The Economy

Everybody is so happy right now.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 1,000 points today, the talking heads on television are bubbling over with optimism, and even many of President Trump’s harshest critics are cheering.  It warms my heart to see everyone so happy, and so there is part of me that is not inclined to dump rain on everyone’s parade.  But I am not going to tell people what they want to hear just to tickle their ears.  I have got to tell the truth about the agreement that has just been made with China, and the truth is not all rainbows and lollipops.

First of all, we don’t actually have a “trade deal” with China.  What we have is a 90 day “cooling off period” during which we could potentially negotiate a “trade deal” with China.

There is an enormous difference between those two things.

For 90 days, both sides will reduce tariffs dramatically.

Without a doubt, that is a good thing.

If we had continued to impose a 145 percent tariff rate on most Chinese products, there would have been empty shelves and shortages all over America.

Thanks to this “cooling off period”, we have been able to avoid such a scenario at least for now.

During the “cooling off period”, there will still be tariffs.

Most U.S. exports to China will be hit with a 10 percent tariff rate.

That is definitely a win.

Major news outlets are reporting that most Chinese exports to the United States will be hit with a 30 percent tariff rate during the “cooling off period”, but that is not accurate.

On the War Room, Jason Miller explained what is actually happening.  According to Miller, “we have 50 percent tariffs on China, they have 10 percent on us”.

He got to that figure by adding the 10 percent baseline tariff rate plus the 20 percent fentanyl tariff rate plus the 20 percent tariff rate from Trump’s first term.

And this is actually confirmed on the official White House website.  It states that the only tariffs that are being removed by the United States are the “additional tariffs” that were imposed on April 8th and April 9th…

The United States will remove the additional tariffs it imposed on China on April 8 and April 9, 2025, but will retain all duties imposed on China prior to April 2, 2025, including Section 301 tariffs, Section 232 tariffs, tariffs imposed in response to the fentanyl national emergency invoked pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and Most Favored Nation tariffs.

So that leaves us with a 50 percent tariff rate on Chinese imports during the “cooling off period”, and that is about where U.S. officials were projecting that we would end up.

According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the current tariff rate on Chinese imports is a “floor”.

In other words, even if a permanent trade deal with China is reached, we shouldn’t expect the tariff rate on Chinese imports to go any lower.

Bessent is also telling us that the U.S. is purposely making a strategic decision to become less dependent on Chinese products…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that the trade agreement reached over the weekend represents another stage in the U.S. shaking its reliance on Chinese products.

Though the U.S. “decoupling” itself from its need for cheap imports from China has been discussed for years, the process has been a slow one and unlikely to ever mean a complete break.

However, Bessent said there are now specific elements of decoupling in place that are vital to U.S. interests.

So things are never going to go back to the way they once were.

The Trump administration is framing this “cooling off period” with China as a big win, and stock prices absolutely soared today.

Interestingly, the Chinese are also framing this “cooling off period” as a big win for them too…

Chinese officials, influencers and state-run media on Monday were casting the initial trade agreement and 90-day tariff pause with the United States as a victory and a vindication of Beijing’s negotiating strategy.

They’re arguing that their defiant public posture worked — and was a major reason they were able to strike a deal with U.S. officials in Switzerland with relatively few concessions.

“China’s firm countermeasures and resolute stance have been highly effective,” said a social media account linked to China’s national broadcaster CCTV.

Tariff rates have been temporarily slashed by both sides for a period of 90 days.

Does that put us in a better position than last week?

It most certainly does.

But the tariff rate on Chinese imports is now far higher than it was just a couple of months ago.

That is not good news at all.

Prices on thousands upon thousands of products that we import from China will be going up.

In some cases, the price increases will be quite dramatic.

Those that are on the bottom levels of the economic spectrum will be hit the hardest.

If you shop at Walmart, Target, Home Depot or at any of our dollar stores, you will feel the pain.

Our standard of living has been going down for years, and it is about to go down even more.

According to CBS News, even after accounting for lower tariffs on Chinese goods “Americans today face an overall effective tariff rate of 17.8%”…

Even with the contours of a U.S-China deal potentially in place, Americans today face an overall effective tariff rate of 17.8%, the highest since 1934, according to the nonpartisan Yale Budget Lab.

High tariff rates deepened the Great Depression in the 1930s, and the global economy is far more interconnected today than it was back then.

Even if a permanent trade deal with China can be secured, and even if that permanent trade deal does not raise tariffs from where they are at this moment, we are still going to experience a lot of economic chaos in the months ahead.

Economic activity is slowing down all over the planet, and layoff announcements just keep rolling in.  For example, Nissan just announced that they will be giving the axe to approximately 20,000 workers…

Nissan is to cut almost 20,000 jobs globally as it sharply ratchets up plans to slash costs – and has not said whether its UK plant could be hit.

The Japanese car maker, which operates a factory in Sunderland, is planning to axe over 10,000 more jobs than originally planned as it seeks to make 400 billion yen (£2billion) in savings.

In November, the company launched a restructure which aimed to cut 9,000 positions – but reports from Japanese national broadcaster NHK suggest the firm has now more than doubled the number of workers it intends to cut.

So what is the bottom line?

The bottom line is that we should definitely be glad that the U.S. and China have dramatically reduced tariff rates for a period of 90 days.

If this had not happened, we would have soon been facing empty shelves and shortages.

But a 50 percent tariff rate on Chinese imports is still really going to sting.

The U.S. economy has been heading in the wrong direction for years, and this is certainly going to accelerate our problems.

