Asmongold TV - "125% Tariff Is Not Enough" | Asmongold TV

Episode Date: September 12, 2025

"125% Tariff Is Not Enough" Asmongold show for all of his stream highlights, competitions, reactions & more. ------------------------------- -------- Keywords: gaming hot takes, streamer reactions, gaming commentary, game criticism, gaming community, streaming moments, esports commentary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump is hiking tariffs to China, 125%. Yeah, this guy, he thinks actually 125% is too low. He's thinking about somewhere around 400. What happens if we go into a full-scale trade war? Look, it's really ugly. This president won the election based on reducing costs, but he's enacted the largest tax increase we've seen in over 50 years. And you know who's going to pay the price?

Americans shopping at Walmart. Americans shopping at Costco. We don't know the purpose of these tariffs. The only thing we do know is he's planning on taking... People don't know that. the purpose of the tariffs that are obviously to negotiate better trade deals. How do you not know the purpose of them? He said the purpose of everybody.

Like, what? In tax revenue from Americans paying more at Walmart and Costco and putting that into tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. It's totally gross and it's putting us on the brink of a recession. It could cost us tons of things. I don't see how you can make an argument that this is beneficial for the wealthiest Americans when 90 something percent of the stocks or something like that are owned by 8. percent of the population. So how is it that 8% of the population that are the richest people that have this massive amount of the stocks? How is this beneficial for rich people? I feel like,

if anything, this is a massive L for rich people. Passioning jobs as we get into this trade war. It's a really disturbing policy. I hope he backs off. But Kevin, he said there's a lot of... Is that an accurate number? Yeah. I mean, and also like, well, here's a good way to look at it. if you look at the stock market and you see Tesla going up $200 after Donald Trump won the presidency, I don't see how anybody can tell me that stocks are real when Tesla goes up that much just because Donald Trump becomes the president. Really, it's a bullshit number to begin with. Deals that they're literally kissing his ass was the phrase he used, you know. Yeah, sure.

Very eloquently. Where are the deals? 1004% tariffs in China are not enough I'm advocating there it is all right 400% they don't play by the rules

they've been in the WTO for decades they have never a trade organization I did by any of the rules they agreed to when they came in for decades yeah what the fuck like why are you going to play against somebody who's map hacking why are you going to play against somebody who's aimboding if these people are going into

if they're going into the negotiation and they're just breaking the rules then what the fuck are you going to do they cheat they steal they steal IP I can't litigate in their courts they take profit thing yeah exactly see is there people have no recourse in order to do anything when they get taken advantage

of by China you can't trust them yeah I mean that's that's it right I mean, like, what, it's obvious. Rich people have known about the tariffs before anyone was sold at the top. When prices dips, they bought more. Now prices increase and they're richer. Sure, of course they're going to go up.

Like, if the stock market goes up, their money's going to go up. I mean, that's the way it works with anything. Like, that's not a rich people thing. That's the way the numbers work. Product technology, they steal it, they manufacture it, sell it back here. Never has an administration. 400% tariffs. What would that look like?

Chi on an airplane to Washington to level the playing field. It's just not about tariffs anymore. Nobody has taken on China yet, not the Europeans, no administration for decades. As someone who actually does business there, I've had enough. I speak from millions of Americans who have IP that have been stolen by the Chinese. I have no. This is it. This is the reason.

This is a massive amount. Huge, huge amount. Nothing against the Chinese people. They brought great literacy, art, and tech to the world. The government cheats and steals. And finally, an administration, you may not like Trump, you may not like his style or his rhetoric, finally, an administration that puts up and says enough.

400% tariffs tomorrow morning. He'll tell you why. can only stay the supreme leader if people are employed if we wipe out any business there i think this is probably true to an extent i think it's a very dangerous game to play but it is probably true to an extent that if you damage the country enough and you throw them into an economic depression that it will destabilize the government because we are still 39 percent of all consumables on earth and 25% of the world's GDP. America is the number one economy on earth with all the cards.

