@OP
What's your take on this story and how do you think it ties in with the state of American socio-political issues these days?
Wow.
Americans have gone batshit insane.
These trade wars will drive up prices, kill jobs, and reduce exports.
Americans used to be able to buy cheap imports, but now they will be forced to buy expensive shitty US products. American companies will have no incentive to produce quality goods now that imports are highly taxed.
Do Americans not understand that the USSR failed?
Do Americans know that the USA is supposed to be a free country?
You don’t need to be a libtard to understand that trade wars are bad.
No one is saying companies cannot make goods in the USA.
The problem is that North Korea has closed borders, but no one wants to live a police state.
Hong Kong has no tariffs, but they are rich.
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-fewest-prohibitively-expensive-tariffs.html
The USA benefits if a country dumps products on the US. If a nation sold $50 tires to the US for $40 then the USA wins by getting cheap products.
If a foreign country had a 900% import tax then their prices would be very high.
If China had a 200% import tax and the US had no tariffs, but then the USA raised the import tax, wouldn’t China retaliate?
A country would get jobs in the short term by exporting products at a loss, but eventually they would go bankrupt.
You cannot get rich by decree. You cannot set rents at $10 per month, wages at $1000 per hour, and have 200% tariffs with no consequences.
Fundamentally, there are only two ways of coordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion – the technique of the army and of the modern totalitarian state. The other is voluntary cooperation of individuals – the technique of the marketplace.
This is not the Soviet Union.
If you want more jobs and want to compete on the world market then the USA needs to cut wages and reduce regulations. You can’t pay Americans $23 per hour and expect to compete with Chinese workers who will work for $1 per hour.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/08/average-cost-factory-worker_n_1327413.html
Did you know that there was a stock market crash in 1929, a trade war and depression in the 1930’s, and WWII started in 1939?
Did you know that there was a stock market crash in 2008, a trade war and depression in the 2010’s, and WWIII is likely to start by 2025?
Trade wars made the Great Depression worse. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
http://fortune.com/2018/03/06/trump-trade-war-smoot-hawley-steel-aluminum-tariffs/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/03/30/americans-dont-want-american-goods-they-prefer-imports/#396d763e5e9c
https://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/27/health/ellis-island-tour-hospital-complex/index.html
What country is this?
You know that you live in the Twilight Zone when Americans support tyranny. Are Americans Commies now?
Those who own imported cars, clothes, televisions, phones, and computers sound like hypocrites when they slam free trade. Vote with your feet and don’t buy foreign products if you hate free trade.
Where would the US get rare earth materials from without free trade?
http://www.bakersfield.com/kern-business-journal/rare-earth-elements-and-their-role-in-renewable-energy/article_2dff98b6-8b4e-5ecc-91f6-ef18c0a2c44e.html
Where would the US get olive oil from without free trade?
Should Burger King ask for a government decree that sets the minimum price for hamburgers at $2 if Mcdonald’s sold hamburgers for $1?
http://triblive.com/opinion/featuredcommentary/7750209-74/government-stossel-central
Americans believe that the reason the US has a trade deficit is because other countries cheat and have high tariffs. Americans don’t realize the US benefits by getting low priced imports and could also be a successful exporting country if the USA had lower wages and fewer regulations.
Those who sell more products work harder, work more cheaply, have better quality, or use more technology.
Think.
Some countries have an advantage over other nations because
they have an asset other countries don't have.
No one goes to Haiti to buy new fighter jets.
US corn is cheaper than corn than grown in Kuwait because the USA
is bigger.
Should Canada increase tariffs on bananas from Nicaragua because
Nicaraguan bananas are cheaper?
Should Japan increase tariffs on oil from Saudi Arabia because
Saudi Arabian oil is cheaper?
Think.
https://truth-zone.net/forum/public-zone.html@previous (C)
Is there anything you think we can do to reverse this trend?
No nation was ever ruined by trade.