There is much rejoicing for the moment, but it won’t be too long before the reality of what we are facing becomes undeniable.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The whole world has been shocked by the fact that the U.S. and China were able to work out a “trade deal” in just a single weekend.  Ultimately, I think that the Chinese were a lot more motivated to get something done than a lot of us originally thought.  So that is good news.  But both sides are telling us that the details of the “trade deal” will not be released until Monday.  To me, that is a major red flag.  If this “trade deal” is so good, why not release the details to the world right away?  In this article, I am going to share what I will be watching for when the details of the “trade deal” are finally unveiled on Monday morning.

Sometimes the hype does not match reality when a big announcement is teased. Just look at what happened when we were being told that the “Epstein files” were being released.  But this time it does appear that this is a really big deal, because the White House is calling this a “China trade deal”…

Top Trump administration officials said they reached a trade agreement with China after two days of negotiations in Geneva, marking a potentially massive victory for President Donald Trump amid his trade war with Beijing.

The White House announced a “China trade deal” in a May 11 statement, but did not disclose details. The apparent agreement came together sooner that most observers expected after Trump’s 145% tariffs on Chinese imports virtually halted $600 billion in annual trade between the world’s two largest economies.

That sounds pretty definitive.

And U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer has told the press that the two sides “were able to come to agreement”…

“This was, as the Secretary pointed out, a very constructive two days. It’s important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as maybe thought. That being said, there was a lot of groundwork that went into these two days. Just remember why we’re here in the first place — the United States has a massive $1.2 trillion trade deficit, so the President declared a national emergency and imposed tariffs, and we’re confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to work toward resolving that national emergency.”

So it appears that a deal is definitely here.

I am sure that the agreement will cover areas such as intellectual property theft and currency manipulation, but to me the most important element of the agreement will be the tariff rates.

I can’t wait to get the details.

More specifically, what will the tariff rate be on goods that are imported from China moving forward?

We know that it won’t be less than 10 percent.  In fact, on Sunday Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made it clear that the 10 percent baseline tariff on goods from virtually all nations will “be in place for the foreseeable future”…

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday that the 10% baseline tariff rate on imports from other countries is likely to “be in place for the foreseeable future,” echoing President Donald Trump’s comments from days prior.

“We do expect a 10% baseline tariff to be in place for the foreseeable future,” Lutnick told CNN’s Dana Bash on ‘State of the Union.’

The commerce secretary rejected the idea that consumers would take on increased costs caused by the tariffs, insisting that business and countries will pay.

Tomorrow, if we learn that the tariff rate on Chinese imports has been lowered all the way down to 10 percent, that would be a major victory.  Considering everything that has happened in recent weeks, we should all go out and dance in the streets if that actually happens.

If the tariff rate on Chinese imports is set at 20 or 25 percent, that would be damaging, but we could survive that.  So I would consider that to be a victory as well.

If the tariff rate on Chinese imports is set at somewhere around 50 percent, that would be disastrous.  Most of the products that are coming over from China would still be shipped across the Pacific in such a scenario, but we would see dramatic prices increases all over the country.

If the tariff rate on Chinese imports is set at 75 percent or higher, that would kill most trade with China, and everything that I have been warning about regarding shortages and empty shelves would still apply.

I am really hoping for a tariff rate on Chinese imports of under 50 percent.

If we do not get that, large numbers of small companies that rely on Chinese imports will start going out of business.  Even after a single month of high tariffs, many such small businesses are already on the verge of going belly up…

The owner of a San Francisco card-game company cashed in his money-market funds. The founder of a tent maker is looking for investors. A watch and jewelry company in Colorado is holding off on signing a new office lease. And a New Hampshire consumer-product company has laid off more than half its staff.

Around the country, small businesses that import goods made in China are taking actions—big and small—to try to outlast the current 145% tariff regime on items from that country. But many are worried that their companies won’t survive.

One small business owner says that he has already had to reduce the number of workers that he employs from 12 to 5…

“Nobody in power seems to care about small business,” said Scott Anderson, owner of 5 Star North, which works with Chinese manufacturers to make its products ranging from acrylic markers to tiki torches. “At this point the only option I see is selling out the rest of what we have and shutting our doors.”

Anderson now has five employees, down from 12 at the start of the year. Three are looking for jobs and Anderson expects them to leave by the end of the month. The New Hampshire company is also running low on stock and expects to be out of most items in the next few months.

A tariff rate of less than 50 percent on Chinese imports would at least give these small business owners a prayer of surviving.

In recent weeks that has been a lot of talk about “buying American”, but when push comes to shove the truth is that what most people want is lower prices.

One small business owner decided to test this, so he gave his customers a choice.  They could buy a Chinese-made shower head for $129 or the exact same shower head made in America for $239.

He ended up selling 584 of the shower heads that were made in China and zero of the shower heads that were made in America…

Armed with real numbers, he set out to do a test with two identical products, with the only difference being their origin and, critically, their price: visitors to Afina’s website were presented with the option of a Chinese-made item for $129 or a US-made version for $239.

“I’m big on just testing it out with real data and real purchases,” van Meer said. “Not asking customers, not a survey, not even add-to-carts.”

“When somebody has to pay for it, that’s the actual real data,” he added.

After several days and more than 25,000 visitors, he said he sold 584 of the lower-priced shower heads and not one single purchase of a US-made version.

This is the reality of the world that we live in.

There is a very small percentage of the population that will pay more to buy something that is made in America, but most people simply want the lowest price they can get.

