Offshoring and the myth of the "added value manufacturing industries".

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

27. Please explain how imposing punitive tariffs on thousands of consumer goods won't be inflationary

Are the "job creators" on side with you? Are they going to raise salaries so that people might afford to buy these goods at the new price floors you intend to establish?

And you imagine those people who have their savings, purchasing power and quality of life obliterated by such a policy won't take their grudge to the polling station?

The challenge with US trade policy is rather than aggressively advancing the WTO process in ways favorable to US exports, the long standing preference has been for bilateral free trade agreements. This disconnect results in unbalanced trading relationships where one sides exports have preferential treatment under the WTO and the others do not. This is largely the case with China - while many US made intermediate goods that find their way into IT products are tariff free - other US exports, particularly agricultural do not enjoy the same treatment. None the less China has been unilaterally lowering their tariffs and exceeding their obligations to the WTO.

I support free trade because in its absence industry and innovation atrophies and opportunity is passed on to others. If you believe that a new age of prosperity will be built on manufacturing styrofoam plates and tube socks in the most labor intensive way possible... knock yourself out.

And advocating for a strong dollar is the antithesis of what you are arguing for. A strong dollar places imports at an even deeper discount over US goods and makes exports unaffordable to the world market - while a weak dollar has the opposite effect.