We will not have that forever. It's time to squeeze Chinese heads into the wall now. I'm not talking about tariffs on 60. I hear you, but hold on. If we're talking about people, the average consumer, not necessarily the head honchos of businesses all across the globe, can they withstand the pressure of that sort of tax on the goods? It's short-lived.

But yeah, but what- What's your timeline compared to you don't know the average American's timeline, what they can actually survive? There's people right now who can't survive. 400% to more. Kevin can't say this, but I'm going to say this. This is the truth. There are necessary sacrifices and Trump is willing to make them. That's the reason.

And so is China too, by the way. China has no problem sacrificing its people. And I don't think Trump has that much of a problem sacrificing us. timeline what they can actually survive. There's people right now who can't survive. 400% tomorrow morning. Cheese on an airplane to Washington to cut a deal. What do you think? You know, here's the thing, though. This is the perfect example of I understand how it would benefit you, but that's not what the American people voted for. They voted because the American people didn't vote for tariffs. Really? I think that the American people absolutely voted to

minimize China's control on manufacturing and to relocate. manufacturing to the U.S. I feel like this was a core principle that basically everybody that voted for Trump voted for. I'm actually shocked that this is even being discussed. Trump said within 24 hours, costs will come down. Trump supporters, by the way, you're talking about. Well, Trump said that. And there were people in the middle who said, okay, I'm going to vote for that.

He also said he done the wars. That's not happening. We still have supply chain issues. That's true. She's right about the war thing. I just filled up my tank yesterday. Gas prices are not down. Rent. I'm going to be honest. Like I saw gas was down. I mean, I guess it's probably regional, but at least here, gas is definitely down. Groceries prices are not down. And when people are looking what's happening in the markets and they see the uncertainty and they see their 401ks, I had to listen to my mom talking about her investments on Sunday and she's nervous. I get it.

On top of that, though, don't forget, tomorrow we're going to have a vote on a budget. that is going to be also another series of cuts for the American people and a little bit of gamesmanship, as you were saying, so that we can sort of pay for the tax cuts for folks like Kevin. Then we've also got Doge, and we've got the impact that the Doge cuts and the cuts in jobs are actually having on economies around the country. So it's when you layer all that together. And I think what you saw over last weekend is people don't want to wait anymore. People are angry. I mean, we saw incredible turnout over the weekend in rallies all across the country.

We're seeing it in the polls. People are frustrated. I want to bring this into real terms as well. I mean, I'm an everyday person. I'm going to tell you that right now. And so when I think about how much things cost, I want to know things I'm going to afford or not afford. Listen to what somebody who's a furniture store owner in Kansas had to say about, say, the price of a sofa. With the 54% if we sell a sofa for $1,000, we, we sell a sofa for $1,000, we're a,

We will have to sell it for 1299. And if it's 104%, then that sofa will be over $2,000. I don't think they can afford it. So, and that's a real figure for a lot of people. A $2,000 couch as opposed to what they thought they were going to spend? Yeah, that means higher prices for average Americans. And by the way, that's what Republicans in Congress right now are also worried about here. hearing from their constituents at town halls and as the weeks go by of concern.

By American? Yeah, exactly. I mean, I feel like that's clearly what the indication is. Like that, that's what they want you to do. And this is what people voted for Trump to do. You might not like the outcome of this, but this is what people voted for. Price go up. That economic frustration then turning into political backlash against them and the administration. But Kevin's point is that it short-lived. What's your reaction? Well, I mean, you know, it's up to debate whether it's actually going to be short-lived at this point. Consumer prices going up. Again, economists say U.S. importers do pay the price of tariffs. That thing goes down to the consumer. Also, one thing that is consistent right now is uncertainty. There's uncertainty right now. And this gamble that the administration is doing that the average American will be able to weather through any type of economic frustration is bad.