Unfortunately, if the tariff rate on Chinese imports is set very high, the prices of thousands upon thousands of products that Americans purchase on a regular basis will soon go up dramatically.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

When you don’t have enough money to pay the bills, it can make for a lot of sleepless nights.  If you are in that position right now, I want you to know that you are definitely not alone.  I have heard from so many people that are being absolutely crushed by our ongoing cost of living crisis that seems to have no end in sight.  Just about everything has become substantially more expensive over the past five years, and now the global trade war threatens to push prices for foreign-made goods into the stratosphere.

What we are experiencing at this moment is not even close to normal.  According to a new survey that was just released, financial stress is at an all-time high for 70 percent of Americans…

Americans are drowning in money worries, and it’s taking a serious toll on their mental health. A new survey reveals that 70% of Americans say their financial stress has hit an all-time high, with more than three-quarters feeling totally alone in their struggle to manage money pressures.

Even worse, this financial strain is affecting people’s overall well-being, with 20% reporting worse mental health over the past year.

The findings come from a nationwide poll of 2,000 people conducted by Talker Research for Doctor On Demand by Included Health, offering a troubling glimpse into how economic pressures are reshaping Americans’ relationship with both mental and physical health.

If 70 percent of your population is more financially stressed than they have ever been before, you have a national crisis on your hands.

Nobody can argue with that.

The wealthiest 10 percent of the country is doing just fine, but almost everyone else is really struggling right now.

Unfortunately, the cost of living crisis is about to go to an entirely new level.

According to CNBC, the very first container ships from China that are subject to the 145 percent tariff rate that was recently introduced are now arriving at U.S. ports…

The first shipping containers carrying Chinese products that are subject to President Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs have begun arriving in U.S. ports.

Seven ships carrying upward of 12,000 containers that sailed from China after those tariffs took effect have arrived at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, in California. Five more such ships are scheduled to arrive there in coming days.

Amazon, Home Depot, Ikea, Ralph Lauren and Tractor Supply are among the companies with Chinese goods in these containers, spanning a wide range of consumer items.

The next time you walk into Walmart, Target or Home Depot, you may be shocked at the price hikes that you are seeing.

The good news is that the U.S. and China will be talking this weekend.

Let us hope those negotiations go well.

On Truth Social, President Trump just suggested that negotiations could potentially lead to a final tariff rate of 80 percent on Chinese goods…

President Donald Trump on Friday set negotiating terms for his administration’s first discussions with China, which are set to take place in Geneva this weekend.

In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump appeared to lay out his demands — and concessions — for the meeting between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and their Chinese counterparts. Trump said China must import more US goods, and in return, he believes the United States should lower its 145% tariff on most Chinese goods to 80%.

Other government sources are indicating that we could see the tariff rate on Chinese goods lowered to about 50 percent…

Specifically, US officials are discussing a proposal to lower President Trump’s punishing levy on China goods to between 50% and 54% as they begin what promise to be lengthy talks to hammer out a trade agreement, sources close to the negotiations said.

Meanwhile, trade taxes on neighboring south Asian countries would be cut to 25%, the source added.

“They are going to be bringing it down to 50% while the negotiations are ongoing,” the source said of the trade tax on China.

Personally, I don’t think that the Chinese will agree to any deal that includes a very high tariff rate on Chinese-made products.

But for a moment let’s assume that the Trump administration actually gets what they want.

Even a tariff rate of 50 percent would still essentially kill most trade with China.

The Chinese economy would be severely damaged, and so would the U.S. economy.

We should have never allowed our economy to become so interconnected with the Chinese economy.  Now that we have, we find ourselves in a very precarious position.

A 145 percent tariff rate on Chinese goods is suicidal, because we deeply depend on thousands upon thousands of products that are made in China.

If we can at least get some temporary tariff relief, that will be a positive sign that we desperately need, because right now orders from China are being canceled “very, very fast”…

Ahead of the talks, shipments from Chinese ports have slowed. US importers have begun to weigh whether they can afford to do business now that each shipment is subject to the 145% tariff.

“It has gone very fast, so this is the result of customers reacting very, very fast on canceling orders or stopping orders and waiting to see if this is going to resolve itself,” Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said on his company’s first-quarter earnings call.

If a deal with China cannot be reached, prices will go up.  In fact, we are already starting to see this happen all over the nation.

In addition, we will also see widespread layoffs.  Earlier today, we learned that Panasonic is planning to lay off approximately 10,000 workers…

Electronics maker Panasonic Holdings is cutting 10,000 jobs from its workforce.

The Japan-based company announced the job cuts on Friday as part of a broader effort to increase its profitability moving forward.

Of the 10,000 employees slated to lose their jobs, half will be workers in Japan, according to Panasonic. The other 5,000 will be in other countries.

On top of everything else, we will experience painful shortages of many items if a deal with China cannot be reached.

Our society would not be able to handle widespread shortages very well.

Even now, we are seeing a lot of desperation, panic and lawlessness in our society.  For example, CNBC is reporting that cargo theft is absolutely soaring all over America…

America’s supply chain is under attack.

From coast to coast, organized criminal groups are hitting trucks on the road, breaking into warehouses and pilfering expensive items from train cars, according to industry experts and law enforcement officials CNBC interviewed during a six-month investigation.

It’s all part of a record surge in cargo theft in which criminal networks in the U.S. and abroad exploit technology intended to improve supply chain efficiency and use it to steal truckloads of valuable products. Armed with doctored invoices, the fraudsters impersonate the staff of legitimate companies in order to divert cargo into the hands of criminals.

I think that it will soon be quite common to see armed guards accompanying trucks and trains that are transporting cargo across our country.

Our society really is coming apart at the seams all around us.

