Maybe 10 years ago I saw a news program where the reporter was interviewing some guy who made door locks for cars.
I probably don’t have the prices right, but it went something like this. The guy’s factory was located in the United States. He could make a quality door lock assembly for $5, which he sold for $7.
Then the Chinese entered the market. They sold their door locks for $3. Their quality wasn’t as good as the USA ones, but they were good enough.
The guy being interviewed said that he saw his employees as family. And he was almost crying. He said that he had no choice but to move his factory to China. It was the only way to save his business.
So what’s the solution here? Free-traders don’t want to hear it. But the solution is tariffs.
“So what’s the solution here? Free-traders don’t want to hear it. But the solution is tariffs.”
Using tariffs as a negotiating tool to get fairer trade terms like Trump is doing is fine.
But as a permanent long term policy it’s just an admission you can’t compete in terms of productivity and quality and eventually it will lead to shoddier products and lower standard of living.
John Poindexter, Robert McFarlane, and Richard Levine are all confused gloBULLists. It laughable that these pundits can write this many words about what the USA should do about CHINA and neglect to mention tariffs. WOW, Just WOW.
Hear, hear!!!
We should support free trade. The People’s Republic of China is an intensely unfree, oppressive regime that uses slave labor to support its centrally directed economy, so free trade is impossible. Obviously, we need tariffs, the revenues from which might help to rebalance the federal budget if Congress ever decides to slash and restrain spending. But we may need more complex barriers and outright bans.
Consider that the People’s Republic of China may want to make economic war against the American economy. They decide to sell the door locks for a penny a piece. They lose money on the deal; even slaves need some food. But the enormous financial capacity of their totalitarian government subsidizes the losses indefinitely until the other factories throughout the world close. Then, the Chinese can hike the prices and take the profits. After several decades, Americans have forgotten how to make the door locks and depend entirely on the Chinese. With one product, that perhaps represents an insignificant problem.
But if the Chinese do likewise with thousands of problems, then they can wage economic warfare to their profit and our peril.
Beijing Biden, unlike Trump, long has stood with the Chinese Communist Party in making economic warfare against American society.