What has Trump done now?

[rgmwa]

You're right. He's been a roaring success based on those measures.  I was thinking more about what might have been seen as good in terms of his official job, the one he never understood and still doesn't.

[Kyle Communications]

The border issue was good. Not tax on tips is good especially for a lot of workers. No extra tax on overtime. I am a big fan of DOGE we should have that here. Its rampant here. Tarriffs are a big issue but I understand what he wanted to do. We get fuc#ed over all the time here by especially this current govt just giving away our tax money to so many other places for just crap. Like 600 million to PNG for a football Stadium for gods sake. There are way too many more examples. Trump has been done over by cost of luving. It will be no different here with Mr Magoo

[rgmwa]

No tax on tips and overtime expire in December2028 but tax breaks for the rich don't expire. That's not good. 

Finding waste and fraud in government is a perennial aim of all parties but DOGE was a complete financial and moral failure.

What he wanted tariffs to do was punish countries he thought were taking advantage of the USA because he didn't understand how trade worked. By nature, he's pathologically opposed to cooperation for mutual gain.  

Edited 10 hours ago by rgmwa

[Kyle Communications]

I didnt know they finished after Trumps term...the Dems will for sure put it all back on again as they are spendriffs the same as Labor here. The Dems give money away to all sorts of worthy causes like Trans education in Somalia or other ridiculous things

 

Well if thats true then why is austrlia hit with tarriffs from the EU and many other countries despite us not charging them tarriffs..sort of a oxymoron there dont you think? We dont charge tarriffs on the incomming here although the USA thinks the GST is a tarriff but then again you have to remember they have always thought of themselves as the centre of the universe.

European Union
There is no FTA in force yet (negotiations concluded in March 2026, but the deal is still going through domestic ratification processes in Australia and the EU). As a result, many Australian agricultural products (especially beef, dairy, grains and some processed foods) face relatively high EU Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) tariffs or restrictive tariff-rate quotas.

And there are many others

China
Most goods enter at zero or low rates under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) and RCEP. However, China currently applies a 55% additional safeguard tariff on Australian beef that exceeds the annual country-specific quota (around 205,000 tonnes). The quota was filled in mid-June 2026, so the higher rate has applied for the rest of the year. It resets at the start of each calendar year.⁠

We dont charge them anything for their goods no matter what it is...is this fair?

 

 

No different here with the tax on the rich..they system is designed so that a lot escape them. Companies like Apple whose offices are based overseas for tax purposes..I think theirs is in Ireland and so are a lot of others.

Heaps rag on Gina Rhinehart but she and her companies pay her taxes at the correct rates

 

Hancock Prospecting (Gina Rinehart’s main company) paid about $2.3 billion in Commonwealth and state taxes for the financial year ended 30 June 2026.⁠Hancockprospecting

This figure comes from the company’s 2026 annual report and media release (around 31 October 2026). Key details include

Net profit after tax of $2.8 billion.
Total comprehensive income of $5.2 billion (including investment portfolio gains).

Over the past decade, Hancock’s total federal and state tax contributions reached $24.5 billion (plus additional taxes via employee salaries).
The core mining division, Hancock Iron Ore, accounted for roughly $1.59 billion of that (corporate tax, iron ore royalties, state payroll taxes, and Native Title contributions). The remaining ~$710 million related to other interests.

 

Apple Australia (primarily Apple Pty Ltd) paid approximately $188–200 million in corporate income tax to the ATO in the most recent reported period.

Apples income for last year was about 13.1 BILLION dollars where Hancock prospecting was only 5.2 Billion

 

 

 

 

[facthunter]

 Trump's ART of the deal is standover tactics. Tariffs CAUSED Inflation. Basic wrong assumption. Any fool could see that. . Nev

[rgmwa]

Tariffs are generally are intended to make imported goods more expensive to favour local manufacturers who are competing with those same goods. It's the country imposing the tariffs that pays them. Seems like a dumb idea to me except maybe in special circumstances.

 

Edited 8 hours ago by rgmwa

[old man emu]

16 minutes ago, rgmwa said:

Tariffs are generally are intended to make imported goods more expensive to favour local manufacturers who are competing with those same goods.

That's why we don't have them. We don't manufacture anything that the majority of consumers want. 

[kgwilson]

Closing the Southern border may have been a success but Trumps reliance on ICE which appears to be run as a total authoritarian outfit by its hierarchy has completely backfired. The only other thing he has been successful at it enriching himself and his family and lowering taxes for all of his billionaire cronies.