100% corporate. 100%. All of the advisors to the admin on upcoming trade deals.

[JDPriestly]

92. You can impose tariffs on imports.

You can require imported goods to meet certain quality standards.

We do neither. Either one would help compensate for the problems that foreign-made, mostly shoddy products do to our labor market and the world's environment. And that is exactly what we should do -- impose tariffs on imports especially from countries with which we have a large balance of payments deficit and exclude from sale in our domestic markets goods that do not meet our quality standards.

I bought a used stove about 28 years ago. (Approximately 28 years ago. Not sure of the number of years.) It was old and made in the USA. I kept it and used it for maybe 23 years. Then I bought a new stove a few years ago. Already, the pilot light on it on one side of the burners is creating a problem. And guess what, it is built so that I cannot get into the stove and re-light the pilot. It's a shoddy product. The metal is already starting to rust. And I have kept very good care of it. That is an environmental problem. When a product like a stove or a washing machine is manufactured shoddily and breaks down and has to be replaced frequently, the negative impact on the environment is terrible. And that is what is happening with these cheap imports. They are not worth what the Made in the USA products were.

We should impose tariffs on imports. That would help us maintain quality manufacturing. I note that the German economy, which is the powerhouse of Europe, has fewer manufacturing jobs than in the past but is way ahead of other economies in that respect. Germany also has good labor policies. It has an apprenticeship system that trains workers for their specialties. Germany produces in general very high quality products and is an innovator-nation. The liberal employment policies are partly a result of historical traditions that go back arguably to the Middle Ages but they are maintained by the strong labor organizations that Germany has. Even under imperial rulers, the kaisers, were cautious about harming their excellent manufacturing workers.

But Germany (at least when I was there) has a high VAT or value added tax which is like a sales tax and through that means obtains revenue from the sale of all goods including imports. That helps Germany raise the money to support its social support system.

I have proposed replacing some of our income taxes with a VAT tax which would produce revenue that could be used to subsidize our own industry by, for example, providing the money to support subsidies for health insurance costs of manufacturers and employees. DUers respond that such a plan would harm low-income workers because it would hit them hard. I still think it is a good idea because the money from the VAT could be used to subsidize services for low-income workers.

So, just looking at a chart does not tell all the story. Germany uses the VAT to compensate for some of the damage that "free" trade does to its industry.