Now a period of extreme economic uncertainty is upon us, and that is going to make our societal instability a whole lot worse.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Thousands of products that are made in China will soon start disappearing from store shelves in the United States.  If a trade deal is not made with China very soon, the summer of 2025 will be “the summer of empty shelves”.  According to the Trump administration, “U.S. goods imports from China in 2024 totaled $438.9 billion”.  We cannot possibly replace 438.9 billion dollars worth of goods that are normally sent to us by the Chinese.  In fact, there are thousands of products that Americans regularly buy that are currently only made in China.  We have foolishly become extremely dependent on the Chinese, and now most of the things that China makes will no longer be coming here.

The good news is that major retailers such as Walmart, Target and Home Depot still have Chinese-products to sell us because they stocked up in advance.  But as they run through existing inventory levels during the next several weeks, shortages will begin to appear.  In fact, Marketwatch is warning that “you can see the shelves starting to empty”…

It takes 30 to 50 days for container ships from Asia to reach the U.S.’s West Coast ports. Barring new, faster shipping options or a stunning retreat by U.S. President Donald Trump on China tariffs, the consumer retail economy, which constitutes 70% of GDP, will be damaged. Demand for container space from China on the ships transiting the Pacific Ocean currently is running 60% to 65% below what it normally would be at this time.

Attention, U.S. shoppers: If you see something you need or even think you will, head to Walmart or Target or a local retailer and buy it. Already you can see the shelves starting to empty.

If you are seeing any empty shelves now, you need to understand that this is just the beginning.

Conditions will steadily get worse until a trade deal with China is reached.

Small businesses and online retailers like Amazon will start running out of Chinese-made products first.

But it is only a matter of time before Walmart, Target, Home Depot and other big box retailers also find that they are running out of Chinese-made goods to sell.

CBS News is warning us that disruptions to our supply chains “could empty store shelves as early as this summer”…

Shipments of Chinese goods to the U.S. are plunging, auguring potential supply-chain disruptions that could empty store shelves as early as this summer, some experts have warned.

As U.S. tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese imports take hold, supplies of a broad range of products could start to dwindle later this summer as back-to-school and holiday spending heat up. Experts warn that the sharp decline in trade activity could lead to COVID-19 pandemic-like shortages of products, including goods assembled in the U.S. or elsewhere that use materials or inputs from China.

Some experts are pointing to the 4th of July holiday weekend as a major tipping point.

In fact, the executive director of the Port of Long Beach says that if you intend to purchase something that will be hit with a high tariff you should “buy it before July 2nd”…

Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, told Newsweek a wave of canceled orders and growing uncertainty over the on-again, off-again tariffs is already constricting a key trade artery—and if nothing changes before July 2, when a 90-day suspension on steep new tariffs targeting Chinese imports expires, consumers could soon feel the impact on store shelves and in their wallets.

“If you’re planning to buy something that could face a high tariff—like electronics—buy it before July 2nd,” Cordero told Newsweek. “We’re in a moment of radical uncertainty.”

I want to emphasize that there will not be shortages of everything.

It is specifically products that are manufactured in China that will be in short supply.

So this summer you may see a couple of empty shelves located directly next to a couple of shelves that are completely full.

But without a doubt, what we are facing is going to be painful.

Just think about the various Chinese-made products that you have already purchased so far in 2025.

What will you do when those products are no longer available?

During a recent interview with CNN, Seattle port commissioner Ryan Calkins noted that there was not a single container ship currently docked at his port…

Another shipping port official voiced concern about the drastic decline in imports as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

“I can see it right over my shoulder here, I’m looking out at the Port of Seattle right now, and we currently have no container ships at berth,” Seattle port commissioner Ryan Calkins told CNN on Wednesday.

I was quite alarmed when I read that.

Of course the same thing will soon be happening at other U.S. ports.

Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, has told Newsweek that it is just a matter of time before east coast ports experience a similar slowdown…

“Tariff-related shipping slowdowns will cause a regional cascade effect in the U.S., a little like when COVID-19 first hit. It will first be visible in West Coast ports, which have the fastest shipping times from Asia. After that it will spread to Gulf ports like Houston, which take a little longer to reach, then East Coast ports from the Carolinas up to New England.”

We are about to see exactly how deeply dependent we have become on China, and it is going to shock a lot of people.

Do you remember the shortages that we went through during the early stages of the pandemic?

Well, if there is no trade deal with China what we will eventually experience will be far worse.

According to Rolling Stone, even some members of the Trump administration have been stocking up in anticipation of what is coming…

Two Trump administration officials and a Trump aide tell Rolling Stone that they have done some stockpiling of their own in recent weeks or months, and that they know others working in Republican politics — inside and outside of the administration — who are doing the same. One of the Trump officials says they have already run to Target to bulk-buy toilet paper, some types of food, and other household supplies.

Apparently one Trump aide believes that it “would be stupid” not to stock up considering everything that is happening right now…

When asked why they’re doing this, the Trump aide — who says they and their partner have done similar household-supply hoarding lately, and are also “stashing cash” reserves in their D.C.-area home — simply replies: “Because it would be stupid not to!” The aide adds that they still believe in Trump’s tariffs regime, though, citing the supposed advantage of “short-term pain” in exchange for long-term “prosperity.”

If there are products that are made in China that you are going to need in the months ahead, purchase them immediately.

I don’t think that I can say that enough.

Let me end this article with some good news.

On Thursday, the Trump administration announced a trade deal with the United Kingdom…

The core of the deal is essentially a trade where the UK will get a lowering of US duties on key sectors. Most in focus are steel — US duties on UK-made steel will drop from 25% to 0% — and car exports, where duties are set to be reduced from 27.5% to 10% according to a release from the UK.

In return, Prime Minister Starmer is offering concessions to open the UK markets more to things like US autos, ethanol, machinery, and agricultural products, as well as unspecified concessions on so-called digital service taxes that hit US tech companies.

