USS Donald Trump

USS Donald Trump will go down in history as the most destructive ship in US history, not only on others, but upon itself.

The Naked Emperor is dishing out all sorts of tariff rates to foes and friends alike, behaving like the emperor of the world. If you retaliate, I will punish you with more, he declares!

I asked Manus, an AI platform, to draw me a six-year-old Donald Trump in a Ferrari. Within seconds, the top picture was generated. I thought Trump’s face was too sweet to be representative and requested for a harsher, meaner and more menacing look. The bottom picture was delivered! Good enough for me to caricaturise this overgrown bully!

The US imported about USD3.30 trillion in goods in 2024. The average import duty for the year was approximately 2.5%, which means, the country collected USD82.5 billion of “taxes”. It looks like the average tariff is going to be 25%. The amount of imports is likely to decline, maybe by as much as 20% to, say, USD2.65 trillion. The amount of duties collectable will be about USD660 billion, which will go some good way to finance the country’s deficit of USD36.2 trillion. It will need to squeeze more, since the average interest rate is between 3.3 to 3.4%, or about USD1.2 trillion.

Much of the tariff burden will be borne by its own people; Trump is harvesting his own people! Its 2024 GDP is USD29.2 trillion, the incremental tariff collection of USD577.5 billion is likely to add another 2%, or more, since its per capita GDP in PPP terms is likely to decline.

In Education alone, foreign students – about 1.1 million in numbers - contributed some USD44 billion, which supports roughly 378,000 jobs. More damagingly is the loss of ethnic Chinese students many of whom will otherwise remain behind to help prosper the US.

In 2023, international visitors spent about USD213 billion. 10 million people were directly employed in tourism-related industries. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) calculates that the US is on track to lose around USD12.5 billion in international visitor spending in 2025. I suspect this figure has been grossly underestimated – judging from the shrinkage of the flight numbers from all over the world to the US, and the much-feared immigration measures taken by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Objectives versus Personal Vendetta

The raison d'être of the reciprocal tariff policy is to bring manufacturing back to the US, followed by instituting some form of fairness in US’s trades with other countries. But judging from Trump’s “decrees”, reciprocity is a false premise; he is using it a great deal to punish leaders or countries whom he doesn’t like – leaders like Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (more affectionately called Lula) (50%) and EU’s Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (30%), and country like Canada (under Mark Carney) (35%). (He still dreams that Canadians will kowtow and accept their country to be the 51^st state of the USA.)

The West and Pro-West Self-Denial Syndrome
Even though many of the countries’ leaders are being screwed by Trump, they still hold high hopes in the US – a case in point is the 19-nation naval exercise that is currently taking place in Australia and Papua New Guinea. (At a time when prime minister Anthony Albanese is visiting China!)

The exercise involves over 30,000 military personnel and includes live-fire exercises, amphibious landings, and air and maritime operations. The exercise is said to aim to strengthen relationships between allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region and enhance collective capabilities. No name is mentioned; however, the target is obvious, i.e., China, China, China.

Ditto the silly Trump supporters across the US. Many do not seem to know that they are going to be squeezed dry by Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill which has been passed by both chambers of the Congress, thanks to all the self-serving and apple-polishing politicians there.

The only leader that Trump fears is Xi Jinping, ditto the nation China. Come what rates, it is not going to kill China! As a matter of fact, all MAGA policies serve to do one thing: Make China Fly Higher! (MCFH!)

China has three weapons: (a) Rare Earths, (b) Military and Technology Might and (c) Chinese Industriousness.

Rare Earths

Hitherto, the US imports approximately between 10,000 to 15,000 metric tonnes costing between USD150 -300 million of the stuff annually. (The average value is said to be about USD16/kg.)

China was the dominant supplier, accounting for roughly 74% of US rare earth imports – magnets (used in EV motors, wind turbines, electronics), catalysts (petroleum refining), batteries, glass polishing and additives, defence applications (missile guidance, jet engines, night vision, etc.)

Although the US has domestic rare earth mineral production, particularly at the Mountain Pass mine in California, much of the ore is still sent to China for processing due to limited refining capability in the U.S.

US’s flip-flops have frustrated China. China has decided to use this “weapon” at last! This has immediately caused Trump to panic. So have the EU, Japan, Korea and India. Many of their key industries simply cannot do without rare earths.

Military and Technology Might
Before India’s seemingly “formidable” imported jet fighters were shot down by Pakistani’s China-made J-10Cs and its PL15 air-to-air missiles – supported by also its China-made air-defence systems – many people thought China’s jets and gears were largely make-shift copycats. But to those who have been following China’s technology and military advances during the last five years, the following facts are too plain for them to miss: China is now No 1 in missiles, radar, surface naval ships save for a small gap in aircraft capabilities, space and satellite navigation system (BeiDou), space technology, drones, renewal and nuclear energy and many, many military-related gears – lasers, rail guns, etc. And in microchips and AI, it is China Chinese versus US Chinese, not US better than China!

China will be able to destroy any US asset within and around the 2^nd Island Chain. Period.

Chinese Industriousness
All the US tariffs and trade restrictions on China will initially stall China’s progress somewhat, but in the longer run, say within two years or so, China will overcome everything – thanks to its people’s industriousness (much to do with its millennia-old philosophy) and IQ.

US will have to eat China’s dust!

Time to Bring Back Taiwan
Once the tariffs are in place, Trump will have to grapple with, besides the usual gun violence, concerns like inflation, goods shortages, joblessness, and what-have-you. Internationally, he is quite preoccupied with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Both wars are depleting the US materiel. He does not have much to spare. Even if he has, I do not think he has the preparedness to help Taiwan. Maybe it is now time for China to bring back Taiwan?

Let’s say good riddance to 懂王 (Dǒng Wáng – “Know-All” king)[1]!

End

 

Stop Press
Despite US tariff war, China’s economy grew by 5.2% in the second quarter of 2025!

  

Appendix

Some General Knowledge about Rare Earths
(Source: ChatGPT)

Element	Purity & Form	Price (USD/kg)
Lanthanum oxide	≥99% purity	2.6 – 2.7
Cerium oxide	≥99% purity	3.5 – 3.9
Nd–Pr oxide	≥99% purity	57 – 75 (avg ~69)
Nd–Pr metal (alloy)	≥99% purity	68 – 72
Praseodymium metal/oxide (pure)	—	~97 (oxide); 70 (metal)
Samarium oxide	≥99.5% purity	~9
Dysprosium metal	—	~257
Terbium oxide	≥99.99% purity	~1,090

Applications & Context

• Light Rare Earth Elements (LREEs) like lanthanum and cerium are used in polishing agents, alloys, glass, and catalysts.
• Nd–Pr mixes are critical for high-performance permanent magnets found in EVs, wind turbines, electronics.
• Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREEs) (Dy, Tb, Sm) are vital for high-temperature or high-performance magnets, electronics, and advanced technologies—but carry much higher prices.

 

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[1] This nickname stems from Trump's frequent assertions of being an expert on a wide range of topics, often making bold and exaggerated claims about his knowledge and abilities. 川建国 (Chuān Jiànguó) is also being used; it sounds like “Chuan (Trump) Builds the Nation” – a satirical and humorous way of saying Trump is helping to make China great.