US companies shutting down their US factories and idling 100's if not thousands of workers so they can exploit virtual slave labor and re import back duty free into the USA is causing real distortions too. To make matters worse for domestic competitiveness there is a "duty" on US labor in the form of income taxes.
What are the inputs to the products of these companies that are fleeing the US? Are those inputs more expensive here because of import tariffs we’ve imposed?
People are so quick to think that import tariffs are automatically good for *everybody* behind the protectionist wall. There are domestic manufacturers who *suffer* when we impose tariffs to protect domestic industries, because it increases the prices of certain of their inputs.
There are always two sides to everything —
US dollar strengthens: Domestic sellers say, Yeah! Exporters say, Shit!
US dollar weakens: Domestic sellers say, Shit! Exporters say, Yeah!
Seems nobody at all is capable of anything more than the most superficial (what are the immediate effects?) analysis. Is everybody so lazy they can’t think through the “And then what?” scenarios?