Unfortunately, there will still be a baseline 10 percent tariff on most goods that are imported from the United Kingdom.

But at least this is a step in the right direction.

Of course what we really need is a trade deal with China, and as I discussed yesterday, the Chinese are extremely angry and are in no mood to compromise.

Needless to say, our stores are absolutely teeming with products that are imported from China.

Over the next several weeks, those products will steadily disappear.

If something really dramatic does not happen soon, we really are facing a summer of empty shelves, and that will not be good for our economy at all.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Over the last several decades, the global economy has become more interconnected than ever, but now everything is changing.  The flow of goods between the number one economic power on the planet and the number two economic power on the planet is absolutely imploding, and that is going to have enormous implications on both sides of the Pacific.  I have written quite a bit about the dramatic decline of U.S. imports, but the numbers show that U.S. exports are falling precipitously as well.  According to CNBC, there has been a 51 percent decline in exports at the Port of Portland and a 28 percent decline in exports at the Port of Tacoma…

What began as a rapid drop in U.S. imports as shippers cut orders from manufacturing partners around the world has now extended into a nationwide export slump, with the U.S. agricultural sector and top farm products including soybeans, corn and beef taking the hardest hit.

The latest trade data shows that a slide in U.S. exports to the world, and China in particular, that began in January now extends to most U.S. ports, according to trade tracker Vizion, which analyzed U.S. export container bookings for the five-week period before President Donald Trump’s tariffs began and the five weeks after the tariffs took effect.

The farming sector has been warning of a “crisis” and ports data is showing more evidence of lack of ability to move product out to global markets. The Port of Portland, Oregon, tops the list with a 51% decrease in exports, while the Port of Tacoma, Washington, a large agricultural export port, has seen a 28% decrease. Tacoma’s top destinations for corn, soybeans and other ag exports include Japan, China and South Korea.

Overall, there are 10 major U.S. ports that have already experienced a double digit decline in export volume.

Agricultural exports are being hit harder than anything else.  Needless to say, this is extremely bad news for U.S. farmers.

The Trump administration has already been discussing a vigorous aid package for farmers that are being affected by this downturn.

It appears that they certainly could use the help.

Meanwhile, imports from China are also declining dramatically…

Imports from China have fallen dramatically since Trump imposed steep tariffs – particularly since last month, when the tit-for-tat trade war sent the tariff on most Chinese goods up to 145%.

“This week, we’re down about 35% compared to the same time last year, and these cargo ships coming in are the first ones to be attached to the tariffs that were levied against China and other locations last month,” Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told CNN Tuesday. “That’s why the cargo volume is so light.”

The drop-off in imports from China on the boats now coming into port is more than 50%, Seroka said. Many importers have canceled previous orders because US businesses aren’t interested in paying the steep tariff, which can more than double the price of Chinese goods.

There is no possible way that we are going to be able to replace the goods that are not being shipped to us from China.

Even if we started building enough factories tomorrow, it would take years before we could make up the difference.

As Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen has aptly pointed out, a 60 percent decline in containers coming to the U.S. “means 60% less stuff arriving”…

Rather than import goods to the United States, some retailers are choosing to pay to store their products in Chinese warehouses because it’s cheaper than paying the tariff, according to Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport, a logistics and freight forwarding broker. With importers and retailers unwilling to pay the steep cost, deliveries could continue to fall – as much as 60%, said Petersen. Consumers will start to notice very soon.

“A 60% decline in containers means 60% less stuff arriving,” Petersen told CNN’s Pamela Brown Tuesday. “It’s only a matter of time before they sell through existing inventory, and then you’ll see shortages. And that’s when you see price hikes.”

He is right.

It is just a matter of time before we experience empty shelves and very noticeable shortages.

Of course the trade war is deeply hurting the Chinese economy too…

China’s manufacturing engine is sputtering, with new data revealing the most severe hit to China’s economy since the COVID shutdown.

The country’s economy slipped from growth to contraction after the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell below 50 in April. New export orders sank to their lowest level since December 2022 when China was still under lockdown, according to figures reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. Major financial institutions including UBS and Goldman Sachs have slashed their growth forecasts for China.

We have become deeply dependent on China, and the Chinese have become deeply dependent on us.

So let us hope that cooler heads prevail and both sides decide to start negotiating.

But even if negotiations begin immediately, it would likely be months before a deal is reached.

For now, we are just going to have to brace ourselves for difficult times.  At this point, even President Trump is admitting that Americans will just have to deal with having less stuff…

Trump was asked Sunday by NBC’s Kristen Welker if he would acknowledge that his tariff plan will result in higher prices.

At first, the president suggested tariffs will “make us rich” — similar to sentiments he’s expressed when touting his economic policy. But in the next turn, he suggested that American children, for example, do not need as many toys and that Americans do not need to spend as much money on “junk we don’t need.”

“I’m just saying they don’t need to have 30 dolls. They can have three. They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five,” Trump said, acknowledging the prices of such items could also go up.

The crisis that we are facing is going to be especially painful for the retail industry.

According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, retail layoffs are already way up so far this year…

A new report from consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas sheds distressing light on a vulnerable job sector: retail.

According to the report, U.S. retailers eliminated more than 64,000 jobs during the first four months of 2025, the second most of any industry. That four-month total is a 296% increase from the same four month span in 2024.

Retail bankruptcies have played a big role in this surge. Several longtime retailers announced bankruptcies in 2025, including Joann Fabrics, which left 19,000 employees without jobs; Party City, which filed for bankruptcy twice and left 16,000 workers unemployed; and Big Lots, which is finding new life after its bankruptcy but has still had to lay off 1,000 people in the process.