They won't. They won't. These tariffs will damage tons of businesses, and it will probably, probably it'll probably ruin people's lives. Guaranteed that's going to happen. I don't think there's anybody that could deny that. Of course it's going to happen. So did COVID? Yeah, of course. On the idea that you'll then have investment in American manufacturing.

Tough to pair investment with uncertainty. So where does consumer confidence factor into all this? If people are nervous about what they can or cannot afford, how about that short-lived proposition? I mean, it's plummeting. And I think the only way we're going to restore it is if Congress takes back the car keys from the president and takes away his power to impose the largest tax cut in 50 years with a stroke of a pen. That's the only way that people are going to have confidence. If he announces a series of deals tomorrow, what's going to happen in a month from now? Nobody's going to have any confidence that this is going to go away as long as he has, you know, basically the gun on the resolute desk. American consumers, businesses are all at rest of. as long as it's there. Oh, we're talking about, obviously, sofas, but how about iPhones, which many people have? There's this notion of making it in the United States.

Talk to me about that, Kevin. What is the likelihood that could actually happen? There are people who are saying fat chance. Moving manufacturing back to the U.S. takes a long time, but I'm still focused on two aspects. I mean, you have to differentiate the tariffs negotiated between countries because Eurozone, just 48 hours. zone just 48 hours ago said something remarkable. For the first time in decades, we're willing to go to zero on zero. That means they open up all markets to all products, all services. That's a huge win. So forget about Israel or, you know, Thailand or Cambodia. We're talking

about one of the largest economies on earth saying, okay, we get the joke. You want to sell cars? You want to sell a Corvette in Berlin? We're okay at zero. We've never had that before. So let's call that a huge win. We haven't done the deal yet, but let's get the German people over here to start negotiating that. Agriculture. That's clearly why Trump did the tariffs. I mean, I feel like obviously that's why. Britain will go to zero on zero. Canada, we'll love to do energy zero on zero. So Trump's, that's a huge win for him, huge. He hasn't even taken advantage of it yet. I thought Kevin, they play fair. The problem is that I think that there are a lot of things that exist beyond tariffs. And that's kind of what they were talking about, how there's like other

types of restrictions that are naturally beneficial for the companies that are there or naturally exclusionary for the companies that are not there. And I think they also want to break down those barriers as well and not just the monetary numerical barriers to regulations. Yeah, exactly. That's fake news. Really? I mean, I feel like that would be common sense. Of course they would do that. I don't know. I mean, I bet that's probably what's happening because that's what makes the most sense. Maybe it's not what's happening, but usually what makes the most sense is probably what's happening. I'm curious from your perspective and everyone, if one of the biggest assets of negotiation is leverage, if he has said they're here to stay, does that remove some of the

ability for him to negotiate in the longer with these countries? Well, I'm trying to differentiate. No, because he's lying. He just says it all. The problem with somebody like Trump, and this is a big issue that like I think a lot of people have with him is that everything that he says isn't necessarily true. Like he will go back on pretty much anything he says if he feels like it will be advantageous for him to do so. Like for better or for worse. I don't see a bigger picture behind it. Yeah, I think that that's definitely what's happening is that people look at this as a surface level and they don't think about like what's like plan or like step two or three or four of like something like this because I don't think that the plan ever was to just put these huge tariffs on these

countries and then just leave them on the countries indefinitely. Like I didn't think that was what was going to happen. And it seems like that's not what's happening. Between the trade non-parity, for an example, you talk about Thailand. I have a company that it makes greeting cards. Hewlett-Packard laser cutters making greeting cards in Thailand because labor is cheap and we FedEx them every day here. They only have a con. of 35 billion and the deficit is 200 billion. That country will never have trade parity with us. It's too small.

But we can go to zero tariffs with them. And I'm telling you, there's a difference between getting everybody at zero on zero, which is free trade basically, which for Trump would be a huge win. That called 48 hours ago, when the Eurozone said, okay, uncle, will go to zero.

