Kudlow contradicts Trump, says China isn't paying tariffs on goods going into US

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Sunday contradicted President Trump, saying he didn't disagree with the characterization that China is not paying the tariffs on goods coming into the U.S.

Kudlow made the comments after Fox News anchor Chris Wallace repeatedly pressed him on "Fox News Sunday" about Trump's recent comments in regard to trade with China.

"It’s not China that pays tariffs. It’s the American importers, the American companies that pay what in effect is a tax increase and oftentimes passes it on to U.S. consumers," Wallace said.

Link to tweet

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"Fair enough. In fact, both sides will pay in these things, and of course it depends," Kudlow responded, with Wallace interjecting to point out that "if it’s a tariff on goods coming into the country, the Chinese aren’t paying."

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/443295-kudlow-contradicts-trump-says-china-isnt-paying-tariffs-on-goods

The dotard can't be happy about that.

[ooky]

1. The shame of it is that this is economics 101.

[matt819]

4. I don't think it even rises to the level of economics

It’s business 101.

You pay the foreign company for their goods.

Then you pay to ship the goods to the United States.

Then, if there are duties, you pay those to the US government. And since you will pay a freight forwarder for this service, you pay for that service.

You add up all those costs, and then you come up with a selling price for those goods.

If you do a good job, you make a profit.

If you do a bad job, you lose money.

A nine-year-old running a lemonade stand knows this.

He and his family of grifters are paying import duties on the shit they make in China and elsewhere. The buffoon-in-chief May have paid duties on slot machines when he was going broke in Atlantic City. Maybe it’s because he forgot to calculate the cost of those duties.

[ooky]

7. Yeah, its elementary in either case.

[stopbush]

12. Exactly. As kids, we were told what a tariff is and who pays for it

Last edited Sun May 12, 2019, 11:32 PM - Edit history (1)

when the word first came up in an elementary school history class.

What is Kudlow supposed to do? Agree with tRump and make himself a laughing stock who doesn’t know the basics about economics?

[ooky]

15. Exactly.

[Turbineguy]

2. This seems to reveal trump's grasp of economics.

Which might explain why he's had so many businesses fail.

[ooky]

6. and the grasp of many of his ignorant supporters.

[MineralMan]

3. And then, if China reacts with retaliatory tariffs on US products,

sales of those products will tank, which will affect US businesses, particularly agricultural and manufacturing. The result will be damaging to the US economy far more than the Chinese economy.

Trump is an idiot!

[Wellstone ruled]

5. True statement my friend.

Notice how the Rural Folks are just now speaking up. Soybeans at the Elevator Wednesday were 7.33 per Bushel,but,no one is buying because of River Flooding. When it costs north of 8 bucks to plant,well the edge of the cliff gets closer by the day.

By July the Rural Economy will all but collapse. And the winning will not be the USA.

[Igel]

14. The asymmetry's apparent, not real.

Let's start where it's more obvious.

You sell soybeans. Because of tariffs, your soybeans that were $10/bushel now cost $12.50/bushel in China. You have two choices. You say, Oh, well, we don't make the sale. Or you let the price of your soybeans drift down to be competitive with the price in China.

The Chinese consumer is, of course, paying for the tariff. Except that for something with an elastic price, it's the American farmer who's actually taking in less money. Who pays? The farmer pays. De facto, if not de jure.

If it's something like Exclusive Tiddly Widgetizers, made entirely in the US, then the price is inelastic and it's just the Chinese consumer and her insatiable and inelastic demand for Widgetizers that pays the tariff. Who pays? The Chinese consumer pays.

It's the same on the US side. If there's an alternative source, then China has to lower its price; if not, then the American consumer pays.

We act as thought there's a real asymmetry.

[Wellstone ruled]

16. And as these Markets go away,

that slack is picked up by the likes of Brazil and Australia. The other unknown is,China has been raising Beans in areas of Africa for export back to China.

My guess is,the USDA will do a deal with China at some off the wall cheapo price plus pay the freight by this time next year as a campaign stunt.

[spanone]

8. trump is even dumber than imagined or he knows he can lie all he wants to his deplorables.

[Caliman73]

9. Tariffs are not necessarily a bad thing.

Tariffs are MEANT to increase the prices on foreign goods, the point being to make a domestic product, which is usually sold at higher prices, more competitive. If the price of a product made in China, say a television goes up because of tariffs, then the American manufactured product will seem more reasonable.

President Obama was using very specific and strategically targeted tariffs on Chinese products. The problem is the Trump's bluster is provoking a trade war where our companies are losing access to Chinese markets too.

[Cold War Spook]

10. But are the tariffs on goods from China

also made in the US? I know steel is, but with the tariffs, the American steel companies raised their prices.

[Caliman73]

18. Not sure. Perhaps the information is out there.

The bottom line is the Trump is an idiot and doesn't understand economics and trade in any capacity other than how to manipulate the laws to his benefit. I am almost 100% sure that he himself doesn't even understand that, but that people around him do and manage enough of his business that they operate within those structures. If he made every decision, I am sure he would have been bankrupt more than he has and more business would have failed.

[matt819]

13. Yeah, but

In the case of kitchen appliances and washers and dryers, American manufacturers bumped their prices up as Chinese supply declined due to tariffs, thus crewing their customers. I’m in the market for a new oven and a freezer. I will probably but an import because I don’t like being screwed.

[Caliman73]

17. True. That seems like a different problem then tariffs though.

If American manufacturers do not respond to tariffs by keeping prices competitive and forgoing a little profit for the sake of keeping workers and customers happy, then they will continue to suffer.

I was merely stating that the purposes of a tariff were to protect domestic production by raising the prices of foreign goods in the market so that domestic producers could compete more effectively.

[Wounded Bear]

11. It's a double whammy of regressive conservative policies...

Tax breaks for the wealthy, tax increases (in the form of higher prices) for the consumer.

Win/win, if you're a 1%-er.