Sadly, we continue to get more bad news about major retailers with each passing day.

For example, we just learned that Rite Aid is going to close or sell all of their stores…

Rite Aid CEO Matthew Schroeder briefed employees Monday that all stores would either close or be sold as the company files for bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported.

The media outlet stated funding from investors fell short, and the company faced a series of economic issues, including tariffs, more expensive supply costs, pricier landlords, and what Schroeder called a “dramatic downturn in the economy.”

Even before the trade war erupted, it was being projected that 15,000 stores in the United States would close in 2025.

Boarded up stores are littering the landscape all over America, and it is getting worse with each passing day.

Yes, this is really happening.

A major economic crisis has begun, and people are going to be absolutely shocked by the things that are going to happen over the next several months.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Are you ready for store shelves to start emptying all over America?  When I first started writing about the coming shortages last month, I received quite a bit of criticism.  But now expert after expert is warning that we really are facing a crisis of historic proportions.  Most major retailers still have several weeks of inventory on hand, but after that shortages are going to start becoming very visible.

For smaller businesses, the shortages will be noticeable a lot sooner.  On Sunday, I visited a local small business to purchase some groceries.  In addition to selling groceries, this particular discount store also sells a wide variety of other products, and some of them are made in China.  As I walked through the aisles, I was stunned by how low their stock levels were.  Honestly, it was kind of depressing.

Of course anything that we are witnessing now is just the leading edge of what is eventually coming.

According to CNN, it is being estimated that “Chinese imports into the United States will plunge by as much as 80% by the second half of the year”…

The historically high tariff on China has effectively stopped all trade between the two countries, Trump has said repeatedly. The number of cargo ships headed from China to the United States fell 60% in April, according to Flexport, a logistics and freight forwarding broker. JPMorgan estimates Chinese imports into the United States will plunge by as much as 80% by the second half of the year.

American consumers should expect pandemic-like disruptions as goods that were warehoused before tariffs took effect begin to run out over the next week or so, including higher prices, shortages and empty store shelves.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said repeatedly that the high tariff on China are “unsustainable,” and Trump also said he expects the tariff to come down. But it would need to come down significantly – by more than half – for any real trade to recommence, trade experts say. But even then, the economic damage would be done — and it would be weeks or even months before American shelves would be replenished.

This is going to be catastrophic.

Anyone that cannot see this simply does not understand how our system works.

Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen is a supply chain expert that helps thousands of businesses move products around the globe, and he is warning that we are facing “an extinction-level, asteroid-wiping-out-the-dinosaurs kind of event”…

“If they don’t change the tariffs, it’s going to be an extinction-level, asteroid-wiping-out-the-dinosaurs kind of event,” he told me. “Only these aren’t dinosaurs. These are dynamic, healthy businesses.”

He knows this because those businesses are his customers.

They use Flexport to transport products from the factory to your front door. Petersen’s company handles everything from booking space on planes, trucks and enormous ocean carriers to managing all the tedious paperwork along the way.

Ryan Petersen knows exactly what he is talking about, because dealing with supply chains is what he does for a living.

According to Petersen, container bookings from China to the United States have already fallen by 60 percent…

But since the tariffs took effect, ocean-freight bookings from China to the U.S. have dropped 60%, Petersen says. In response, containership operators are shrinking their boats and canceling trips altogether. It takes a while for downstream consequences to flow through the system—but logistics nerds can look at the data on their screens and see into the future.

If tariffs continue at this rate, Petersen says, it’s only a matter of time before that asteroid hits.

There are thousands upon thousands of products that are made in China that aren’t made anywhere else.

And it takes years to build new factories and set up new supply chains.

So how are we possibly going to replace the 438 billion dollars of imports from China that normally fill up our store shelves?

Of course the truth is that we aren’t going to replace those imports and store shelves will soon start getting emptier and emptier.

In addition, it is likely that we will see massive layoffs as supply chains all over the U.S. slow down dramatically.  Southern California is one area that will get hit particularly hard…

With more than 70% of the port workforce living within a 10-mile radius of the complex, LA’s waterfront communities of San Pedro, Wilmington and Long Beach are expected to be the first hit by the slowdown, but they will certainly not be the last, said Gary Herrera, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) local 13.

“One in every five jobs in southern California is tied to the ports – warehouse workers, truck drivers, logistic teams and more,” said Herrera, who has been a longshore worker since 1998. Herrera says LA’s Inland Empire, including Riverside and San Bernardino, which serve as warehousing centers for retailers such as Walmart and Amazon, as well as communities such as Bakersfield and Barstow, which have freight rail lines, will also be severely affected.

Even if President Trump made a deal with China this week, we are being told that it could take up to a year for our supply chains to fully return to normal…

“These are big, massive bullwhips that have not been seen since COVID,” Evan Smith, the CEO of the supply-chain-management company Altana Technologies, told me. “The tariffs themselves are a shock to the system, and the shock is echoed and amplified across the entire chain. Even if there is resolution, it will take nine to 12 months to work out these bumps.”

The good news is that it appears that the Chinese are open to beginning negotiations with the Trump administration.

But the Chinese are insisting that they will not be coerced into making a deal.

There had been hope that tariffs on Chinese goods would be reduced in an attempt to get China to the negotiating table, but President Trump has slammed the door on that possibility…

When Welker directly asked, “You’re not dropping the tariffs against China to get them to the negotiating table?”

Trump’s response was unequivocal: “No.” His firm stance underscores a broader strategy of using tariffs as leverage to protect American economic interests and curb China’s global influence.

