Last edited Sun Apr 6, 2025, 05:39 PM - Edit history (2)
Trump isn't "stealing" from other countries. He's stealing from American consumers. THEY are the ones paying the tariffs, not foreign producers or anyone else. To think otherwise at this point is just dumb. Importers pass on the additional costs to retail. No one is going to take that hit to their bottom line. And they don't have to because.......
Domestic producers, if there are any in some industries, will raise their prices too. And why not? Look at what happened to the laundry appliance market during jackass's first term. Domestic producers figured the increase in profits from raising their own prices was worth more than any additional market share gained from being more competitive on price. And the market itself shrank due to overall higher prices, since people simply kept their old washers and dryers longer since new ones were far more dear. With a 25% increase in your foreign competitors prices, why not do some of both? Raise your prices 10%, which is a huge increase in most industries, but you may still be a bit cheaper than your foreign competitor and can grab a bit more of whatever market share is left. At worst, you're just as price competitive as you were pre tariff.
Many industries simply can't be reshored without driving production costs through the roof, and retail prices along with them. Clothing for instance. $50 basic tee shirts anyone? It simply costs a hell of a lot more to make those things in the US, and Canada for that matter, than elsewhere.
These are usually labor intensive industries, where the jobs suck anyway. So why the hell would we want them back? Look at the hell that was US sewing plants even well into the 2nd half of the 20th century. Hard jobs that are hard on workers for crap pay. But even that crap pay is a hell of a lot more than someone in Bangladesh is willing to take. Because the same relative buying power goes further in Bangladesh. Really, the only way to make this successful is to lower US standards of living generally. Oh, that shit is going to go over well. And if you call THAT success, well....
And you think theoretical tax cuts will make up the difference in most American's budgets? That's laughable on its face! In the end, we're all made poorer. Even a lot of relatively rich Americans who's businesses depend on US consumer buying power. That buying power will be crippled.
It's' insanity. Just fucking fence post dumb insanity.
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