Biden Faces Dilemma on Trump Tariffs

"It's the economy stupid" and Joe Biden is totally out of his depth. Every Trump era policy that Biden arbitrarily rescinds via EO has disasterous consequences. Immigration, energy, foreign policy ... you name it, Joe wrecked it. Crisis, conflict, inflation be d@mned, Trump's policies have to be erased, that's Biden's mandate. So watch as Joe backstabs the union workers that voted for him ... again. Working middle class households in swing states, like Pennsylvania where Joe grew up, are poised to be victimized ... again. https://thehill.com/policy/finance/trade/555647-biden-faces-dilemma-on-trump-steel-tariffs
I just hope sleepy, creepy uncle Joe doesn't add insult to injury ... again. By dragging John Kerry out of hiding and having his climate czar console displaced union workers. We all know Kerry's spiel ... essentially "learn to code" and it'll "help save the planet". I know that a significant amount of Biden voters are bitterly disappointed with their pick.

 

Tariffs do not help anyone, they are the antithesis of a free market.

I doubt though he will get rid of them, tariffs are a leftys best friend, which is why Trump loved them so much...he will always be a NY Liberal.

 

Except that tariffs do help, and are helping preserve US jobs and industry. Whether Biden leaves the tariffs in place or not is largely irrelevant ... if he goes through with his plans to raise corporate taxes. Higher taxes, and a $15 phr min. wage? Yeah, tariffs won't matter anymore.

 

At best tariffs help a very specific industry. Take the steel tariffs...they might help the steel companies, but they hurt every occupation that uses steel as they are all now paying more for that steel. Then it hurts every consumer that buys anything that includes steel as they now cost more.

Nobody that claims to support a free market can also say they support tariffs.

 

Lol…that paranoid screed sounds as stupid as when the loony left claimed that trump was destroying the world.

 

Sure they can.

 

I agree in principle but disagree as it pertains to reality.

For example, we can't stop China from using slave labor and/or incredibly low wages to keep the cost of certain goods down. So we can use tariffs to help preserve american jobs/industries. In this case they're a necessary evil.

 

Domestically produced steel doesn't become more expensive, and in the broad scope everyone benefits from tariffs that help preserve the economy. American's who support free trade aren't obligated to extend that free trade beyond their own borders. Imagine the economic growth we'd realize if just half of our yearly trade deficit with China was fuelling US mfg growth instead of Chinese.

 

True they can, but they will be lying. My bad

 

Evidently you think only we should be for free markets dealing with those that are not.

 

Sure it does. The demand for it goes up, which drives up the prices. Also things made with steel go up, and that cost is passed on to the consumer.

Then they do not really support free trade or the right of a company to make its own decisions.

We would be buying half as much due to the increased cost. Companies are giving people what they want, otherwise we would not be buying it. But you all want to force them to be more "America friendly", which is not the purpose of a company. Capitalism knows no borders.

 

LOL ... on another thread you're supporting a $15 min. wage. Cost to consumer? Capitalism comes to a dead halt at the great wall of China. Unless you can explain how the Chinese labor market is compatible with the rest of the world's.

 

In fairness, the tariffs slowed China's economy and grew the US economy which was part of the intent of the tariffs.

 

I have never supported a minimum wage. I have even posted the only way I might is if it were done on a city level, nothing higher.

Yes. For example when Trump put tariffs on specific washers places like Lowes did not just charge 20% more for them, they charged 7% more for every washer. I know this because I have a friend that is a Lowe's manager.

Capitalism is not about what someone else is doing. China is not a Capitalist country.

 

Did it really?

Here is the US GDP growth over the last 10 years, can you show this growth when the tariffs kicked in...

 

China's economy was slowing and was at it slowest rate of increase since 1992 and yes, US exports to China were down as part of the trade war. However, domestic production was starting to increase in the US which would translates into a stronger GDP. COVID and Biden jacked that all up, however.

U.S. enjoys best manufacturing jobs growth of the last 30 years

Edit to add:
China’s Slowdown Deepens amid Trump’s Tariffs

 

Then clearly China has no place in a global free market. The US has been waiting for our trading "partners" to even the playing field for decades. If we hadn't gone down the globalist path so blindly for the purpose of detente, we'd be alot better off than we are today. Reckoning with deficits, trade or government spending, isn't painless, and there comes a point where reckoning is no longer "optional".

 

I'm not sure "tariffs are a leftys best friend" is still true. Starting about oh..2016 or so I noticed leftys turning against tariffs and opposing them. That still seems to be the case although it's possible they could switch their position again at some point.

 

Then do not buy their products, if enough people agree with you then they will no longer be.

There is no such thing. Trade should be mutually beneficial, nothing more.

There is no getting out of the global market, nor should we try. Look what happened to our farmers when they lost their export market.

 

I haven't suggested the US exit the global market. I've said tariffs are beneficial. Farmers who were impacted were out of their depths. Essentially speculating on foreign demand w/o considering supply domestically should their foreign markets shrink. Not everyone excels or succeeds in foreign trade, lots probably shouldn't even try.

 

You have no clue how something like grain farming works. The only reason their foreign markets shrunk was due to the actions of our president, not due to anything else. If they lose those foreign markets for good they are all out of business as there is not enough demand in America to account for all the farm land we have and what we produce.

 

LOL So farmers are ignoring the axiom of supply / demand ... and they had no preparations or contingencies for lesser demand brought on by trade policies? That's textbook market speculation, not farming. Regardless of policies enacted by the POTUS, foreign markets can close abruptly, and without warning. Farmers dabbling in foreign trade need to understand how and when to diversify.

 

You truly are clueless. What should a grain farmer diversify into? Any suggestions I can pass along to those I work with daily?

Oh, and they do not "dabble" in foreign trade, it is something they have been doing for generations.

 

Seriously? A farmer can apportion his land and grow a variety of crops. Ignorantly engaging in market speculation for generations doesn't make it any safer or wiser. But Trump did subsidize farmers impacted, and (D)s hated that. From my perspective much better than Biden killing, entire industries, and union jobs, then just telling displaced workers to "learn to code". That's actually the topic we're on.

 

It's a prisoner's dilemma. Lift the tariffs and it crushes the steel industry but helps out the other commodities and industries. Keep the tariffs, and vice versa is the result. The cause of all this, let us not forget is the Chinese regime. I'd tell China to immediately cease and desist its slave worker activity and to open its economy up to regulations and processes, otherwise we should withdraw our recognition of China from the UN and have our diplomats recalled.

It's time to ratchet up the economic war accordingly.