mrstickball said:
So greed is only an American characteristic? Riiiight. Canada is in a much better situation because their structure for businesses is vastly superior to ours. Businesses have less incentive to move overseas. Not because of tariffs, but the regulatory and tax environment makes it much cheaper and easier to do business there. America is (also) exporting jobs there - we're doing something seriously wrong if the Canadians can make a car cheaper than we can. Again, what tariffs will do is that every country will respond in kind. Our exporters will suffer severely. Some companies will come back, but their goods will be incredibly expensive to buy. How do you think the average person will handle PCs being $2,000 again, while the iPhone is $1,000 and a pair of cheap, generic shoes are $50 instead of $10? That is exactly what tariffs will do. Tariffs don't fix the endemic problems inside of an economy, let me give you two examples:
1) The US can produce a widget for $1,000 per unit. China can produce it for $500. We dislike the fact that China can produce a widget for $500, so we levy a 100% tariff on widgets. In response, China levies a 100% tariff on American-made bumpers, which we can make for $500 and sell to China. In this scenario, the average person has to pay 100% more for a widget, but we gain the widget-maker's job. We however, lose a bumper-makers job, because of China's tariff. Therefore, the net effect is that widgets cost more, and no jobs are created. 2) Brazil employs a very similar scheme with electronics in the real world. They levy a 100%+ tax on all assembled goods that go into their country. What is the result? An Xbox 360 costs $800 to buy. How many jobs did that create? None. They still don't have Xbox manufacturing. Instead, they make Sega Genesis' in country. In Brazil's case, the tariffs don't promote indigenous designs, they simply discourage consumers from buying products.
Instead, the smart thing to do in scenario 1 is to figure out how to make widgets cheaper than China - through regulations, research, and investment. This is what happens in countries that take a serious look at tax reforms, like Canada. As it stands, America has one of the highest corporate taxes worldwide. It discourages jobs from coming here. If we drop the rate, we bring jobs back from China and from other countries. That is key. Trade doesn't exist in a vaccum. Therefore, if we make it easier to build factories here, we bring jobs from everywhere. |
You cannot compete with slave labor and serfs, sorry.
"Figure out a way to make widgets cheaper than China" -so you think Americans can live on $15 a day?
It discourages jobs from coming here.
No it does not.
we bring jobs back from China and from other countries.
What makes you think that? Companies have made it CLEAR that the reason they are going to China because it's CHEAPER workforce - and their more effectiveness. From Apple to Microsoft. From Cooper Tire to Verizon.
It's all about cheaper labor - they have admitted this a dozen times. Even Steve Jobs straight out said jobs are NEVER coming back to America due to China's cheap labor and more skilled work force.
And for you to think that an iPhone will cost $1000 (it almost already does btw) or a desktop $2000... you're wrong. In Canada, for example, they don't cost that much. The difference is almost negilable - plus, what's the point of cheaper prices if you don't have a livable wage or a job to pay for it?
Again, what tariffs will do is that every country will respond in kind.
No they won't. In fact, they usually respond positively. For example when America did a selective tariff on motorcycles in the 1980s to save Harley Davidson, not only did it help HD create more jobs here (and become the number 1 motorcycle company again) but Honda also opened a plant here to compete.
We won't get out of this economy downturn (which will get worse soon) unless we take drastic measures.
