Trump Again Says Tariffs Work
- Thread starter ClintonDavidScott
- Start date
Not at all. He made imports more expensive. So now the marginal buyer, the guy that couldn’t afford the domestic product but could afford the imported product, is priced out of the market. The domestic producer gained almost nothing because people who couldn’t afford his product before the sanctions still can’t afford it. The retail store that was selling the imported product sees his sales take a dip, maybe a dip large enough that he has to let an employee or two go. His distributor, the guy that actually does the importing suffers the same fate. The worker at the manufacturer in the foreign country is now also put at risk (but we don’t need to care about his fate; he’s a lousy foreigner after all). He gets laid off and he can no longer afford the product made in America that he wanted. The sanctions make losers at every level. The frustrating part to me as a libertarian is we are supposed to be a society of free people. Free people get to choose what they want to buy and from whom they want to buy it. Sanctions imposed by an imperial entity like our laws have made our president are a slap in our faces as supposedly free people. We should guard our liberty with ferocious jealousy. When you cheer sanctions you’re participating in slapping your own cheek.
Think of it like this: I suspect you would agree with me that virtually every policy and every action taken by the Biden administration has one goal in mind: bring destruction to the country. Don’t you suppose if tariffs were good for us Biden would have dropped them? But he recognizes sanctions are one more paper cut that combines with every other destructive thing he is doing to bring harm. Do you think that makes sense?
Tariffs have little to do with the plight of farmers. The problem in agriculture is fueled by 2 things--inflation and shutting down the petroleum industry. Has anyone bought a bag of fertilizer the past couple of years?
Trump’s tariffs had a lot to do with the plight of farmers in the Midwest. So much so that Trump had to address the issue. And how did he address it? He thanked them for their patriotic sacrifice when they got blindsided and ruined, pretending they had volunteered for their suicide mission.
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Or they want American products moved over sending US currency to China?
If that were true you wouldn’t need tariff protection. Customers would pay more for your product for the reasons you listed.
Based on my experience in oilfield manufacturing your assessment of your company's products in relation to Chinese products is dead on, but the Chinese products are "good enough" for many customers.
Chinese held US currency eventually has nowhere else to go but back to the US. Besides, free people don’t have to care what “they” want.
China’s share of US goods imports fell to the lowest level since 2006 in the 12 months through July
That’s down from a peak of 21.8% in the 12 months through March 2018, just before former US President Donald Trump ramped up a trade war with the Asian country.
Countries like Mexico and Vietnam have benefited from the shift, with Chinese exports to and foreign direct investment in those places also on the rise. Mexico’s share of US goods imports rose to 15% on average in the 12 months through July, the highest on record in 30 years of data. Vietnam’s share was 3.7%, a bit below the high reached in 2022.
That’s down from a peak of 21.8% in the 12 months through March 2018, just before former US President Donald Trump ramped up a trade war with the Asian country.
Countries like Mexico and Vietnam have benefited from the shift, with Chinese exports to and foreign direct investment in those places also on the rise. Mexico’s share of US goods imports rose to 15% on average in the 12 months through July, the highest on record in 30 years of data. Vietnam’s share was 3.7%, a bit below the high reached in 2022.
