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My software products are USA

However, I hate Microsoft products so I use them as little as possible. The isn't political, more that Microsoft is a pain in the bottom and their products are crap.

My radios are mostly Japanese - the best in the world, but the Chinese are catching up.  American and British radios used to be amazing but quality dropped and their prices went up. The US and UK simply didn't update and innovative when transistors took over, so the companies went bust.

My phones and tablets are Korean- The best at the moment

All my peripheral gear (monitors, mice, etc) is Chinese. Nobody can match the quality or price.

Household stuff like the toaster is mostly local.

My car is a locally made Japanese thing, and both my motorbikes are locally made Chinese. Bye bye, British motorcycle industry. I loved you, but you didn't keep up so you died.

My choices are need, against quality, against price - never political.

32% tariffs will hurt us here in Indonesia as our second biggest customer country is the US, but Bulgaria is in a far better position

A very small percentage of your local products go to the US, so potential job losses and so are far less of an issue.

That covers solid goods, but not distrust, suspicion, and possibly even hate against Americans that Trumps efforts have the potential to influence.

Time will tell on that one.

I think the exchange rate fluctuations will be the main issue, as Fred says. The GBP is weak against the EUR right now, so UK pension income paid in GBP would convert into fewer BGN if you get paid today. My book royalties are paid in USD and the fluctuations of the USD against the GBP have been "interesting" to watch! It went up, it went down, it's climbing back up again. However, things are so volatile that may all change tomorrow! As you already do, living simply, keep a watch on prices and what we have available to spend, and ensuring we spend within the limits our means allow is the best solution. - @janemulberry

For some reason I was pointed to this forum question from my usual forum home of Hungary.

I'm following all this far too closely each day.

Long term, Trump wants to reduce value of the USD, meaning you'll get less foreign currency for your dollars.  That's so he can make US exports cheaper and challenge the Yuan (Chinese currency) becoming a reserve currency.     

It's more than a bit crazy Trump wants to up the manufacturing base via the Tariff nonsense. This is such a 1980s view of the world.  He seems to think US folks are going to assemble iPhones and plastic toys in the boondocks for slave wages - ethics notwithstanding. 

There's an article on mainstream media (forget which), Apple is airlifting millions of iPhones from India to the USA to avoid the tariffs.   The phones might have been shipped previously from China to India.   The planes carry 100 tonnes of iPhones at a time to the USA.

Government paid pensions in the UK are inflation locked, so they go up by inflation. I think it's around 4% this year so there's a bit of a hedge.  The inflation increase doesn't apply to all countries - retirees in places like Canada do not get the inflation rises.   Inflation rises are a legacy thing with the EU and social security agreements.

An interesting aspect is that the UK and others are mainly selling services which are not (yet) subject to tariffs.   EU is however talking about bashing the social media/e-commerce sites of the USA (Amazon, Meta etc) with a worldwide advertising levy as retaliatory tariffs.    We'll see if the tech bro oligarchs baulk and reign in the Teflon Don's actions after they bank rolled him.

@Fred, like a broken record, Trump's been on about war with Iran again, prior to talks in Oman.  Obviously looking for leverage during those talks, i.e.  talk loudly and carry a big stick. War in the Middle East will raise oil prices unless Saudi starts pumping more to cripple the Iranian economy more.

@Kath948381

Dab wouldn't be much good to you here in BG, as they don't have it nation wide. I believe they were trialing it at one time in a couple of the bigger cities but I don't think a lot come of it.

@Kath948381
Dab wouldn't be much good to you here in BG, as they don't have it nation wide. I believe they were trialing it at one time in a couple of the bigger cities but I don't think a lot come of it. - @Terry Evans

No DAB here in Hungary either.   I have a radio which supports Internet streaming so I use that and carry it around the house. It works fine most of the time.  I can also stream directly to my phone from WiFi.   

In the car, I can just stream off my phone's Internet connection to the car's Bluetooth.   

DAB isn't really up to much these days.  Around here, it's not even a feature on new car radios.   

@fluffy2560

I have Alexa for my radio needs in the house. When in the car I use my mobile, I have have unlimited data. I have an internet radio somewhere, I no longer use since getting Alexa. I've an app on mytuner on the TV that useful if I want to listen in surround sound.

@fluffy2560
I have Alexa for my radio needs in the house. When in the car I use my mobile, I have have unlimited data. I have an internet radio somewhere, I no longer use since getting Alexa. I've an app on mytuner on the TV that useful if I want to listen in surround sound. - @SimCityAT

We've got Alexa as well built into one of our devices but I've disabled it because I think the phones are already listen into our conversations.  It's really weird how we get served crap related to our conversations. It's not just cookies, it's more than that.  Spooky.

I listen to BBC radio 4, the world service, Chinese, Indonesian, Russian, and other stations.

Most are from their own free to use streaming sites, but look at Tunein as well. That has a very wide selection of radio stations.

@fluffy2560

Oh I just checked and we have never heard of that before.

@fluffy2560
Oh I just checked and we have never heard of that before. - @SimCityAT

Yes, DAB+ is the enhanced version.   They allocated pan-European EU frequencies for DAB/DAB+.  My view is that they should really have gone with some Internet based broadcast solution.   If I remember correctly there were two main standards, one of which was DAB/DAB+ and another one which was not universally adopted. 

Hungary definitely does not have it.   Don't know why.  Possibly wasn't promoted enough.  Cars sold in the EU have to have it but our HU car doesn't have it at all.  It could perhaps be enabled but not looked into how as there are no services for it.

@Kath948381

I've still got a lot of my old stuff from the '60s and '70s - it'll certainly outlast me, as there isn't a cat in Hell's chance of it ever fitting me again! 😂