Even if negotiations commenced tomorrow, we would probably not see a deal with China until months from now.

Meanwhile, our supply chain crisis will continue to get worse with each passing day.

If there is anything that is made in China that you are going to need, I would get it immediately.

It does not appear that President Trump plans to reverse course on his tariffs any time soon.  In fact, he just unveiled a new 25 percent tariff rate on most foreign-made auto parts…

President Trump’s tariffs on foreign-made auto parts began on May 3, with automakers receiving some concessions from the administration but still feeling the heat on others.

Trump signed an executive order formalizing the new rules late last week, which gave some carve-outs to what would have been blanket 25% tariffs on imported auto parts. Everything from foreign-made powertrain components to seats and airbags is affected.

This is not a drill.

A global trade war is here, and it is going to cause immense pain all over the planet.

It won’t be too long before empty shelves start appearing all over America.

So if there is something that you need to get done, get it done now.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The president of the United States just threatened to end all trade with China if the Chinese do not stop buying oil from Iran.  I realize that this sounds like something that Hollywood would dream up, but this isn’t a plot from an episode of your favorite television show.  This is really happening.  President Trump has decided to raise the level of economic pressure on Iran to the maximum in a last ditch effort to force the Iranians to make a deal to end their nuclear program.  The oil industry is the central pillar of the Iranian economy, and President Trump wants to make it impossible for them to export any oil at all.  So he is threatening to completely cut off all trade with any nation that purchases any amount of Iranian oil.

This is what a trade war looks like when it goes nuclear.

President Trump is pledging that any nation that buys Iranian oil “will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form”.  He didn’t mention China specifically when he wrote this, but Trump knows that China buys far more oil from Iran than anyone else.

For some reason, the mainstream media is mostly ignoring this story.  But State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce has confirmed that this is now U.S. policy and that China in particular is being targeted…

“These sanctions are being imposed pursuant to President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign to drive Iran’s oil exports, including to China, to zero. China is by far the largest importer of Iranian oil. The Iranian regime uses the revenue it generates from these sales to finance attacks on U.S. allies, support terrorism around the world, and pursue other destabilizing actions,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

This is it.

We really have reached a moment of truth.

In 2025, approximately 90 percent of all Iranian oil exports have been purchased by China…

Shipping data from cargo tracking company Vortexa shows that 90 percent of Iranian oil exports are purchased by China, and Iranian oil exports to China hit a record high of 1.8 million barrels per day in March, Reuters reported, citing ship tracking data.

China isn’t going to stop buying oil from Iran.

I hope that I am wrong about that, but I do not believe that I am.

And I do not believe that Trump is bluffing either.

So it appears that we are about to see a full shutdown of all trade with China.

Most Americans have absolutely no idea what that will mean for us.

It is being reported that “90% of the inputs in prescription drugs consumed in the US are imported”, and a “significant portion” of those inputs are produced by the Chinese…

“Estimates show that 90% of the inputs in prescription drugs consumed in the US are imported,” said Torsten Sløk, chief economist at Apollo. A significant portion of that comes from China, making it a major supply chain risk.

Ongoing tariff disputes between Washington and Beijing have investors on edge, especially in healthcare and pharmaceuticals, where any price shock could ripple across the industry and impact both investors and patients.

This is a really big deal, because as I have discussed previously, more than 60 percent of all U.S. adults are currently taking at least one pharmaceutical drug.

According to supply chain analytics company Exiger, about 80 percent of the active ingredients in our pharmaceutical drugs come from China…

According to a report from the supply chain analytics company Exiger released last week, the US relies on China for as much as 80 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients. For generic antibiotics, in particular, the dependence is much higher at 90 percent.

If there is a complete shutdown of trade with China, you are going to see drug shortages like you have never seen before.

I wish that I was exaggerating, but I am not.

Even 95 percent of our ibuprofen comes from China.

Good luck getting ibuprofen when none is coming across the Pacific Ocean.

Of course there will be shortages in countless other industries as well.

Right now, most of our computers and phones are made in China…

According to Bloomberg, the U.S. relies on imports from China for a majority of the following products by value: game consoles (86%, $6 billion), PC monitors (79%, $5 billion), smartphones (73%, $41 billion), lithium-ion batteries (70%, $16 billion), and laptops (66%, $32 billion).

This means consumers and businesses that need these products will have few to zero alternatives for products that do not come from China.

Our stores are filled with televisions, appliances, toys and other products that are made in China.

I hate to say it, but our economy literally cannot function normally without Chinese-made goods.

We should have never allowed this to happen, but this is the reality of the scenario that we are now facing.

The good news is that it appears that the Chinese are still leaving the door open for a potential deal…

China has said it’s evaluating approaches from US officials to start negotiations about tariffs, a potential deescalation in the trade war that has raised hopes formal trade talks could start soon.

“If we fight, we will fight to the end; if we talk, the door is open,” China’s commerce ministry stated on Friday. “The tariff war and trade war were unilaterally initiated by the United States. If the United States wants to talk, it should show its sincerity and be prepared to correct its wrong practices and cancel the unilateral tariffs.”

Hopefully the U.S. and China will sit down and talk, and hopefully both sides will be in a mood to make significant compromises.

Because if we stay on the path that we are currently on, it will be a nightmare.

Even before the trade war erupted about a month ago, many U.S. consumers were stocking up in anticipation of the coming tariffs…

Similarly, according to a survey of 1,000 consumers by NielsenIQ done in March, 31% of consumers said they were stocking up on groceries in anticipation of tariffs while others said they were expediting non-grocery purchases before tariff-related price increases took effect.

Have you been stocking up?

