Hacker News Reader

Comment by dttze | Hacker News Reader

Making clothes more expensive for everyone is helping that how?

The reason it makes the clothes more expensive is that US workers are paid more, work in better conditions, and have more rights. That's worth spending more to support.

I'm talking about jacking up tariffs immediately, costing US consumers right now, with false promises of mfg magically popping up immediately to replace it. The government needs to directly fund and standup industrial infrastructure in the way China does with their SEZ to actually bring the jobs here, and we know that that will never happen.

Either way clothing will cost more.

Unless China (or another supplier) chooses to pay the tariffs to make their products more competitive. I've heard allegations that they do sometimes export products below cost.

But the clothing costs more without the benefit of supporting countries with stronger workers' rights. Isn't that the worst of both worlds?

The extra costs support the US government, so opinions will vary. But that's the pessimistic view. The ideal outcome is making import costs high enough that US manufacturing can compete without subsidies.

The ideal outcome is a fantasy. The US doesn't have factories because every large US company currently offshores their factory labor. The tariffs at this point in time just increase costs for consumers while, ideally, US companies build factories on US soil over the next 5+ years. That is not a good outcome for Americans, even considering the support of future American manufacturing.

Imposing a tax on goods from offshore suppliers is a subsidy.

Almost literally, as the goal of the tariff is to change buyer behavior. At least, of the tariff even has a coherent goal.

> Either way clothing will cost more.

If there are no tariffs they won't cost more. They could use other means to onshore jobs without causing a huge shock to the economy, then raise tariffs.

If Americans believed this there wouldn’t ever have been a problem.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com