Posted on 02/19/2016 6:56:22 AM PST by Kaslin
I’m tired of this merry-go-round with you...You are boring me...Go play with someone else...I’m through....
“Tell me we aren’t going downhill without any brakes.....”
And, you’re solution is to use tariffs to reduce our standard of living?
BTW, you didn’t answer my question about saving those high paying farm jobs.
First, the tariffs that Trump is suggesting will not reduce our standard of living...That is happening right now with our present government...
Secondly, there was no “question” in your “high paying farms” statement...Only a stupid comment that has absolutely nothing to do with today’s USA...
Which is more in demand, domestic oil at $32 or the $42 foreign oil?
“That VAT on imports is adding costs to imported goods to make up for VATs charged at various wholesale or other points before something is sold to the final buyer (of new goods)”
Yes, that’s my point. It levels the playing field between imported and domestically produced good with regard to the VAT. I think that’s entirely appropriate, but it doesn’t make the VAT a tariff. If we had a VAT, as some here advocate, then we would undoubtedly impose it on imported goods. Instrad, we have sales and use taxes which are imposed on the final consumers of imported goods.
A tariff by any other name, and definitely protectionism and anti-free trade, which I don't object to. This conversation started with this statement from you:
True, but the post-war Germany miracle, especially in the critical first ten years, was accomplished by embracing the free market principles of Ludwig Erhard, not the protectionist proposals of Pat Buchanan and Donald Trump.
No, the VAT applied to imports is a protectionist measure, designed to add tax costs incurred by German produced products at various stages of production, prior to becoming finished goods, to imported finished products. No different than calculating a tariff based upon another nation's lower labor costs, or lower environmental costs, to "level the playing field" when an exporter has lower labor and environmental costs than the importer.
And various nations used many different non-tariff and tariff-by-any-other-name methods as protectionist measures. True free trade allows NO schemes to add costs to imports because the exporter had lower costs in some area. That defeats the concept of comparative advantage, which is also fine with me.
By applying the VAT to imports at the point-of-entry, Germany is definitely NOT practicing free trade. Then, the imported product will properly have the VAT applied within Germany at other stages such as transportation, maybe wholesale and then retail.
It's fine with me if Germany and the EU apply a VAT to imports, but don't then claim that they are practicing free trade.
“First, the tariffs that Trump is suggesting will not reduce our standard of living...That is happening right now with our present government...”
A 45% increase in the cost of goods will not reduce our standard of living? Do you think we’ll also get a 45% increase in our wages?
“Secondly, there was no “question†in your “high paying farms†statement...Only a stupid comment that has absolutely nothing to do with today’s USA...”
The fact that you don’t have a good answer doesn’t mean the question was stupid. But, OK, here’s something more recent. When I was a lad, some of the best jobs for women were telephone operators. Those jobs are gone now. Should we have done something to protect those jobs?
And, another question. Read an article predicting that in a few years robotics could replace as many as 45% of current jobs. Should we ‘protect’ those jobs? If not, why not?
The VAT is a consumption tax, as are the sales and excise taxes we have in the U.S. It doesn’t matter, from that perspective, that the VAT is collected from businesses on their “value added” in the supply chain. We impose sales taxes on imported goods that are consumed here; is that a tariff? If so, the word has lost meaning. If the consumption of imports were untaxed, there would be a powerful incentive to consume imported goods rather than domestically produced goods. Is that what you advocate?
I see no solutions coming from the unfair free trade supporters.
Put up a plan or don’t whine when Trump follows his plan. BTW his plan is to negotiate to get closer to fair and free trade. If not then there will be a quid pro quo on nations that don’t trade freely.
Excellent column by Patrick J. Buchanan.
Thank you for posting this, Kaslin. Back in February, but as relevant as ever.
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