Subject: Re: Berkshire and Tariffs
US is the largest international market. If the rest of the world wants to sell to this major market (they do!) they will do whatever they need to. The US is the elephant in the room, everybody else has to work around that fact. After all, there is no reason that other countries MUST sell to the US. They can always decline to export goods the the USA.

The merit in the last bit relative to the first bit may be greater than you suppose. The US accounts for 13% of global goods imports. That's more like the dog in the room than the elephant in the room. If that dropped by a third some specific businesses would certainly be whacked hard but the rest of the world would carry on.

Some optimists suppose that the announcement is just an opening salvo to lay the groundwork for cutting deals one on one. But I am hard pressed to think of anyone on the planet who would trust the US government to honour any deal at all ever again, even one signed by the same players. Interesting times.

Meanwhile I assume American coffee sellers are actively looking for where in the US they can add coffee plantations, and what pay they will have to offer the workers. e.g., 46% tariffs on beans coming from Vietnam, the biggest single source of robusta for instant coffee. Kona for everyone!

Jim