Trump's Astounding Claim

The tell me how you create pressure on china without tariffs. How come china only has this kind of trade surplus with us. 3:1?

The rest of the world does not have the trade deficit with them that we do. our is much more severe. Germany only has a 20% trade defict, what kind of measures do you think they will take, nothing as forceful as ours. The US would be fine with a 20% trade deficit. They make that up just in dealing with France.

 

Because it is a system, you want to keep the money here more than send in out and save 20%. The money used in purchasing a US made good that has corporate taxes paid, US employee wages and taxes on those wages paid, plus those wages now purchase other domestic products like gas, electricity, food, item that contribute to our GDP

 

A quota or an outright ban.

Trade issues are complex and won't be resolved by us pressuring China to get something exclusively for ourselves. Our goods and services deficit is limited to a handful of countries. We have surpluses with many countries based on the licensing of software created in Silicon Valley. Our strongarm fight with China is giving them ideas like limiting our ability to make small fortunes licensing software.

 

Do you really think we can slap tariffs on other countries and they won't retaliate? If we don't produce vehicles in Canada, they're going to slap tariffs on cars produced here. They said they won't sign NAFTA 2.0 if we don't withdraw our tariffs on their steel and aluminum.

 

Well tell me if it weren't for those tariffs, would China be at the negotiating table right now offering us all kinds of concessions? We have about a 700 billion trade deficit with China right now. How much is that costing us in interest alone? China is stealing our corporation's secrets buy forcing our companies to partner up with a Chinese company and would stay with them long enough to learn all the company's secrets on how to build the product and then breaks away and starts up their own company building the same product and selling it cheaper. Yes, it might hurt the American consumer for a year. But if we can get the concessions out of China it will help America a lot. Especially in more jobs, by China buying more of our products and lowering our trade deficit. That won't come about by asking China to be nice and do the right thing, anymore than it has worked before Trump with trying to get NATO to put more into the Alliance. Some times you have to be tough to get what you want and force others to be fair. It's a short term hurt to get a long term benefit.

 

Too bad he didn't go for the wall when he had a Republican Congress for two years. Can you explain why he didn't??????

 

We have been making stupid trade agreements for years and sat back and allowed other countries to keep screwing us. Not applying the same hurt on them that we allow them to do to us. We have lost many industries and good paying jobs because of our stupid trade policies. Some examples.

IN THE BEGINNING, THE TV CARTEL:

A very famous example of Japanese national government and corporate
coordination to take over a foreign industry is that of the Japanese TV cartel,
first set up in the 1960's. This is how Japan took the free-world TV industry
away from the United States. PBS TV's "Frontline" program did an excellent
documentary on this called "Coming From Japan", (see Appendix for how to get
transcript via Internet).

In the 1960's, the Matsushita Industrial Electric Company, Sanyo, Toshiba
and others formed a TV cartel in Japan. They got US TV technology from the
giants in the industry (Zenith, RCA, Quasar) in the following way. The Japanese
government prohibited US made TVs from being sold in Japan. Instead, they
insisted that the technology be licensed to Japanese manufacturing companies
rather than importing (still often the case today in Japan). The US companies
thinking they could still make money this way, agreed to these terms which
enabled the Japanese companies to acquire the technology on how to build TVs.

The above Japanese companies, with tacit approval from the Japanese
government, set up a cartel to inflate TV prices in Japan in order to turn
around and use the money to sell below cost TVs in America. This was to drive
US makers out of the American and world markets. US TV makers went bankrupt or
left the industry as they could no longer fund research to continue making
improved and high quality TVs. They could not compete with the artificially low
Japanese TV prices in America and were forbidden to enter the Japanese market
to take advantage of the high prices there. Hence, the US makers could not make
money. Furthermore, secret deals to thwart US customs, illegal under US trade
law, were set up by Japanese TV makers and US retailers such as Sears and
Montgomery Ward to sell Japanese TVs under store brand names. Concurrently, the
Japanese mounted an important lobbying effort in Washington to ensure that this
scheme was not disrupted by the US government or customs services [Agents of
Influence p77]. As a result, once famous brands such as Sylvania, Quasar,
Admiral, Philco and RCA have vanished or are foreign/Japanese owned. Zenith is
the only remaining US TV maker today. No US companies make VCRs although they
were an American invention.

In the 1980's the Japanese applied this same strategy to the computer flat
panel display industry (also invented in the US) and now completely dominate
that industry as well. Before that was motorcycles, machine tools and computer
memory chips (the US tried to retaliate but failed as our companies couldn't
organize with each other during the now famous "dram shortages" a few years
ago). It will be happening again in the financial services industry [Yen! p32],
telecommunications equipment, kitchen/washing appliances and aircraft
manufacturing during the 1990s and beyond [Newsweek 1/18/93 p17].

 

As an example of a consumer "protection" law really created to prevent
foreign competition in Japan, one may look at the auto industry. All non
Japanese cars which enter Japan today must be "safety-tested" by Japan for
"safety to the consumer". The fee for this "safety-test" is several thousand
dollars PER CAR imported and must be borne by the importer (and consequently
the buyer) of the car. Cars made by Japanese companies (even if they originate
from foreign Japanese plants such as the US Honda Accord plant) are exempted
from the inspection and the fee as Japanese car companies are permitted to
"safety" their cars themselves at their factories. The result of this practice
is to make the prices of non-Japanese brand cars uncompetitive against Japanese
brands sold within Japan. This law adds upwards of $5000 to the price of each
US car for sale in Japan. [New York Times/CNN 12/25/92]. To further discourage
non-Japanese car purchases in Japan, auto insurance rates for non Japanese
brand cars in Japan have been rigged by auto producers (who own many of the
insurance companies) to be three times higher than rates charged for equivalent
Japanese brand cars [Agents of Influence p156]. It is these practices and laws
(and not that the steering wheel is on the wrong side) that prevent US car
companies from making headway in the Japanese market. Both GM and Ford ship
cars to Japan with the steering wheel on the correct side for Japanese roads
[Agents of Influence p156].

