Trump's war

[Kevin]

Guys the Chinese and others have been shafting us for years, why are you not mad at them? Oh yea, lets get mad at the American guy first. They have manipulated the markets, currency rates and everything they could get their hands on and it is somehow Trump's fault?

China builds junk, they make a lot of money off of Americans buying their stuff, they do not buy as much of ours as we do theirs. They own a whole lot of our debt, it would be in theirbest interest to not piss US off. We can hurt them more than they can hurt us. So we may pay a bit more for some things, thats okay we will survive.

I still have to laugh at the stupidity of some of the Dems hollering about how the consumers are going to be paying more because it will cause prices to rise, yet when it comes to raising taxes on these same companies IT IS OKAY TO MAKE THE CONSUMERS PAY MORE????

What is wrong with those people, are they stupid or just not thinking?

Trade wars will shaft us more. Why are you so willing to do THAT?

Deflecting about taxes won't work. The subject is tariffs and their effects, not whether Democrats are hypocritical. Comes to that, so is any conservative who thinks that they are helping consumers by wiping out their wealth with a stock market drop.

[wacojoe]

Schumer is foursquare with Trump on this one. That scares me.

[Dave Grubb]

As it should.

Ross did add a comment suggesting that this is going to be more selective and negotiable than it is being presented by Trump----I am hopeful that is the case.

[TxMusky]

SO what we have been doing for decades is working? If so why do we still have trade deficits? SO to you guys we should just carry on as usual without doing anything at all? Okay fine with me. Next problem.

Kev, you old usual use of one particular word is annoying. Not everything is defection.

[Kevin]

Stick to the topic instead of complaining about unrelated stuff and I won't have to use that word.

The topic is tariffs, not whether Democrats are hypocritical. Of course they are. And so, apparently, are Republicans who used to be in favor of free trade. Politicians are generally hypocrites. That is not the topic. Tariffs are.

[TxMusky]

pffft same ol Kev. Full of crap

[Kevin]

LOL!! Can't debate the topic so we are down to insults.

Nothing has changed here.

[Dave Grubb]

I'll attempt to add something here.

Free trade is a myth and not many people are aware of that---including our folks in DC.

As an example, I pay between 2.5 and 3.5% duty on all imported wood working machinery. You can call that a duty---I call it a tax. That you might say is to "protect" the US machine builders----except there aren't any.

I believe the EU has a 10% duty on US made cars imported into the EU---we have a (I believe) 2.5% duty coming into the US. Would it not make some level of good sense to sit down with our friends and discuss that issue before we declare war?

I'm hard pressed to think of any war that has ever "fixed" anything. This is childish at best and ultimately will hurt us more than help---but this plays well to the base---until they can't sell their soybeans to anyone...and yes dork I do have skin in that game.

[FredK]

Not sure where this will hurt me. Majority of my products that I sell in my store come from China. Sure raising the price of a RC car a few bucks may not hurt some but it will have an effect on the business for sure. Raising the price of the goods and selling them will possibly raise my rent cap. Lose-lose situation as I see it.

[TxMusky]

All of the lease tools we send to Canada, and we are sending a bunch, we are required to pay a declared value tax before we even cross the border. It seems that all of the "war" talk is business as usual for others.

[TxMusky]

Not sure where this will hurt me. Majority of my products that I sell in my store come from China. Sure raising the price of a RC car a few bucks may not hurt some but it will have an effect on the business for sure. Raising the price of the goods and selling them will possibly raise my rent cap. Lose-lose situation as I see it.

That is just normal business, if they raise the price of diesel fuel or the state tax on fuel, it gets added to the freight bill and the price of the goods sold is raised. Happens every day, why is it such a big deal now.....Oh that's right, because it's Trump.

Raise taxes on big business, the price of the end product goes up, no big deal to the Dems when it is done that way is it. If you think it doesn't happen, you are fooling only yourself. Question is, What is the difference?

[wacojoe]

It is not “free trade” when other countries imposed restrictive import duties on our goods and we do not do so in reciprocation, as we have allowed to happen for decades.

Trump also has a point hitting home with me, that being that certain industries are fundamental to our security, such as steel, without which we cannot survive in times of severe conflict or perile. Acquiescing to those which oppose us, while watching them import our factories and dominate a strategic asset is unacceptable in my view. While I consider myself a “free trader” in the Adam Smith vein, my view incorporates a strong degree of forced reciprocity to maintain an equilibrium to justify the process.

[Dave Grubb]

My objections are not with the concept but the method.

[wacojoe]

If you are going to force reciprocity, as you have often spoken about, how would you better go about that, Dave?

[Dave Grubb]

If you are going to force reciprocity, as you have often spoken about, how would you better go about that, Dave?

With a scalpel and not a machete. Get the tumors out without killing the patient---then do reconstructive surgery.

I will allow this may just be Trump's ham fisted way of getting everyone's attention and then move (as Ross seemed to indicate) into focused negotiations--if that is the case I'll give him leave to act like a bully.