The Largest US Trading Partners All Put Higher Tariffs on the US Than Vice Versa
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Re: The Largest US Trading Partners All Put Higher Tariffs on the US Than Vice Versa
#2No shit. Protectionism is only bad when we do it, for some reason.
Re: The Largest US Trading Partners All Put Higher Tariffs on the US Than Vice Versa
#3The headline's use of the word "put" has an oddly vague interpretation.
The first time I read the headline, I imagined "put" was in the past tense, which implied the recent past, i.e. the last 6 months, due to the recent political action. Which would give the impression that Trump was foolish and got backlash worse than the benefit he gained.
Then I read the article and i realized "put" is in the present tense, which implies this is the way it has been for the long time, which gives the impression that Trump is smart for just trying to catch up and make things fair.
Re: The Largest US Trading Partners All Put Higher Tariffs on the US Than Vice Versa
#4The headline's use of the word "put" has an oddly vague interpretation. The first time I read the headline, I imagined "put" was in the past tense, which implied the recent past, i.e. the last 6 months, due to the recent political action. Which would give the impression that Trump was foolish and got backlash worse than the benefit he gained. Then I read the article and i realized "put" is in the present tense, which…
Agreed. The character limit prevented 'impose' from fitting.
Re: The Largest US Trading Partners All Put Higher Tariffs on the US Than Vice Versa
#5Ok, so this is complicated. Tariffs are only part of the story.
First I agree that some countries will protect industries they consider to be of national interest or are just politically important, like the Canadian dairy industry. I actually think this is OK.
Second I think it is true that there is some hypocrisy here on both sides. It's fair to say US trading partners impose tariffs on US goods and ask why the US shouldn't do the same.
But the US doesn't play fair here either. Take wheat. Or agricultural products in general. In the US (and the EU) these are massively subsidized.
If you're talking about tariffs, you should also include subsidies.
But it gets worse: as an example the the US has historically blocked Australian agricultural products (including wheat) on quarantine grounds. While protecting local ecosystems is valid (eg Australia has, I believe, the only disease-free farmed salmon in the world) it's also used as a barrier to trade. It's clear the US here has historically used quarantine as an excuse to protect US farmers (ironically when Australian farmers aren't subsidized and US farmers are).
Fun fact: this little trade spat led to a deal in ~2006 that resulted in the Australian-only E3 US work visa.
The problem here is we have a complete buffoon in the White House who is the poster-child for anti-intellectualism. So, why put tariffs on Chinese tech goods? Those are primarily just assembled in China these days. China imports most of the parts from Korea, Japan and other places.
It's also clear that China plays favourites with local tech companies. It's a fair question to ask why the US should open up to Chinese tech companies when China won't reciprocate?
Re: The Largest US Trading Partners All Put Higher Tariffs on the US Than Vice Versa
#6It's their loss and US consumers' gain. Why is everyone so quick to assume that anything that benefits exporters is the what we must pursue?
Re: The Largest US Trading Partners All Put Higher Tariffs on the US Than Vice Versa
#7The headline's use of the word "put" has an oddly vague interpretation. The first time I read the headline, I imagined "put" was in the past tense, which implied the recent past, i.e. the last 6 months, due to the recent political action. Which would give the impression that Trump was foolish and got backlash worse than the benefit he gained. Then I read the article and i realized "put" is in the present tense, which…
A better one would be "the largest ys trading partners all had higher tariffs on the US goods than vice versa"
Re: The Largest US Trading Partners All Put Higher Tariffs on the US Than Vice Versa
#8Ok, so this is complicated. Tariffs are only part of the story. First I agree that some countries will protect industries they consider to be of national interest or are just politically important, like the Canadian dairy industry. I actually think this is OK. Second I think it is true that there is some hypocrisy here on both sides. It's fair to say US trading partners impose tariffs on US goods and ask why the US s…
You have a fair point, but you can say that most of agriculture is _probably_ subsidized in a good part of the world, because governments have to feed their people. Also for china, they have subsidies or support from government over foreign companies (which you also mentioned) which is also unfair. Trumps tariff is not about price of goods. It is more of a forcing hand to ease trade and american corporations to enter these markets easily.
Re: The Largest US Trading Partners All Put Higher Tariffs on the US Than Vice Versa
#9It's their loss and US consumers' gain. Why is everyone so quick to assume that anything that benefits exporters is the what we must pursue?
Thats your theory at least. At some point, you don't need any more cheap shit from Amazon, but you need a decent job. As a top 5%er or whatever, surely cheaper is better for you... But prob not your lower middle class neighbor who has to compete more globally in the low skill labor market, where other countries are protecting their people in that regard
Re: The Largest US Trading Partners All Put Higher Tariffs on the US Than Vice Versa
#10It's their loss and US consumers' gain. Why is everyone so quick to assume that anything that benefits exporters is the what we must pursue?
How do US consumers gain from tarifs?
My company is US based with some manufacturing done in the US, some in China and some in EU. We are constantly dealing with price changes due to tarifs, and consumers are going to get hit hard once the price increases travel up the food chain to the end product.
The way tarifs are talked about by our president is laughable and sad. That is not good for the US.
Trump plans to use $12 billions to help farmers hurt by tarifs. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/white-house-...