Of some other more famous "consumer protection" laws, one until recently
banned US beef from Japan because "Japanese intestines were the wrong length
and couldn't digest US beef which is too hard" (today, though US beef is
allowed in Japan, in practice it must often come from a Japanese owned ranch
in the US). Another law banned european skiis because the snow in Japan was
"different". All foreign rice is banned for "national security"[Agents of
Influence p11]. Rice in Japan as a consequence, is the most expensive in the
world.

Finally, as an example of the no-foreign ownership rule, the recent
baseball team fiasco comes to mind: Nintendo recently bought the Seattle
Mariners Pro Baseball team. Americans however, are not allowed to buy Japanese
Pro baseball teams [ABC News Nightline].

 

I can sell high quality made in USA GE refrigerators and Hoover vacuums
at a much cheaper price in Japan that Toshiba and Sanyo can (this is in fact
true). I want to start a business. I go to Japan, but no store will carry my
products because I am a "gaijin" (foreigner), and my products are foreign.
Doing so would anger the domestic suppliers of these distributers who may hold
some of the shop's loans or offer them favorable payment plans.

I decide then, I will set up my own company in Japan, open a shop and sell
the appliances myself since no Japanese store will do so for me. Hiroshi said
"You can't because you are a foreigner. Foreigners typically cannot own
companies in Japan". This is in fact true. It is this government practice which
keeps foreign business ventures in the control of the Japanese (and hence why
they tend not to threaten Japanese industry seriously). It is also the reason
there are so many "joint ventures" between a Japanese company and a foreign one
to enter the Japanese market. Otherwise, the foreigner is prevented from
entering, or is later set up to fail.

 

Trump has seen these unfair trade practices done by Japan and China. He has seen jobs leaving for foreign shores. He saw Obama's service and part time economy and knew America could no longer be a first rate country on low paying service and part time jobs and no industry and he set out to change it and all he gets for it is bad mouthing from the Left. We need to wake up in this country or we'll be leaving it for something better like Mexico.

 

Of course they are going to retaliate. Were the only country that lies down like dogs. they buy 112bill we buy 493 bill gee I wonder who has 4x as much to lose.

 

Who says they're offering a lot of concessions? Trump got diddly out of Canada and a few concessions on the auto trade from Mexico, except Trump talked like Canada and Mexico caved. They didn't. In fact, they're saying they won't sign NAFTA 2.0 if Trump doesn't lift the steel and aluminum tariffs.

I would put quotas on Chinese goods in industries where we can get goods from other sources.

We should slap quotas on Chinese goods in retaliation for intellectual property theft, and we should have acted long ago.

Dealing with China may hurt for a lot longer than a year. So be it. Quotas, not tariffs.

We'll ser how Trump does on the China file. He got very little on NAFTA.

 

Asinine strawman ignored for obvious reasons.

 

We have a goods and services surplus with Canada, and they sell us a lot raw materials while we sell them manufactured goods and services. Why is Trump hassling Canada?

This was a violation of a trade agreement.

 

We needed some place to spend all the money we saved on Obamacare.

 

Canada is going to retaliate because there's some dirt people won't eat.

 

They both signed the agreement last November- what are you referring to now.

 

In Canada, the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), has to be ratified by parlisment and the majority government has said it won't consider the enabling legislation as long as Trump maintains tariffs on aluminum and steel.

We have a trade surplus (goods and services) with Canada where we sell them lots of manufactured goods and services with them selling us raw materials. Trump still badmouths them with public lies about them being "unfair" to us.

Like I said, there's some dirt people won't eat. Trump reached the limit with Canadians.

 

This isn't 1870 when we were pretty much self-sufficient in raw materials. You're suggesting the perfect way to achieve the destruction of the economy.

 

The real truth about the Orange Oaf...

 

so, according to that, businesses dont use the legitimate border crossings??? so where do they cross then???

 

So the tiny portion of Americans who work in manufacturing get a bailout at the expense of the majority of Americans who will be worse off.

 

The two most dangerous aspects of the barrage of lies from Don are that they have become the norm........failing to elicit the strong, negative reaction they deserve............and that Trumpers believe the lies.

 

no, everyone is better off with a stronger country. You make it sound like we can continue to export dollars forever. And the tariffs are not forever- the tariffs are till we get an fair agreement. One where they can't steal our technology and manufacturing processes and are required to import a similar amount to what they export here. Bush and Obama made 50 speeches saying they must be fair trade, nothing significant happened. You want to save money on your tvs- I understand. But these tarrifs are for a couple of years, It has only been 6 months. The end result hopefully will that we will continue to import 1/2 trill of Goods every year but we will export to them a like amount to them.

And it is not just manufacturing but intellectual property. Over the next 50 years less and less goods will be made by man and more and more by machine. That money needs to stay here so we can survive in that type of economy. Where machines are making our food, transactions are done in the cloud and not by anyone but you and a computer, where is this money going to come from.