Trump has business operations world wide, dealing with foreign governments I'm betting is something he is used to doing. Understanding the cost to do business in those foreign countries would be one of the 1st. issues any business owner would do. Depending on supplies needed importing or buying in country tariffs would be a consideration looked into. Somehow I don't envision Trump sitting behind the desk in the oval office shooting from the hip to pick & choose what to raise tariffs on. Presidential advisers on a variety of America's problems are at his disposal, no doubt in my mind he draws on their knowledge on this particular issue of tariffs to make his decision. What is your opinion on the trade imbalance or the deficit favoring China, $540 billion in imports $120 billion in exports. Bringing fairness to trade is accomplished by WHAT?
@Bob Kirk I think we have too great an imbalance with China. We need to close the gap. I don't have confidence in the president you do. To be fair, I have no one to replace him.
No I don't think it possible to close the gap. We might be able to close it for a short while but Americans are such consumers we would in short order be back where we started. We want more of their products than they want of ours. And they make lots of stuff we used to make ourselves, but those days are gone, I think.
But the more important thing is, we are the largest consumer of their shoddy goods... so they definitely need us more than we need them. It is time for manufacturing to return to the USA, and for us to look to other suppliers rather than China. I go out of my way to avoid "Made in China" items and will buy them as a last resort.
You think I'd be happier elsewhere, you have no idea. I like a two sided discussion to just about everything in my life, same goes with the Trump issue. I don't hate trump, I don't like him, but you and many here continue to use the strong word Hate.
That's really tough to do today since American companies have gone to China, and before for decades they went to Japan, remember Made in Japan.
I do to, go out of my way to buy broducts made somewhere other than China. I think for the most part not much manufacturing will of can come back. Cars could, big items but the everyday thing we use and no longer make, and buy from China, somebody else will have to make them for us. We can't sell them to anybody else because our manufacturing costs would prohibit that. We are like the little king, sitting on his throne, waiting to be served. China will continue to make them or India or Cuba or any one of the smaller countries coming of age, manufacturing wise. But then, I am not educated on such matters.
It might be tough to do but not impossible. If the government offered incentives and stopped taxing businesses to death, we might bring back significant manufacturing. So we can pay more for "Made in USA," or pay more in tariffs. I choose USA, every time.
Beginning with Nixon, we have been giving our manufacturing and tech industries away to China for decades, so getting them back won't be something that any single president can fix. After Trump's second term, we need to elect another president who is on our side. When more Americans are employed in jobs that pay well, they won't mind paying higher prices. When I was working for the paper company, I barely looked at prices. True enough. China took over most of the electronics business from Japan, but Japan moved into the higher-end auto business. Unlike China, however, Japan manufactures a lot of their stuff here, employing US workers. I am not sure about now, but a few years back, Japanese auto companies employed more American workers than American auto companies.
You are right we used to make stuff ourselves. Since American's have & expect a better standard of living. What do you think would happen if tariffs on particular "stuff" made in China leveled the playing field? The playing field being the cost t to manufacture here in America ?
I don't think we will ever again have the manufacturing capacity we had in the past. We have passed that stage. It doesn't matter the tarrifs, how level the playing field, we are no longer a manufacturing country. Growing economy's will dominate manufacturing. We will make planes, cars, maybe some home appliances. Most manufacturing will be done by others. Doesn't matter how many of our presidents we elect, we have to accept this reality. Presidents can't change it.
The largest concern about bringing “back” some of the companies that have transplanted themselves abroad is the fact that even if they wanted to come back it would practically break the company. Until recently they would have to pay the 36% American tax base and a huge penalty based on how long and how much money they made whilst producing their widgets in China, Mexico and elsewhere. The reason most of our manufacturing was outsourced was less expensive labor, less operating costs and less taxes. From my understanding, some of those companies which have been outsourcing are willing to come back to American shores if the penalties are negated and the business taxes are on line with what they are already paying in another country. Sadly though, I fear that even if every company that started in the U.S. and moved to another country came back, we’d still have all of the “innards” of the products coming from another country. As it is, even American produced autos and electronics all have foreign made parts and the best we can do so far is to put a label on them saying, “assembled in America” because they certainly aren’t “made in America”.
A number of companies began just to serve the needs of Wal-Mart. After Sam died, the board of directors, of which Hillary was one, sent as much as they could to China and bankrupted many of the companies begun under the auspices of Sam Walton.