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- An Act Of War
Hey Friends,
Thank you for reading.
I drop a few f-bombs in this one. You’ve been warned.
-Growdy
An Act Of War
Warren Buffet asks if he should jump this high
Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock that is also under a rock, you likely didn’t miss the news that The Donald initiated a global trade war that, thus far, has ONLY resulted in the collapse of the stock markets. It was the worst week for US stocks since the COVID-19 crash in 2020. bbc.com
Ouch
And they are confusing—especially if you’re Lesotho, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Cambodia, Laos, Madagascar, Vietnam, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and the Falkland Islands, all hit the hardest with new tariffs. What the fuck did Madagascar do to Trump? nytimes.com, bbc.com
Donald, a warning, don’t fuck with the penguins. Penguins fuck back. bbc.com
Canada was left out of these latest duties because we are still subject to the 25% tariff related to the contrived “fentanyl crisis” at the Canadian border. theguardian.com, bbc.com
If you are poor, the market collapse didn’t hurt much because you likely don’t own many stocks.
If you are middle class, your retirement investments are at risk—maybe don’t look at them for a while.
And if you are a billionaire, then you lost big time. The billionaires on Bloomberg’s world’s 500 richest people list lost over half a trillion dollars from Thursday’s stock market open to Friday’s close. Honestly, I don’t feel sorry for them. bloomberg.com
Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and Elon Musk had a combined net worth of nearly $1 trillion back in the heady days of January
Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and Elon Musk had to pay at least a million dollars to attend Trump’s inauguration, and then Trump made them all less rich. I remember Fables of the Green Forest; there’s probably a lesson in here somewhere. apnews.com
On Friday, The Donald suggested on Truth Social that the tariffs had already created new jobs. However, the job numbers cited were for March, before “Liberation Day,” and only included a small portion of the federal workers laid off by DOGE. cnn.com
The Donald also shared a link to a video suggesting that he’s “Purposely CRASHING The Market.” rollingstone.com
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.
With steel and aluminum tariffs, regional tariffs, automotive tariffs, and tariffs on top of tariffs (just like that rock on top of that other rock), the automotive industry is uniquely stuck between a rock and an orange man who lives in a white house. autonews.com
That’s not pretty
Flavio Volpe, the president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association of Canada, did a great breakdown of the automotive-specific implications on Twitter (X), explaining where the tariffs apply to vehicles and parts. x.com
The Donald said he “couldn’t care less” if automakers raised prices after he announced he would impose 25% tariffs on all foreign-made automobiles. nbcnews.com
No vehicle sold in the US is 100% made in the US. usatoday.com
Things are likely to get worse before they get less worse.
New car prices are expected to go up. cbc.ca
Canadian consumer confidence is at its lowest level in history. thoughtleadership.rbc.com
“In a research note to clients published on Thursday, JPMorgan's Bruce Kasman, along with several other company economists, warned that the risk of the global economy falling into a recession has increased from 40% to 60% in response to Wednesday's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement.” businessinsider.com
In March, Warren Buffett described the then-impending tariffs as follows: “Tariffs are actually — we’ve had a lot of experience with them — they’re an act of war, to some degree. You always have to ask that question in economics: Always say, ‘And then what?’“ “Buffett said. cnn.com
I’ll tell you, Warren, this is what. The Donald wanted a trade war, and now he’s got one.
Canada announced additional countermeasures in response to US tariffs, including a 25% tariff on non-CUSMA compliant, fully assembled vehicles imported into Canada from the US. pm.gc.ca
The EU hasn’t issued a response to US tariffs yet, but they are expected to respond firmly—possibly targeting big-tech firms and online services. cnbc.com
China hit the US with a stiff 34% import tax on goods. As a result, your running shoes, your laptop, and your iPhone just got more expensive. apnews.com
China also instituted restrictions on additional rare earth minerals, effectively limiting the supply of those minerals to the US. China refines and exports 90% of the rare earth minerals on the planet. This has broad, negative implications for US technology and military manufacturing. reuters.com, bbc.com
That all happened in just a couple of days. Let’s see what next week brings us.
