Are Tariffs A Good Idea?

[candycorn]

You don't know if that is true or not.




Depends on your income level. It's harder for those at the bottom of the income ladder.





Sure, all they have to do is pay more for the same thing they can get cheaper that was imported. I'm not sure you understand the implications here, you are raising the cost of living for those who can afford it the least. They are forced to buy less stuff for their money, and you don't care.





Granted, although I do not believe that the Trump tariffs during his 1st term made any difference at all. Why? Cuz tariffs can change or disappear altogether when the next president takes over. I will say this, Honda announced they will build a plant in Indiana to make their new hybrid car to avoid the Trump tariff on stuff coming out of Mexico. So, there is an upside, but nobody talks about the downside; what happens when the foreign countries reciprocate? Somebody loses too.

Or when you shoot yourself in the foot by shutting down USAID..the farmers who make the food that is distributed are now losing those sales.

The US is its own worst enemy whenever the GOP is in office.

 

[jc456]

Or when you shoot yourself in the foot by shutting down USAID..the farmers who make the food that is distributed are now losing those sales.

The US is its own worst enemy whenever the GOP is in office.

The demofks cash pot? Haha

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Yet our price per student still increased

Teachers are the number one expense when it comes to education, but the others are not far behind. My school received half of the state's total expenditure because the schools have to build, maintain, and operate the schools, provide transportation, and all other administrative overhead required by federal, state, and local school boards. I took a semester long course just on that topic in graduate school, so don't look for me to explain much in a post. Your cost increase is not due to teachers in the vast majority of districts.

 

[jc456]

Teachers are the number one expense when it comes to education, but the others are not far behind. My school received half of the state's total expenditure because the schools have to build, maintain, and operate the schools, provide transportation, and all other administrative overhead required by federal, state, and local school boards. I took a semester long course just on that topic in graduate school, so don't look for me to explain much in a post. Your cost increase is not due to teachers in the vast majority of districts.

Naw, much more to it all. How big is the school board in Chicago?

 

[mikegriffith1]

We became the leading economic powerhouse in the world when we had high tariffs.

Protectionism is based on a basic, logical principle: You don't subject your industries and businesses to unfair foreign competition. You protect them from dirt-wage foreign competition and/or heavily subsidized foreign competition.

South Korea and Taiwan became economic miracles by protecting most of their key industries from foreign competition. China is still substantially protectionist.

A pencil factory in Ohio is never going to be able to compete against a pencil factory in South or Central America where workers are paid a fraction of what American workers are paid and where the factory has to worry about few if any of the safety standards that American factories have to comply with. It's never going to happen.

Of course, if there are certain products that America can't make, then obviously we have to do some horse trading on trade policy to import those products.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Naw, much more to it all. How big is the school board in Chicago?

Ah! You picked one of the very few school districts where teachers do have the right to strike. Great job!

 

[jc456]

Ah! You picked one of the very few school districts where teachers do have the right to strike. Great job!

I live here

 

[bendog]

We became the leading economic powerhouse in the world when we had high tariffs.

Protectionism is based on a basic, logical principle: You don't subject your industries and businesses to unfair foreign competition. You protect them from dirt-wage foreign competition and/or heavily subsidized foreign competition.

South Korea and Taiwan became economic miracles by protecting most of their key industries from foreign competition. China is still substantially protectionist.

A pencil factory in Ohio is never going to be able to compete against a pencil factory in South or Central America where workers are paid a fraction of what American workers are paid and where the factory has to worry about few if any of the safety standards that American factories have to comply with. It's never going to happen.

Of course, if there are certain products that America can't make, then obviously we have to do some horse trading on trade policy to import those products.

SK and Taiwan were not industialized when the developed indstries, and the US presidental elections pitted the agrarians v. the urban

 

[Marener]

We became the leading economic powerhouse in the world when we had high tariffs.

Protectionism is based on a basic, logical principle: You don't subject your industries and businesses to unfair foreign competition. You protect them from dirt-wage foreign competition and/or heavily subsidized foreign competition.

South Korea and Taiwan became economic miracles by protecting most of their key industries from foreign competition. China is still substantially protectionist.

A pencil factory in Ohio is never going to be able to compete against a pencil factory in South or Central America where workers are paid a fraction of what American workers are paid and where the factory has to worry about few if any of the safety standards that American factories have to comply with. It's never going to happen.

Of course, if there are certain products that America can't make, then obviously we have to do some horse trading on trade policy to import those products.

Why does the economic success of the country depend on pencil factories in Ohio? If all we do is defend the status quo, how can we achieve growth and prosperity?

 

[jc456]

Why does the economic success of the country depend on pencil factories in Ohio? If all we do is defend the status quo, how can we achieve growth and prosperity?

We’ve had tarrifs since 1789, but trump

 

[Invisibleflash]

For the most part, I'm a Trump supporter and am generally happy with the direction he's taking the country. It's too soon to know what the long term effects of his executive orders and policies will be but I'm very happy with DOGE and very happy with sending illegals back to their crapholes.