I hope so.

If there are any Chinese-made products that you will need in the months ahead, get them now.

If all trade with China is suddenly brought to a screeching halt, it is going to throw our society into a state of great chaos.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

2025 is going to be largely defined by whether there is a major war with Iran or not.  If a verifiable deal with Iran can be reached that prevents Iran from producing nuclear weapons, I will applaud the Trump administration for pulling off the diplomatic coup of the century.  But if negotiations fail, it is just a matter of time before the bombing of Iran begins, and that would set the stage for all sorts of apocalyptic scenarios.  Unfortunately, it appears that negotiations with Iran are now in the process of collapsing.  The next round of negotiations that was scheduled for this weekend has been abruptly “postponed” by the Iranians…

A fourth round of talks between the United States and Iran, which had been due to take place in Rome on Saturday, has been postponed and a new date will be set “depending on the U.S. approach”, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday.

“U.S. sanctions on Iran during the nuclear talks are not helping the sides to resolve the nuclear dispute through diplomacy,” the official told Reuters.

It isn’t a mystery why the Iranians “postponed” the negotiations.

The day before the Iranians made this announcement, the Trump administration unveiled new oil-related sanctions and warned Iran that there will be “consequences” for continuing to support the Houthis in Yemen…

On Wednesday Washington imposed sanctions on entities it accused of involvement in the illicit trade of Iranian oil and petrochemicals.

Separately, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Iran that it would face consequences for supporting the Houthis, who control northern Yemen and have attacked ships in the Red Sea in what the group says is solidarity with the Palestinians.

If you impose new sanctions on a country that you are negotiating with, you should not be surprised if negotiations break down.

Perhaps the Trump administration has finally come to the conclusion that the Iranians were just using these negotiations to buy time.

Ultimately, there is no way that the Iranians are ever going to stop enriching uranium.

But at least an attempt was made to try to talk the Iranians down from the ledge.  I very much agree that was the right thing to do.

Sadly, this crisis has now entered an ominous new chapter.  On his account on Truth Social, President Trump just announced that anyone in the world that purchases any amount of Iranian oil will be hit with sanctions themselves…

ALERT: All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW! Any Country or person who buys ANY AMOUNT of OIL or PETROCHEMICALS from Iran will be subject to, immediately, Secondary Sanctions. They will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form. Thank you for your attention to this matter, PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

This just happened, and it is absolutely huge.

China is a major purchaser of Iranian oil.  What will Trump do if the Chinese continue to buy oil from Iran?

Will the Chinese “not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form”?

If Trump really follows through on this, we are about to see some really dramatic changes.

Just imagine what it would do to the global economy if we suddenly cut off all trade with China and all of the other nations that purchase oil from Iran.

I believe that Trump is not bluffing, and that means that things are about to get very “interesting”.

As for the Iranians, their actions indicate that they never expected talks with the U.S. to succeed.  It is being reported that Iran has been feverishly “fortifying its underground nuclear complexes”…

The non-profit Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) reported that Iran was fortifying its underground nuclear complexes ahead of this weekend’s third round of nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration.

Iran insists it will not comply with the administration’s demand for it to suspend all uranium enrichment.

If the Iranians anticipated that they would be signing a deal with Trump, there would be no need to fortify those facilities.

But instead, they have been hastily constructing a brand new “massive security perimeter”…

ISIS said satellite imagery showed Iran building a security perimeter around Mt. Kolang Gaz La, a mountain that sits atop two large underground tunnel complexes linked to the nearby Natanz nuclear facility. The massive security perimeter, which includes road grading and wall panels, isolates a sizable chunk of the mountain to limit access to the tunnel complex entrances. The north side of the new perimeter joins up with the existing barriers around the Natanz facility.

ISIS noted the new perimeter was not easy to build, given the mountainous terrain. The wall appears to be supported by a network of trenches that could hold wiring for communications, camera surveillance, and light poles.

Once the bombing of Iran begins, there will be no going back.

The bombing of Iran would be far more intense than the bombing of the Houthis has been, and the bombing of the Houthis has been extremely intense.

Most Americans have no idea that we have literally bombed over 1,000 targets in Yemen since the middle of March…

Washington has been bombing the Houthis intensively since mid-March, hitting more than 1,000 targets. Tehran says the Houthis act independently.

We are bombing the living daylights out of the Houthis.

What we would do to Iran would be much worse.

Let me try to end this article on a positive note.

Since Mike Waltz was quite hawkish toward Iran, some are seeing his departure as a sign that peace with the Iranians may still be possible…

National security adviser Mike Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, will be leaving their posts in the Trump White House, according to multiple sources familiar with their departure.

President Trump said Thursday he’s nominating Waltz to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as national security adviser, Mr. Trump said. Waltz will need to be confirmed by the Senate for the ambassador role.

Personally, I am not sure if the departure of Waltz had anything to do with Iran.

It is being reported that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles “was so frustrated with Waltz that she has been barely speaking to him”.

If the White House Chief of Staff can’t stand you, normally you aren’t going to last long.

In this case, Waltz is being shipped off to the United Nations.

He never seemed to be a good fit, and we are being told that President Trump regarded him as too hawkish…

A person familiar with the Cabinet’s internal dynamics said Waltz was too hawkish for the war-averse Trump and was seen as not effectively coordinating foreign policy among a variety of agencies, a key role for the national security adviser.

“The system isn’t running properly,” under Waltz, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Hopefully whoever Trump brings in next will have a cool head.

Because cool heads are definitely needed right now.

For a long time, I have been warning that a major war with Iran is coming.

If that happens in 2025, it will be one of the biggest events in modern history.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other  books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.