See all previous posts here at thechangeoptimist.com
China’s Automotive Expansion
Chery QQ
Chery is bringing back its QQ hatchback series, and it looks cool. carnewschina.com
Li Auto plans to make its vehicle operating system open-source. autonews.com
BYD plans to expand its dealerships in South Korea to 30 locations this year. cnevpost.com
McLaren's merger with UK luxury electric vehicle startup Forseven could allow it to tap into Nio’s EV tech. carnewschina.com
Ironically, US tariffs could “level the playing field” for Chinese brands as they expand into all other countries around the world. aljazeera.com
Must Know Musk News
Elon in a cheese hat at a Wisconsin rally
Elon tried to buy another election. This time, it didn’t work. apnews.com
More folk protest Elon and the things he does. apnews.com
Elon’s days in the White House might be numbered. politico.com
Tesla investors are expecting continued sales declines in 2025. reuters.com
Tesla launches a cheaper version of the Model Y in the US and Canada. electrek.co
Yukon government ends rebates for all Tesla products. autonews.com
Rise Of The Machines
Rescue robots
A Chinese company has developed a new emergency rescue robot designed for complex environments, including natural disasters, safety incidents, and battlefield first aid. interestingengineering.com
Germany-based Beagle uses long-range drones to capture data about energy infrastructure. techcrunch.com
Google unveils new AI-powered humanoid robots and says, “We got more where that came from.” ctvnews.ca
Energy
The Maran Gas Roxana LNG carrier navigates through the Douglas Channel to Kitimat, BC
On Wednesday, the Maran Gas Roxana, the first LNG carrier to arrive at the new LNG Canada site, passed through the Douglas Channel, carrying a load of liquid natural gas for equipment testing. cbc.ca
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and its institutional associates agreed to acquire Colonial Enterprises, the operator of the biggest US fuel pipeline. bnnbloomberg.ca
Danish thermal energy storage developer Hyme Energy and Swiss fluid engineering specialist Sulzer built a molten salt battery that can power 100,000 homes. interestingengineering.com
QuantumScape believes that ditching the anode in batteries can unlock big improvements for EVs. insideevs.com
But Wait, There’s More
(Living In A Post-Tariff World)
Brightdrop vans being assembled at CAMI plant
GM CAMI plant might be an excellent spot for GM-Hyundai van manufacturing. autonews.com
GM and Cruise were sued by investors who feel their claims of fully autonomous robotaxis were overblown and misleading. gmauthority.com
Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai will hold their US vehicle pricing as is for now. insideevs.com
Ford pushes employee pricing promo "From America for America" in the US. reuters.com
EU antitrust regulators fined Volkswagen, Stellantis, and 13 other OEMs $495 million for participating in a vehicle recycling cartel. reuters.com
Stellantis joins Ford with employee pricing discounts. autonews.com
Stellantis plans to lay off workers at five US facilities and has already paused production at assembly plants in Mexico and Canada, impacting thousands of other workers. reuters.com, bloomberg.com
GM plans to increase production of light-duty trucks at its Fort Wayne, Indiana, assembly plant. reuters.com
JLR expects to pause shipments to the US due to tariffs. reuters.com
Volvo plans to expand its investment in its Mexican truck plant. reuters.com
Volvo also plans to ramp up car and SUV production in the US. reuters.com
Inventory levels of Toyota hybrids are low across major markets, including the US, Japan, China, and Europe. reuters.com
Nissan says it will not take new orders from the US for Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs. reuters.com
Renault and Nissan agreed to amend their partnership to allow for a reduction in their cross-shareholdings in a move intended to help Nissan survive. reuters.com
Nissan’s new hybrids are actually EREVs. insideevs.com
I’ve got some good news for you.
Reading an automotive newsletter is tariff-exempt.