best Buy go up by at least 50% Donald Trump's choice of Treasury secretary said in his confirmation hearing that he doesn't expect the price of imported televisions to go up 50%

5:25 because he expects the television manufacturers in Asia to cut their prices by 50% so that you'll continue to buy their TVs at the same price a TV manufacturer might be able to do that for a very short period of time if the Tariff were say 5% or less so it could be on a very low tariff for a very short time that a foreign manufacturer would lower the price so that the product that you buy you wouldn't experience the price increase but the money paid for that tariff would still be paid by that same person that same American importer at the dock which is to say by Americans the Americans who imported those TVs would pay those tariffs no foreign

6:14 country has ever paid one penny of tariffs to the United States in the history of tariffs a tariffs is taking money a trump tariff is taking money from Americans and exact the same way that a tax is taking money from Americans and Donald Trump doesn't want you to know that his tariffs take money from you and so it is his most enduring and most repeated lie actually the correct way for Donald Trump to say what he was trying to say today would be if you don't make your product In America which is your prerogative then very simply the American people will have to pay a tariff differing amounts but a tariff which will Direct

7:00 hundreds of billions of dollars and even trillions of dollars into our treasury to strengthen our economy and pay our debt of course he's widely overestimating how much money you can raise from tariffs which is why no country in the world tries to rely on tariffs to finance their government the American people alone pay Trump tariffs no one else on the planet no one in China will ever pay a trump tariff we patiently await the White House Press cors confronting Donald Trump about his Perpetual lie about tariffs something they have never done