By the same token, I believe in transparency and calling a spade a spade. I started out by saying that "for the most part" I'm happy with Trump but everyone has their flaws and/or weaknesses. I'm still on the fence where Tariffs are concerned. I sell welding supplies, gases, and equipment for a living. I just received this message from Lincoln Electric (a major manufacturer of welding machines and filler metals):

"February 12, 2025

Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for your continued business and support of Lincoln Electric. We advised you in our December 5th, 2024 letter that we would continue to monitor the effects of potential tariffs and, if necessary, we would implement tariff-related price adjustments with short notice. As you are aware, the U.S. Government imposed additional tariffs on China that went into effect on February 4, 2025.
These short-notice tariff-related increases have had a dramatic impact on the input cost of many Lincoln Electric products. As a result, we will be implementing price increases on affected Lincoln Electric products. The affected product categories at this time are helmets, accessories, expendables and parts. Pricing for these products will increase by ten percent (10%).
In addition, effective February 12, 2025, the price for all Lincoln Electric products, including consumables and equipment, will be the price at the time of shipment. The prices on Lincoln Electric Order Acknowledgements dated on or after February 12, 2025, will be subject to change until the date of shipment.
We are working to mitigate changes while ensuring we continue to provide uninterrupted service and support to you and your customers. We will continue to monitor the volatile tariff dynamics closely and implement additional changes as necessary.
Distributor-specific price files will be available via the On-Demand Price File request tool on your 'My Lincoln' account by Thursday, February 13th, 2025.
Thank you for your continued support and understanding during these turbulent times. If you have any questions, please reach out to your local Lincoln representative.
Sincerely,

Albert L. Castillo
Vice President - Sales & Marketing, Americas"

Of course, this will translate into higher prices for my customers. A 5% or 10% increase on a $5000.00 or $12,000.00 or $20,000.00 welding machine is pretty significant. So I'm not too sure tariffs are going to be a good idea. At least not from my perspective.

Not an expert, but concur with you.

 

[Concerned American]

I will say this, Honda announced they will build a plant in Indiana to make their new hybrid car to avoid the Trump tariff on stuff coming out of Mexico.

Honda already builds the Accord and the Gold Wing here. Kawasaki has a plant in the US, Nissan, Toyota, Mercedes and BMW all have production plants in the US as well. All of these mfrs. started building their products in the US largely due to tariffs that were levied in the 80s.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

I live here

Sounds like a character flaw to me. Did you ever consider moving to a non-communist country?

 

[my2¢]

Are tariffs a good idea? As a baby boomer my view is tainted by a time when our schools taught that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was a contributor to the Great Depression. Other countries reacted to US tariffs in a way which contributed to the collapse of American manufacturing jobs.

 

[AsherN]

Or you just buy an American product and never have to worry about the tariffs!

You assume an American product is available. In a whole lot of cases, it is not.

 

[AsherN]

Honda already builds the Accord and the Gold Wing here. Kawasaki has a plant in the US, Nissan, Toyota, Mercedes and BMW all have production plants in the US as well. All of these mfrs. started building their products in the US largely due to tariffs that were levied in the 80s.

And they all use parts and components that move across the borders of Canada and Mexico several times. Those prices will increase. The car industry is highly integrated.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

You assume an American product is available. In a whole lot of cases, it is not.

If there are no American products, we would not put a tariff on that item. Take TVs for example. Chinese TVs would have a tariff, but Japanese and Korean TVs would not because no one else makes them.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

And they all use parts and components that move across the borders of Canada and Mexico several times. Those prices will increase. The car industry is highly integrated.

They will simply access American parts companies,

 

[BackAgain]

I caused you to be an absolute moron?

You’ve already cornered the market on being an absolute moron, fume.

 

[BackAgain]

2 points. One, we're talking about higher prices for the same damn thing. Don't tell me it's for a better product cuz for the most part it isn't. So, we're talking inflation here, a higher price due to gov't intervention. Maybe not a lot, but then there's point #2.

The 2nd point is the retaliation. Besides the American consumer who is now paying a higher price, the foreign country's gov't can in most cases, raise a higher tariff on our stuff going there. Or they find another source for whatever we were exporting to them. So, we have some winners but also some losers here. Just because the tariff makes the imported product more expensive does not necessarily mean that Amercian consumers will now buy the domestic product. Maybe they find an alternative or go without. And whatever new jobs get created here by the winners could be offset by job losses by the losers.

Generally, tariffs and other protectionist measures do not reap the expected rewards we are told of. And nobody mentions the flipside when the other countries hit us with their payback. When Trump raised tariffs on China during his 1st term, they responded by raising tariffs on our soybeans exported to them. As a result, Trump spent about $23 billion in payments to help make up for losses due to the trade war. Read the history of what happened when the Smoot Hawley bill was passed almost a century ago. I'm not saying things will get that bad, but I think on balance it isn't the best way to deal with the unfair trade practices in other places.

First. Calm down. I don’t need any of that “don’t tell me” shit.

Secondly, I don’t disagree with the fact that tariffs come with further consequences.

Thirdly, it isn’t taxation in any form that reduces inflation. You know what does? Competition.

Fourthly, there are also consequences for engaging in retaliatory tariffs. It may not end well for the likes of Canada.

Finally, see the second point.