I am not in favor of how the administration has handled this at all. But I am in favor of reducing our dependence on Chinese imports.
The externalities for all the cheap stuff we import are too high and the market will never do anything about them.
The externalities for all the cheap stuff we import are too high and the market will never do anything about them.
The US should be self-reliant on things like electronics, software, industrial equipment, but for many classes of items there is no benefit in pushing up prices for US consumers.
If a $20 pant doubles to $40, it still beats a domestic one (if there is even one) with one hand.
If the US really wants to reboot manufacturing, first I agree with what you said, it should focus on national security goods as well as higher value add goods. Second, the US should actually lower the tax for machines that build these items and import them to build up these businesses, and third, then it should move upstream i.e. to build those machines domestically and push the taxation higher.
The current policy seems to be the most idiotic.
I imagine it was easier to do this than to inspect every shipment from china for microcontrollers.
Again I don’t agree with the way they are handling it.
Culturally, I don't think we're going back to that. And if you talk to any boomer or older person who remembers what that was like when they were kids they'd hated it.
People find it hard to conceive of another human being so mentally degraded that they just don't understand what's going on. But that's what's happening here. Watch the interview segment where the photograph of a guy's knuckle tattoos with inserted text labels in helvetica font is discussed for an example of how stupid this person is.
Teenage fashion (e.g. Shein) is probably a poor example to focus on though since, even disregarding fast fashion, teenage clothes don't have a long usage period - they get outgrown or fashion changes, etc. The price/quality point of Shein is well suited for this.
Then comes the human rights factors of forced and unfair labor. Your cheap t-shirts are made off the backs of ethnic minorities not allowed to leave the factory site after their 12+ hour shifts.
Finally comes industry hallowing. Yes, America and Canada and Mexico DO want to produce clothing. No, it will never be $5 or less for a t-shirt. Maybe that's fine. The issue is not that clothes are too expensive - almost everything you see at the thrift store is headed for the trash bin.
Perhaps, but we could also help save the planet by all becoming vegetarian, or by staying home rather than flying, etc. In any case, I don't think Trump is looking to reduce consumption or international trade - he (appears) to just want to reduce trade imbalance and/or increase US independence.
> Then comes the human rights factors of forced and unfair labor. Your cheap t-shirts are made off the backs of ethnic minorities not allowed to leave the factory site after their 12+ hour shifts.
Do you think these workers would be happier without a job, or that US adding import taxes to Chinese-made clothes is going to cause Chinese manufacturers to pay more, or reduce working hours? What scenario are you thinking of where US import taxes on Chinese goods would be beneficial to Chinese workers?!
Diet changes are one of the hardest things to effect. And taking away travel has horrible effects on destinations, international relationships and more. Those are all losses for us as a culture.
Slave labor clothing from Temu is not.
Short of invading China, we can't fix their labor issues but we can stop paying for it.
If chattel slavery was still going on, you may not be able to end it but you can stop funding it.
The cost of doing this is.. no more cheap ass clothing from Shein. Not the end of a culture, not a violent uprising, not a revolution. Just no more bad fashion built on slave labor.
I actively choose to buy more expensive electronics with known supply chains. I am sure slave labor still sneaks in - the electronics supply chain is crazy wide and depends on rare minerals.
There is no ethical basis for exploiting slave labor. That this makes cellphones and vibrators more expensive isn't something that can trade off with ethical cost.
If there were better jobs available in China, don't you think those "slave" laborers would be applying for them?
Yes, we can take away their jobs, by killing the demand for what they are making, and this is going to help them exactly how?
There are classes of Muslims who have been forced into detainment camps and are forced to labor without pay.
This is a group of people that was surviving just fine before being forcibly taken from their homes.
"America" meaning what?
American government - really? Why prefer low paying jobs vs high paying ones?
American CEOs - want to increase share price and their annual bonus. Would prefer to offshore.
American consumers - may like "Made in USA", but given a choice prefer cheap "Made in China" vs expensive
American workers - would prefer high paying jobs, or just stay at home collecting government handouts.
We're basically at "full employment", with even fast food companies finding it hard to hire people. I'm sure unemployed US software developers would prefer if US companies would hire them vs offshoring, but where is the demand for low paying jobs?
There are other ways to diversify sourcing and encourage internal production.
There's nothing rational about these tariffs in stated aims or implementation.
Then let's look at some of the second order effects. A container of cargo going to a US (eg Amazon) warehouse has to pay tariffs up front, whereas a direct-from-China purchase can pay the tariffs at the border with cash-in-hand. So that gives a leg up to Chinese vendors and marketplaces.
Think about Chinese companies building out factories in other countries. The tariff tax enthusiast response is to imagine we'll respond by raising tariffs on those countries as well like some game of wack-a-mole. But the reality is that trend will be spreading Chinese investment and influence even further throughout the world, and any post-facto attempt at punishment will just push that country fully into the Chinese sphere of influence!
When examined, every single action by this administration seems to be much closer to supporting the desires of our adversaries rather than helping our own situation. It's hard to know exactly whether these people are directly working for foreign interests, just following the winds of social media campaigns working hard to promote edgy feel-smart but society-killing memes, or somewhere in the middle with a wink-wink. But regardless, we need to pull up hard from this societal embrace of team-sport ignorance if we want to have any future that isn't being a hollowed out backwater.