Take that win. It's a huge win. Now, getting a huge win. trading deficits settled, that's going to take decades because we are the largest economy on earth by a factor of two and a half times. We're always going to deficit. It's also like really important to keep in mind that like this the third and fourth economy is like vastly smaller than China as well. Like it's pretty much like us, China and then like, I think like Germany or some other country below that. Like the US like China is the only

country that is even close to the United States. You can't. Is it you can't? Is it Japan? Okay. Yeah, I forgot. I looked at it like two days ago. I didn't remember exactly. Zoom out because I do think it's worth noting that there are many in Congress as well as the business community that are questioning if the White House and specifically the president is even ready and in a position to negotiate. The Home Depot. So this was last night. Well, I guess they were. What is the right? I made a comment on saying something like, you know, I'm quoting here. I don't understand. the goddamn formula. I believe he's been poorly advised by his advisors about this trade situation and this formula they're applying. You already see attention between Musk and Navarro. That's right. And that's not it. There's been mixed messages from different AIDS.

Some that are saying, you know, they do want negotiations. The White House said today. The formula's instinct. Yeah. He's just going to go like Trump's just going to go with vibes. Yeah. Yeah. Which companies are you going to give the breaks to? I don't know. I'll just, I, yeah, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'll just know. Yeah, ultra instinct, I know. 70 governments around that have come to the White House. Yeah. Yeah.

The fuck it. Yeah. Really, the person who matters the most is Trump and what he wants to do. And there's been plenty of comments of him digging in his heels in as well. I wrote a piece weeks ago when the initial tariff threat against Mexico and Canada went out, saying that sometimes the terror of, of stones seem to be a means to an end. They seem to be an end for the president as well. Well, but this is also the difference between running a business and running a country, right? Because the politics of this are, okay, we're going to start negotiating with 70. Start. How long is that going to take? Is that months?

Apparently one day. Yep. All right. Well, that's... Okay, surprise. The experts are dumb. This is why you never listen to experts about this kind of of stuff, bro. These people don't know what the fuck they're talking about. If they did, they'd be making tons of money. Are these people billionaires? No, then they don't understand the stock market as much as they think they do. Again, my mindset, yeah, Kevin is. Well, Kevin still got hoodwinked by Sam. Remember that? But besides that, yeah, one of them is, yeah. I always, I've said before, always look at outcomes. If a person inside of a field thinks that they're an expert, but they you not create expert level outcomes, then they're not an expert, period.

That's it. Is that the rest of the year, then we're into the midterm season. And if you're a Republican member of Congress and you are hearing from your constituents who are saying, look, now we're in a recession, now my prices are even higher than before, why haven't you stood up to the president? Then you're going to put them in a real bind. And the one thing the kind of pushback for Trump is he doesn't care because he's not running again. But if he wants to keep his majorities in the House and Senate, his team at least understands you better have a plan.

There better be a plan to are the tariffs a means to an end or are they the end game? And what do we go? The midterms don't happen for two years. Like this is going to be wrapped up in probably a year to 18 months. So like if Trump, like this is a really big gamble, but if Trump wins this gamble and he, comes out ahead with the tariffs, especially if he goes through with this, like, I saw people talking about this. There's a chance Trump might be getting rid of the income tax. I don't think it's going to happen.

How do we keep our majorities if we want to keep enacting this regime? Yeah, and let me go back. We'll watch this later. But anyway, yeah, as it should, exactly. And so never happening. Well, we don't know if it's going to happen or not. I don't think it's going to happen. I'm going to be honest. I really don't. but this is one thing about it is that if and this is what I've said before about a lot of things is that it's all about bringing home the bacon if people's lives are better in 2026 than they are right now people will vote for Republicans and Trump and like his ideology again and if they're worse they won't vote for him that's it that's the reason why he lost during COVID you know and again

oh no I didn't lose guys look it's funny to hear him say it, but I think he fucking, I was surprised he didn't lose by more, to be honest with you. So, yeah, it's the economy? Exactly. Yes, majority rules, of course.